Mayor Anthony Williams Hails City Council For Confirming Neil Albert as Director of Parks and Recreation

Washington, DC -- Mayor Anthony A. Williams today hailed the appointment of Neil O. Albert as DC Director of Parks and Recreation (DPR) after the DC City Council confirmed Albert's appointment by unanimous consent.

"I look forward to continuing to work with Neil Albert as he restores stability to the agency and strengthens our parks and recreation programs, which are vital to the health and well-being of our neighborhoods," said Mayor Williams.

"I congratulate Neil on today's unanimous vote. It's an important milestone for him personally, and it's yet another endorsement of the positive changes we have made together in the District."

As Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Albert will be responsible for overseeing the maintenance and staffing at the District's 77 recreation centers and playgrounds, which include 42 swimming pools and more than 170 tennis courts, as well as the District's 381 neighborhood parks.

Mayor Williams appointed Albert as Acting Director on March 29, 2001. Albert served as the Interim Director of Parks and Recreation between November 2000 and March 2001. Prior to that, he served as the agency's Deputy Director for a year.

Albert has more than ten years of executive management experience in the public sector. Some of Albert's accomplishments since coming to the District include: establishing 27 computer learning centers within the city's recreation centers; completion of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center; renovating and developing more than eight new recreation centers; the national accreditation of 52 percent of the department's day care centers; creating the Capital City Park Foundation, a nonprofit foundation to support agency programs; and improving the agency's financial procedures and systems.

Prior to his work with the District, Mr. Albert served as the Director of Nonprofit Assistance Programs for the Fund of the City of New York and as Director of Finance for the New York City Department of Youth Services.

Mr. Albert received an MBA in Finance from the New York Institute of Technology. While in New York, he served on the boards of People Against Sexual Abuse and Brooklyn in Touch, a technical assistance organization.