Oakland appoints new homelessness administrator

The city of Oakland on Thursday announced the appointment of its new homelessness administrator.

Daniel A. Cooper has more than 10 years of experience as a public health professional and has an extensive background in addressing social determinants of health through housing, homelessness and policy, city officials said in a statement released Thursday.

Cooper will take over for Assistant City Administrator LaTonda Simmons, who has been serving as the acting homelessness administrator for the past year.

Cooper will work as a liaison to internal city staff and external agencies, he will lead the city’s Encampment Management Response teams, support broad policy development, coordinate homeless interventions across city departments and facilitate the transition of the city’s unsheltered population into homeless shelters and housing programs, officials said.

Cooper comes to Oakland from Charlotte, North Carolina, where he worked as a division director for the Mecklenburg County Government.