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Sept. 18, 2007
Contact: Pat Dodds, Public Affairs Officer, 480-312-2336
Ellison returning to Scottsdale
as assistant city manager
David Ellison, a former Scottsdale assistant city manager, will return to that position after more than five years serving in city government in his native state of Texas.
He will officially resume his duties as assistant city manager in early November.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome David back to the city organization,” said City Manager Jan Dolan. “He’s a great leader, listener and teacher, with an outstanding resume of experience and accomplishment. He is a model of our employee values and he places high priority on excellent customer service and communication.”
Ellison said he is excited to be returning. "My wife Dee, family and I are thankful for this opportunity to give the Scottsdale citizens, team and leaders our very best again. We appreciate the many good people, history, beauty, ingenuity and values of the organization and community."
Ellison served as assistant city manager in Scottsdale from September 1997 to December 2001, overseeing the Planning and Development Services, Transportation and Citizen and Neighborhood Resources departments, as well as its communications, government relations and emergency services divisions.
After the passing of his father, he left Scottsdale for personal family reasons to join Sugar Land, Texas, a highly rated city near his hometown of Houston, Texas. As assistant city manager there, he oversaw the city’s police, fire and emergency management functions, its regional airport, and its financial services, budget, human resources, information technology and corporate communications functions. He also served as the city’s operational leader for the Fort Bend County Hurricane Katrina Resource Center and was the administrative manager for a mayor’s advisory council on police and community relations and a citizens task force on ethics.
Since January, Ellison has been bureau chief of public health preparedness for the city of Houston, Texas. He is responsible for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services portion of the city’s overall emergency response and disaster planning efforts.
He has served in local governments in Texas, Minnesota and Arizona for more than 28 years, including positions in Denton, Carrollton and Lubbock, Texas, and Mankato, Minnesota.
Ellison has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s in public administration from the University of North Texas. He has maintained membership and leadership roles in the International City Management Association (ICMA) and National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA). Ellison is a graduate of the State and Local Government Leadership Development Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. He enjoys youth leadership development, career mentoring for emerging professionals and church and community volunteerism.
On his return to Scottsdale, Ellison will assume operational oversight of the Human Resources, Citizen and Neighborhood Resources, Transportation and Planning and Development departments and Communications and Public Affairs.
Assistant City Manager Roger Klingler will continue operational oversight of the Municipal Services and Water Resources departments and WestWorld.
Assistant City Manager Neal Shearer will continue operational oversight of the Community Services, Financial Services and Information Systems departments and Government Relations Office.
The Police, Fire and Economic Vitality departments and the Downtown Group will continue to report directly to the City Manager.