Irving attorney and long time community leader John Danish has been elected chair of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) board of directors. Danish succeeds Bill Velasco of Dallas.
Danish was appointed to the DART board in 2005. An attorney in private practice, Danish is a former Irving City Councilman, deputy mayor pro tem, and former chairman of the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission. He holds an undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in Illinois, and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
Board members also elected Robert Strauss vice chair. The Dallas attorney represents Dallas. Plano member Loretta Ellerbe was elected secretary and Dallas member Richard Carrizales assistant secretary. Officers serve one-year terms.
Strauss, a 2005 city of Dallas appointee to the DART board, is a partner in the Texas-based law firm of Strasburger & Price, L.L.P., Attorneys at Law. His primary areas of practice are real estate, housing and finance. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from New York University, a law degree from the Brooklyn Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College of the University of New York.
Ellerbe was appointed in 2008 by the Plano City Council. A former member of the Plano City Council, she is chair of the Operations committee of the board and has served as a member of the Administrative, Ethics and Revenue committees.
Carrizales was appointed in 2010 by the Dallas City Council. He is past president of the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas and a past board member of the Dallas Volunteer Center, Dallas Bar Association and Dallas County Youth Village Foundation. He holds an undergraduate degree in education from the University of North Texas, a graduate degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a law degree from Texas Southern University in Houston.
