Director
James Jackson, Director of Public Works
Mr. Jackson has more than 17 years of experience in the public works field, with 10 of those years serving as director for the
cities of Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan as well as Wayne County, Michigan. Jackson holds a Bachelor's Degree from Knoxville
College, TN and received a Master’s Degree in General Government from Columbus State University, GA. Jackson was nominated as
"Public Official of the Year" for Governing Magazine in 2010 and "Public Works Director of the Year" for American City & County
Magazine in 2009. Jackson also served as a 1st Lieutenant with the United States Marine Corps.
Executive Team
Letitia Shelton, Deputy Director of Finance and Administration
Letitia Shelton has been a city employee for 14 years. Since 2007 she served as the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration for
the Department of Public Works. In that capacity She supervised the financial operations (accounts payables, general accounting,
procurement services, budgets and grants) and the Capital Program. It was Ms. Shelton's responsibility to ensure the department stayed
within budget by implementing internal goals and constraints and by monitoring all appropriation statements on a monthly basis to
control expenditures.
Prior to joining DPW, Ms. Shelton was the Rates Manager for the Department of Public Utilities for nine years. She is a graduate of Averett
University with a Bachelor in Accounting and a Masters in Business Administration.
M.S. Khara, City Engineer – Deputy Director II
Mr. Khara is the Capital Projects Administrator for DPW. He is responsible for managing and administering design and construction
of roadway, bridge and streetscape projects funded through city, state and federal funds. He also manages the
Urban Construction Initiative for the city of Richmond. He is responsible for delivering safe, efficient and effective
transportation projects on time and within budget. Presently he is also overseeing Permit and Right-of-Way Management and the
Facilities Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) functional areas. He has over 24 years of experience working with state, county and city
governments. He has been working with the city for 13 years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in
Chandigarh, India and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Virginia.
Thomas E. Flynn, city Transportation Engineer
Mr. Flynn, P.E. is the head of DPW's Transportation Engineering division. He manages a planning, engineering, and operations
staff of 45. His team is responsible for city roadway operations, signals, signage and pavement markings. Prior to joining the
city of Richmond in 2007, Mr. Flynn was Transportation Program Director for Draper Aden Associates for six years. Prior to this
position, he was the Vice-President of Wilbur Smith Associates. Thomas Flynn holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Duke University,
and a M.S. in Civil Engineering specializing in University Transportation from North Carolina State University. He holds
Professional Engineer certification in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.
Sharon North, Public Information Manager
Ms. North serves as the Public Information Manager for the Department of Public Works. In this capacity she is responsible for
all internal and external communications; public relations; media relations; publicity; departmental newsletter and web content.
She is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years experience in print, broadcast and new media. She has worked at CNN
in Atlanta, ABC in New York and in various local television markets. She came to DPW in August 2008 from a contract position
as a Health Communications Specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Sharon holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Speech-Telecommunication from Youngstown State University and a Master of Arts in Mass Media Communication from the
University of Akron.
Jackie Howie, CPS/CAP Executive Assistant to the Director
Ms. Howie serves as the Executive Assistant to the Director. She is responsible for managing the Director's appointments, all
correspondence to and from his office, receipt of departmental reports. She prepares the director's monthly report to the CAO, and
receives/assigns/tracks service request escalations and citizen complaints to the Director. Jackie also leads the department's
Recognition Program and is the project manager for the department's Re-Accreditation Project through the American Public Works
Association.
Jan Person, Administrative Program Support Specialist
Ms. Person serves as the administrative support for the DPW leadership team. She is the initial contact citizens see upon
entering the main DPW offices. Jan also answers the director's main phone line and implements the correspondence log and director's
assignment log to ensure that citizens receive official response on DPW initiatives within 7 to 10 working days.
