Duriya Farooqui Named City's Interim COO, Replacing Peter Aman

From Patch Reports

Duriya M. Farooqui will serve as the city of Atlanta's interim chief operating officer, replacing , who is returnng to the private sector as scheduled.

Mayor Kasim Reed's office announced the appoointment this week of Farooqui, effective Dec. 9. Aman, a Buckhead resident, is ending his two-year commitment to the city to return to Bain and Co. Reed is to announce a permanent COO next summer after conducting an executive search.

Farooqui is currently the city’s deputy chief operating officer, overseeing several departments including Public Works; Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs; Planning and Community Development; Information Technology; and the Office of Program Management, according to the announcement from the mayor's office.

Since joining Reed’s administration in 2010, Farooqui managed development of Reed’s first budget proposal, which included funds to hire 100 police officers and reopen all of the city’s recreation centers and pools, the announcment from the mayor's office said. She also led the city’s negotiations in 2010 with Delta Air Lines and other carriers that amended their lease agreement with the city, adding $30 million in airport revenues. This resulted in the timely financing of the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal, which will open in spring 2012.

, which was unanimously approved by the Atlanta City Council in June 2011 and is projected to save the city $500 million over 30 years, the mayor's office said.

She received a master's in public administration and international development from the Kennedy School at Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in economics and mathematics from Hampshire College. Farooqui moved to Atlanta from the Boston area in 2004 and lives near Candler Park with her husband and two young sons, Nyle and Omair.