DHA'S NEW CHAIRMAN USSERY KNOWS THE CHALLENGES
Dallas Morning News - 11/12/2008 - by James Ragland
I've spent a week trying to figure out why Terdema Ussery, the executive point man for our local NBA franchise, agreed to team up with the Dallas Housing Authority. Maybe you didn't see the mayor's memo. It came down last week when most of us were focused on who would capture the White House. Mr. Ussery, who has flown beneath the public radar for much of his dozen years as president and CEO of your Dallas Mavericks, agreed to lead a housing agency board that has been riddled with problems. Still, the surprising move creates a potentially unholy alliance for Mr. Ussery in a city that doesn't have much of a political stomach for public housing. At first glance, it doesn't seem like a particularly good fit for a man with no political ambitions, one who prefers to stay out of the limelight. But a closer look at Mr. Ussery serves as a humbling reminder that he didn't always live in a prestigious Preston Hollow neighborhood with the blessed ability to send his kids to the finest private schools in Dallas. No, long before the 49-year-old business maverick picked up his bachelor's degree from Princeton, his master's from Harvard and his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, he lived another life, one that may come into play in his new role. Mr. Ussery grew up in South Central Los Angeles, across from Nickerson Gardens, the largest public-housing development west of the Mississippi River. Tough neighborhood, in case you're wondering. "It was a long time ago," he concedes, quickly pointing out that he never forgot his roots or the people who helped him along the way. "We can't afford to discard any child anywhere ? and what I mean by that is that you never know where the next doctor is going to come from." Or the next Terdema Ussery. "Growing up where I did, I'm an example of people all along in my life extending a hand to me," said Ms. Ussery, whose father toiled in and later owned a grocery store in Watts. "And that's what most people want ? to live a better life." Mr. Ussery wasn't raised in subsidized tenements ? "The only time I went to the projects was to get beat up, basically," he quipped ? but he lived close enough to recognize the challenges faced by those who did. To be sure, the housing agency is at a pivotal juncture now, having received three critical audits in the last year that showed lax accounting practices. This summer, president and executive director Ann Lott resigned under pressure. With the board set to name a new director this week, Mayor Tom Leppert stepped in to deal with the members whose terms had expired. He reappointed Tom Karol, the CEO of Bradco Supply Corp. But he replaced Chairwoman Betty Culbreath and Dallas banker Rod Washington. Mr. Ussery will be joined by businessman and architect Pedro Aguirre, who in 1973 became the second Hispanic elected to the City Council. "The Dallas Housing Authority is a great opportunity to make Dallas a better place for everybody," said Mr. Aguirre, 75, head of Aguirre Roden, an architectural and construction services company. "I hope we can be on the cutting edge." The shake-up slowed down the search for a new director, a critical hire for an agency sorting out how to leverage dwindling resources so it can afford to provide more affordable housing. And it will allow Mr. Ussery to prove his mettle in an entirely different arena. "I'm going to give it my best shot," he said. "It's not about me. It's about trying to make a difference in this city."
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