Dee Freeman
Secretary, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Gov. Beverly Perdue named Mr. Dee A. Freeman Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Jan. 6, 2009, as part of her new Cabinet and administration. Freeman is a career public servant having served 36 years as a city manager and regional council director. Over his many years of public service in North Carolina, Secretary Freeman’s experience spans a wide array of environmental stewardship, economic development interests, and, most of all, the professional administration of government services for the people of the Tar Heel State.

Secretary Freeman is a native of Lenoir and has managed four North Carolina cities during his career, including the city of Brevard and the city of Shelby. He concluded his service to local and regional government on Jan. 1, 2009, by retiring from his position as the executive director of the Triangle J Council of Governments in Research Triangle Park, an office he had held since 2000. In his professional management career Freeman has served on numerous state and national boards. Freeman is a past president of the North Carolina City & County Management Association, served as vice president of the National Association of Regional Councils, and is a past president of the North Carolina Association of Regional Council Directors, to just mention a few.

His professional activities involving the state are numerous and include service as a member of the N.C. General Assembly’s “Legislative Study Commission on Urban Growth and Infrastructure Issues” and the “Legislative Study Commission on Economic Development Infrastructure.” Freeman also served as a member of former Secretary Jonathan Howes’ Local Government Advisory Group for the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the "Assessment and Development Program for Excellence in Local Government Management" at the North Carolina State University MPA Program.

During his career at Triangle J, Secretary Freeman concentrated on issues of Water Resources, Sustainable Energy & Environment and Mobility. Water issues included the administration of Triangle J’s Jordan Lake and Falls Lake Stakeholder Projects, the Jordan Lake Nutrient Response Modeling Project (with the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments), oversight of the N.C. Clean Water Education Partnership within the Triangle, the Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Project, the Cape Fear Hydrologic Modeling Project and Triangle J’s Little River Riparian Corridor Conservation Plan. He was involved with the Upper Neuse River Basin Association and the Upper Cape Fear River Basin Association while executive director at Triangle J.

Secretary Freeman has been particularly interested in sustainable energy and environmental issues as rooted in his work with the Triangle’s development of a Green Building Technology Database, the development of “High Performance Buildings” (Green) standards, support of the Triangle Air Quality Partnership, and follow-up on Triangle J’s Industrial Ecosystems Project. He was involved in chartering the Triangle Clean Cities program at Triangle J and has supported its alternative fuels and congestion mitigation efforts. These efforts also involved initiating the Triangle Waste Reduction Partners Program, solid waste planning and administration of the Triangle Household Hazardous Waste Program. These activities collectively have great potential for enhancing environmental stewardship, while also laying the groundwork for new economic initiatives toward building a “New Green Economy” in North Carolina.

Mobility and transportation are critical issues for North Carolina, and the environment stands as a key element in meeting these concerns for the state’s residents. Secretary Freeman’s experience includes administration of the EPA’s Best Workplace for Commuters program in the Triangle, linking land-use with transportation planning such as used in the “Center of the Region Enterprise” (CORE) program at RTP, and development of the “Triangle GreenPrint” initiative to identify and plan for the Triangle’s open space and trails. His final initiative at Triangle J was the “Development and Infrastructure Partnership,” a program bringing local government, business and the Triangle’s four major research universities (Duke, Carolina, N.C. State and N.C. Central) together to plan for the Triangle’s future development needs linked to the necessary infrastructure required to assure a high quality of life within the region. He was involved with area MPO’s and RPO’s (urban and rural transportation planning organizations), while working very closely with the N.C. Department of Transportation and Triangle Transit.

While serving as a local government manager, Freeman administered the planning, design, construction and operation of numerous pollution control and abatement facilities. These included wastewater treatment plants, sewer collection systems, pretreatment facilities, water treatment and distribution facilities and much more. His experience also includes the administration of energy services for electric power generation and distribution, along with piped natural gas distribution. His activities further included management of numerous parks and recreation departments, recycling programs, affordable housing initiatives and regional emergency management and preparedness efforts.

Secretary Freeman has an MPA from Appalachian State University, a B.S. from N.C. State University, and he holds a Municipal Administration Certificate from the UNC School of Government in Chapel Hill. He is a “Credentialed Manager” as designated by the International City & County Management Association. Secretary Freeman is married to Emily Reynolds Freeman and they have three children and two grandchildren. Secretary and Mrs. Freeman reside in Raleigh.