President-elect Barack Obama has nominated New York City housing official Shaun Donovan to be his secretary of Housing and Urban Development, turning to a former Clinton administration official to help fight the impact of foreclosures in distressed cities.

Obama made the announcement in his weekly radio address on Saturday. He praised Donovan’s role in helping create the largest municipal housing plan in the country. As commissioner of New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Donovan managed a $7.5 billion plan that put a half-million New Yorkers in affordable housing.

Obama says the mortgage crisis has threatened cities, but also provides a chance to rethink how the Cabinet agency helps residents.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg had the following to say about the appointment:

“President-elect Obama’s nomination of the City’s Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a testament to the innovative programs our Administration has developed, under Shaun’s leadership, to create and preserve affordable housing for the next generation of hard-working New Yorkers. It’s also a great indication of how serious President-Elect Obama is about developing bold new solutions for our nation’s cities and towns.

“Shaun has been the architect of many of the programs that are bringing the ambitious 165,000 unit New Housing Marketplace plan-the largest in the nation-to fruition.  Shaun’s approach is as practical as it is passionate-he has moved our focus beyond the old public sector driven solutions by giving the starring role to the private and non-profit sectors. He put his considerable intellect to work in finding creative new ways to help private and non-profit developers move further into the affordable housing arena. Shaun turned upside down the usual excuses for failing to help working families find affordable housing and he has shown that we can do more with less-especially in these difficult times.  I, personally, will miss him, but I look forward to building on our strong partnership in his new role.

“Shaun Donovan’s record of service has left an imprint on our city that will last and that many others will be able to continue to build on.  While this country is in the midst of a crisis with regard to housing, it’s heartening that President-Elect Obama has made the best choice he possibly could for HUD and for the country.”

(Dov Gordon – YWN NYC)