The Pima County Development Services has appointed Lauren Ortega as the deputy director overseeing building and site development. 

This follows Yves Khawam’s transfer to the Pima County Department of Transportation.

Ortega’s responsibilities involve overseeing various aspects of building and site development, including evaluating building permits; reviewing subdivision plats; grading construction plans for environmental quality; overseeing transportation; and supervising regional wastewater reclamation.

Ortega graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and from the University of Arizona with a master’s degree in business administration. She is a registered professional civil engineer. Her work experience includes Pima County site division leadership since 2015, and she was the public works director/city engineer for the City of Douglas.

Ortega will work alongside Chris Poirier who was named deputy director/planning official last year.

Poirier has extensive experience, having worked mostly as a zoning inspector for Pima County for 19 years. He attended the University of Arizona, graduating with a bachelor’s in regional development and a master’s in urban planning.