The Community Development Department in Covington has a new director everyone knows very well, Richard Hart.

The 64-year-old Hart was appointed to the position of director of the department by City Manager Derek Matheson following the resignation of David Nemens, the former director.

Nemens had served as director of the department since 2006 and decided it was time for a career change.

Hart has been with the department as planning manager for more than four years and stated he has worked in the planning profession for 34 years.

Before landing in Covington, Hart was director of development in Mercer Island. His career in planning spanned from Oklahoma to New Mexico to Alaska.

Hart also worked as a middle school and high school teacher in Dallas Texas for nine years teaching social studies, history and geography.

At college in Oklahoma he was studying architecture, but switched to community planning when he realized, “I wanted to plan whole cities rather than one building.”

Hart is well versed in the challenges facing Covington after working for the past two years on the downtown zoning and design regulations for the city.

“The challenges are going to be implementing the vision of the City Council in the new downtown with the economy still lagging behind,” Hart said. “But I can only say great things about the staff in the Community Development Department. I am just one of the team members. And it is a pleasure to work with the Planning Commission, City Council and city manager.”