City of Columbia City Manager De’Carlon Seewood chose William Rataj as the next Housing and Neighborhood Services Director, the city announced in a press release on Wednesday. Rataj will assume the role on Sept. 29, replacing acting director Leigh Kottwitz.
Rataj has over 29 years of experience in community development, including over a decade as director of housing with the city of St. Louis. He is a certified housing development finance professional and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
“I am extremely excited to join the city of Columbia as the Housing and Neighborhood Services director. The city has a wonderful team of dedicated professionals who work very hard every day in the realms of affordable housing, code enforcement and by providing community services through their volunteer programs,” Rataj said in the press release. “These services are vitally important to the community as they help to make Columbia a better place to live, work, play, thrive and grow. I cannot wait to get started and begin working with not only the city staff, but also their numerous community partners as we collectively work towards our shared goals of improving Columbia.”
