(Washington, DC) The Office of Property Management today announced that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has appointed Lars Etzkorn as the new Director of the Office.

Etzkorn has a record of reforming complex service organizations, policy development and advocacy, managing capital and operating budgets and forging and sustaining diverse coalitions.  

In 2000, Etzkorn was appointed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams to serve as Associate Director for public space management in the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT). In that position, he managed 240-plus employees who delivered front-line municipal services, including snow removal, street and bridge maintenance and street sign fabrication and installation. Under his leadership, the public space annual rental income grew more than ten-fold, from $3 million to $37 million in five years. Etzkorn also managed the selection and negotiation, including extensive community consultation, of the 20-year, $152-plus million bus shelter franchise agreement with Clear Channel Adshell. From July 2006 until the time of his appointment at OPM, Etzkorn served as DDOT’s Deputy Director. 

Before joining DDOT, Etzkorn worked for the St. Louis Development Corporation, the City of St. Louis’ economic development agency, where he directed a $50-plus million portfolio of economic development projects, including a downtown arts loft district, streetscape and mixed-use improvements, transit-oriented development projects.  A major accomplishment was his direction of the effort to convince the Illinois Department of Transportation to redesign a new Mississippi River bridge so that the approaches conformed to the existing St. Louis City street grid. 

Etzkorn started his public service career in Washington as a Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and was Congressional Liaison and then Counselor to the Vice Chair at the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

Etzkorn has a BA in history from Washington University in St. Louis and a JD (cum laude) from Saint Louis University, where he was editor-in-chief of the Saint Louis University Public Law Review.  He is a member of the Missouri Bar and has completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.