President nominates new housing secretary.

Following the March resignation of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alfonso Jackson, President Bush announced that Small Business Administration (SBA) Chief Steve Preston will be his nominee to take over as the new HUD Secretary.

During his tenure at SBA, Preston was responsible for revamping the agency's Disaster Assistance Program after Hurricane Katrina, which provides loans to homeowners, renters and businesses after a disaster. As part of the revamping effort, SBA sought to deepen its relationship with local and state government groups, including NLC. Prior to his SBA appointment, Preston was executive vice president of the ServiceMaster Co., and had been a senior executive with First Data Corp., and investment house Lehman Brothers.

If confirmed by the Senate, many challenges await the new HUD secretary. First, the new secretary must clean up the image of HUD following the resignation of Jackson, who left amid allegations of corruption and political favoritism. Second, HUD is central to the Administration's efforts to overcome the home foreclosure crisis and stabilize the housing market. Third, the new secretary must work to rebuild relationships with Congressional leaders that have grown skeptical of HUD's ability to carry out its mission.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who chair the HUD oversight committees, have both been critical of HUD under Jackson.

In talking about the current mortgage finance crisis, Frank has said, "HUD has fallen far short of playing the constructive role that is required."

Deputy HUD Secretary Roy Bernardi, a former mayor of Syracuse, N.Y., has been promoted to acting HUD Secretary until Preston or another nominee is confirmed.