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Obama Teams Casting a Wide Net
at Financial-Planning.com Obama's choice for Housing and Urban Development would likely revitalize the department, according to sources who contend it has lost its focus on helping communities with affordable housing initiatives in favor of home ownership under the Bush administration."The first way to start making things better is stop making them worse," said Anthony Freedman, a tax lawyer with Holland & Knight LLP here.
During the past eight years, the White House has tried to severely cut funding for, or kill, several HUD programs that provide funds used in conjunction with bonds, claiming the programs are inefficient. The administration has tried to downsize the community development block grant program, which provides grants to state and local governments to fund economic development projects financed by muni bonds. It has tried to abolish the HOPE VI program, which provides grants to public housing authorities to demolish severely distressed public housing units and replace them with mixed-use, mixed-income developments. The grants are often used as leverage for projects that are financed with tax-exempt bonds.
Freedman contends an Obama administration would fully fund the CDBG program and "provide a sufficient budget for the department to function."
Obama and Democratic lawmakers could put HUD in a better position to work on new affordable housing initiatives, he said.
"Those two factors would lend to a significantly increased role for HUD and really a serious effort to rebuild the department's capacity," Freedman said. "I think there are a lot of department alumni who have hopes for a resurrected Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can only imagine what a reinvigorated HUD could do."
Another housing advocate agreed. "Regardless of who it is - and we're not pushing anyone - we won't have to play defense as we've had to do the past eight years," he said.
Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin are among the leading candidates for the top HUD [pst, with Diaz currently thought to be the favorite for the position, according to housing sources.
Diaz, a Cuban native who immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old, has served as Miami's mayor since 2001. During his tenure, he oversaw the city's bond rating upgraded from junk to single-A by all three rating agencies. Since 2008, he also has served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Due to term limits, Diaz's tenure as Miami mayor will end in 2009.
Franklin has served as Atlanta's mayor since 2001, and has been praised for reining in the city's budget deficit and repairing its ailing sewer system.
Other names mentioned for the post include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Saul Ramirez Jr., a former deputy HUD secretary and executive director of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, Bronx borough president Adolfo Carrion Jr., and Nelson Diaz, a former judge and HUD general counsel.
Vallaraigosa told reporters last week that while he spoke with Obama about positions in the new administration, he will not accept any because he wants to stay on as mayor.
Shaun Donovan—who left his position as chairman of the New York City Housing Development Corp. and commissioner of the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development to work on the Obama campaign—has been mentioned for a "high post" in HUD, though sources have indicated he would not get the top spot. More HERE
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