Interim homeless strategy officer named following Dianna Grey's resignation

David Gray
Provided By City of Austin

Austin American-Statesman
Ella McCarthy, Austin American-Statesman
September 6, 2023

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza has named an interim homeless strategy officer after Dianna Grey, who has held the position for two years, told her supervisor she was resigning. David Gray, who was previously the assistant director in the city's Economic Development Department, will assume the role effective immediately.

Grey's resignation came just weeks after the city allocated a record $80.9 million to address the growing homelessness issue which experts say is now affecting around 5,000 people in Austin. Per her resignation letter, her last day will be Sept. 29.

In June, Garza appointed Gray to temporarily oversee the homeless strategy office and focus "on the broad spectrum of programs, policies, and funding the City utilizes to address this issue," according to a June memo from Garza.

"Gray has been serving in a special assignment capacity, focused on evaluating our entire organizational structure – spanning many departments – tasked with addressing the very complex issue of homelessness," Garza said in a Sept. 1 memo to the mayor and City Council saying he asked Gray to serve as the interim homeless strategy officer.

In a post on LinkedIn, Gray shared the news of his new position and said, "In this role, I will help Austin advance City programs and cross-agency collaborations to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring."

"I think Diana's resignation came as a surprise to all of us," Gray told the American-Statesman. "Since the interim city manager already had me on the special assignment, working with Dianna and the team on our comprehensive homelessness strategy, we felt like it made sense from a stability standpoint for me to take the role."

After her decision to resign, Grey spoke exclusively with the Statesman and said it "was really about where I am personally and professionally," adding, "it wasn't about any concrete change here at the city."

Garza has said he is sorry to see her go in both statements and an interview with the Statesman.

“I think she decided that it was time for her to step off of the speeding bullet, because it's a lot of work,” Garza told the American-Statesman.

Grey was the city of Austin's second homeless strategy officer. She was appointed in January 2021 to lead the city's efforts to address homelessness and oversaw the opening of three city-run shelters and the allocation of over $100 million during her two years in the job.

"I know that my team will be prepared to support an interim (leader) when that happens and to continue the work going forward really without skipping much of a beat," Grey said in her interview with the Statesman.

This story has been updated with additional information.