Contact: Denise Turner
Phone: 336-373-2002

GREENSBORO, NC (November 5, 2010) – Greensboro City Manager Rashad Young has named Julia McNeil Danish as the new City Attorney. Danish’s selection concludes the City’s national search, which included a phone interview with each of the finalists, a leadership assessment evaluation, and interview panels with the executive staff, city department heads and the staff of the City Attorney’s office.

According to Young, Danish’s breadth of experience and varied background provides the City with the opportunity to chart a new course for the role of City Attorney in Greensboro. Young says that Danish will continue to lead the City in state legislative planning while also engaging in the federal legislative and the City’s overall strategic planning process. “We wanted a City attorney who not only could focus on matters of law and provide good advice to the City Council, but who also could contribute to the strategy formulation and development necessary to implement the City Council’s policy and agenda.”

Danish comes to the City of Greensboro from Cincinnati, where she served as vice president for government affairs for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. She also has worked with municipalities as city solicitor for the City of Cincinnati and director of law for Dayton, Ohio.

As city solicitor, she led a staff of over 80 individuals and managed a $4 million department budget. As manager of this office, she simultaneously served as the chief legal advisor to the City’s elected officials and departments that consisted of over 6,000 employees, served as prosecuting attorney for the municipal court and oversaw the division of real estate responsible for acquisition, management and sale of real property, business and family relocation, and the levying of assessments. Her legal work also includes stints as the civil rights section chief for the Ohio State Attorney General’s office, chief legal counsel for the Ohio State Department of Commerce and as assistant deputy legal counsel for the Office of the Governor of Ohio.

According to Young, the City interviewed several well-qualified candidates for the position, but the desire to expand the City Attorney’s role and Danish’s unique background led to the decision to offer her the position. “Julia’s balanced experience working within the collective bargaining environment, police and community relations, municipal general counsel roles, along with her role in state government and work in intergovernmental relations with the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce made her stand out as the lead candidate in the selection process.”

A graduate of The Ohio State University College of Law, Danish will begin her work with the City of Greensboro on December 16, 2010. She is also admitted to appear before the United States Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Ohio, U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Young has provided Danish with two years in which to sit for the North Carolina State Bar.

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The City works with the community to improve the quality of life for residents through inclusion, diversity, and trust. As the seventh largest employer in Greensboro, the City has a professional staff of 2,800 employees who maintain the values of honesty, integrity, stewardship, and respect. The City is governed by a council-manager form of government with a mayor and eight council members. For more information on the City, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov or call 336-373-CITY (2489).