On Oct. 18, the city of Highland Village announced the hiring of Phil Lozano as the new Parks and Recreation director.

Lozano will assume the role on Nov. 6. The previous director, Linda Cornelious, accepted a job in the city of Bryan in October.

“Mr. Lozano’s experience in a wide range of events from World Cup Soccer to Fourth of July and fishing tournaments will continue our drive to make Highland Village's Parks and Recreation an added benefit for our residents. Mr. Lozano also brings an excellence in professional development that I see will help our City staff to achieve their personal career development goals as well as progressing the active dialog with our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to develop and enhance the City’s Park facilities,” said City Manager Michael Leavitt in a news release.

Previously employed by the city of DeSoto as assistant director of Parks and Recreation, Lozano has developed and managed recreation facilities and programs, sports activities and parks. Along with serving as assistant director of Parks and Recreation for the city of DeSoto, Lozano has also worked for Richardson ISD, the city of Allen and the city of Dallas.