Staff and Contacts
Lee Padrick, Chief Planner. Lee, born and raised in Lenoir County, started his planning career in 1994 with the City of Kinston and began working with DCA in 1997. He holds a B.S. in Pre-law, a M.P.A. in public administration, and a M.A. in geography, all from East Carolina University. He is a member of the Coastal Resources Advisory Commission and an appointed representative to the North Carolina American Planning Association Executive Board. His areas of expertise include coastal area management, land use planning, board training, facilitation, and GIS. He can be reached at lpadrick@nccommerce.com
Charles Halsall, Jr., Senior Planner. Chuck came to the Division of Community Assistance in March of 2006. Prior to joining DCA, Chuck was employed with the City of Greenville first as a mitigation planner assisting in the recovery efforts following Hurricane Floyd and then within the code enforcement division. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chuck moved to North Carolina after earning a B.S. in Regional Planning from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Professional interests include: planning law/theory, land-use planning, hazard mitigation, site planning and design, among others. He can be reached at chalsall@nccommerce.com
Rufus D. Smith III (Trey), Community Development Planner. Trey came to the Division of Community Assistance in June of 2008. Prior to joining DCA, Trey was employed with the City of Roanoke Rapids as a City Planner for six years. Born and raised in Washington, North Carolina. Trey graduated from East Carolina University with a B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning with concentrations in Economic Development and Policy Issues. Professional interests include: strategic planning, group facilitation, land-use planning and GIS mapping. He can be reached at tsmith@nccommerce.com
Debra Hawkins, Administrative Assistant. The Northeastern Regional Office receives administrative support from Debra, who often travels with the staff when they facilitate meetings. She is an expert at analyzing surveys and using advanced technology to graph and plot the results. Debra joined the staff in the winter of 2006 and has been with the state for 18-years. Aside from being the backbone of the office, her smiling face is the first you see when you walk through the NERO doors. She can be reached at dhawkins@nccommerce.com
Please feel free to contact us Monday-Friday between the hours of 8am-5pm at (252) 974-1308 or fax us at (252) 974-2900