City’s Deputy COO Luz Borrero leaving to join non-profit

By Maria Saporta

One of the key holdovers from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s administration in Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration — Luz Borrero — is leaving City Hall.

Borrero, the City of Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer, has submitted her resignation, effective. Oct. 31.

“I will be joining the executive team of Purpose Built Communities as a senior manager,” Borrero wrote me in an email. “Purpose Built Communities is a non-profit corporation dedeicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in neighborhoods across the United States through a comprehensive redevelopment strategy based on the successful East Lake model in Atlanta.”

Borrero has been an instrumental leader in Atlanta’s winning efforts for the streetcar. She was in attendance Wednesday morning when U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood make the official presentation of a $47.6 million check to the City of Atlanta to build a streetcar line between Centennial Olympic Park and the Martin Luther King Jr. historic district on Auburn Avenue.

“As you know, I have greatly enjoyed my work at the city, particularly my work related to transportation planning and project implementation and the coordination with external organizations,” Borrero wrote. “The experiences and knowledge I have gained working at the xity have been invaluable and transformative, and I will carry them with deep appreciation.”

Borrero said she was particularly proud “of the fact that one of the most important projects I have been managing for the city for the last three years is the Atlanta Streetcar, which as you know just received a $47.6 M award from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This is the largest federal gift the city has received in the last decade and the largest ever aside from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport related gifts.”

Borrero is working with Peter Aman, the city’s chief operating officer, to ensure a smooth transition to make sure her responsibilties are appropriately transferred.