(Philadelphia - December 20, 2011) - The Philadelphia Housing Authority has filled two key positions to complete the restaffing of its Office of General Counsel with the hiring of Laurence Redican and Joffie Pittman.

Mr. Redican has joined the agency as Deputy General Counsel for Transactions, Regulatory, and Administrative Matters. Mr. Redican will supervise and handle all matters other than litigation, labor, and employment matters.

Prior to his arrival at PHA, Mr. Redican served as the Deputy General Counsel for Corporate Affairs at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and was responsible for leading a staff of 17 employees, including 14 attorneys. His group prepared or reviewed over 2,000 contracts, leases, concessions, franchises, sealed bids, and competitive solicitations annually. He also served on the agency's Environmental Sustainability and Energy Conservation Committee, which focuses on improving energy efficiency and environmental practices.

Mr. Redican began working for NYCHA in April 2000 and had held several other positions in that agency's legal department related to contractual matters. Before that, he worked for the town of Oyster Bay, NY as Assistant Town Attorney and the Nassau County Board of Supervisors as a legislative intern. Mr. Redican is a graduate of St. John's School of Law and SUNY-Binghamton.

Joffie Pittman has been named Deputy General Counsel for Labor Relations at PHA. Most recently, he served as Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), the nation's largest municipally owned natural gas utility. Mr. Pittman started with the utility in 1999 as a Senior Attorney and Labor Relations Manager before taking on the director's role in 2005.

From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Pittman served as Assistant City Solicitor, handling civil rights litigation in federal and state court on behalf of the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Prison System. He also represented the City on various labor matters and served as legal counsel to the Mayor's Office of Transportation and the Philadelphia International Airport.

Mr. Pittman received his undergraduate degree in business administration from Howard University and his Juris Doctor from Temple University School of Law. He serves as the president of the West Mount Airy Neighbors Association and on the Chestnut Hill Academy Board of Trustees.

Mr. Pittman begins his work with PHA on January 2^nd and will be the third and, for now, final Deputy General Counsel alongside Mr. Redican and Sherry Swirsky, Deputy General Counsel for Litigation. PHA hired Ms. Swirsky in October. She is responsible all litigation matters for the Authority. Ms. Swirsky also manages the process of developing the capacity to handle more litigation in-house as PHA works to reduce its expenditures for outside legal work. She had served as General Counsel of the School District of Philadelphia before her arrival at the housing authority. The starting salary for all three Deputies is $140,000.

PHA's Office of General Counsel is led by Barbara Adams, former General Counsel for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The restructuring and staffing of the agency's legal department is part of its recovery plan to address deficiencies in operations and governance. All Recovery Plan activities are initially scheduled for completion by March 31, 2012, with HUD restoring the agency from receivership to local control.

The housing authority has also hired Tracey D. Reid as the new Equal Employment Opportunity Officer. Since 2000, Ms. Reid has worked at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission as a Human Relations Representative reviewing and investigating complaints of discrimination. She is a graduate of Mansfield University and Girl's High School of Philadelphia. Ms. Reid will start her new position on December 27^th. Her salary will be $75,000 per year.