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Donovan to lead department of housing
President-elect Barack Obama yesterday named New York City's housing commissioner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, turning to a former Clinton administration aide with a national reputation for developing affordable housing.
- AP
- Published: 23:45 December 13, 2008
Chicago: President-elect Barack Obama yesterday named New York City's housing commissioner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, turning to a former Clinton administration aide with a national reputation for developing affordable housing.
Obama praised Shaun Donovan for his record at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where he managed a $7.5 billion (Dh27.54 billion) plan that put a half million New Yorkers in affordable housing. The Harvard-educated architect also kept foreclosures away from New York's low and moderate-income home ownership plan, with just five foreclosures out of 17,000 participating homes.
Fresh ideas
"We can't keep throwing money at the problem, hoping for a different result," Obama said during his radio address released early yesterday. "We need to approach the old challenge of affordable housing with new energy, new ideas, and a new, efficient style of leadership. We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won't do."
Obama said the mortgage crisis has threatened cities, but it also provides a chance to rethink how the Cabinet agency can help urban residents. He said Donovan, who also has a graduate degree in public service from Harvard, will bring "fresh thinking unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas."
Obama's selection of Donovan marks the 11th post he has filled in his cabinet, in just over a month since his election.
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