Roanoke native Earl Reynolds announced his resignation from the city's Redevelopment and Housing Authority staff on Wednesday, three months after he was passed over for the organization's top job.

Reynolds, the deputy executive director, is leaving the authority at the end of the month.

He said he's pursuing other managerial opportunities, but declined to elaborate. Reynolds said his departure is amicable, and he was complimentary of the new executive director, Ellis Henry.

Reynolds said Henry, the authority's first black director, has already brought new perspective and, under his leadership, "good things are going to happen."

"Roanoke is a great community," Reynolds said. "Folks need to be very proud of it. And they need to be protective of it."

In a short news release issued by the authority Wednesday, Henry said: "Earl has served this organization since December 2003. He will be greatly missed, and we wish him every success in his next career endeavor."

Reynolds, 55, was hired by John Baker, the recently retired executive director, in 2003. Reynolds was the city manager of Martinsville at the time.

After Baker announced his retirement last year, the authority's board of commissioners launched a national search for his successor. In April the board reduced a candidate pool to two finalists and did not include Reynolds. His elimination drew the ire of Roanoke's NAACP chapter, which criticized the authority board and other city leaders for the decision to pass on Reynolds' credentials, including his Roanoke ties and a long career of public service.

Reynolds said Wednesday that he's proud of several authority projects, finished and ongoing, with which he's been involved, including the Miller's Hill housing project near downtown.

Dan Hale, local president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Wednesday that he was disappointed to hear of Reynolds' resignation, but knew that was likely going to happen when Reynolds wasn't chosen for the director's post.

"I really thought he got a raw deal," Hale said. "I don't know how to put it any other way than that."

Hale, however, said the NAACP is willing to work with Henry, especially if the new director is willing to meet with the organization and discuss its concerns.

Members of the authority's board of commissioners have stood by the process they used to select Henry.

Vice Chairman Christie Meredith Wills said she and her colleagues learned of Reynolds' resignation through the authority's news release.

"I wish him well."