Shaun Donovan, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, visited the Roosevelt House for a Youth Roundtable before heading back to D.C. As the youngest member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, Donovan has been actively involved in changing the face of housing and urban development in New York City, in particular affordable housing for low-income individuals. Jennifer J. Raab, President of Hunter College, introduced Donovan, mentioning how appropriate it was for the US HUD Secretary to be at the Roosevelt House, a historical building that was renovated under her direction and re-opened last year to the public.
Donovan’s opening remarks focused on the beginnings of his political career and discovered his passion for housing and urban development. As a Harvard graduate with two Masters degrees, one in Public Administration and another in Architecture, he used his talents to help improve federally assisted housing, which in turn provide a foundation for safer neighborhoods. Drawing from his own experiences, Donovan advised students in attendance to consider working in the public sector and opened the floor for questions. Jonathan Fanton, a Franklin Delano Roosevelt Visiting Fellow at Roosevelt House, mediated the discussion.
A student studying urban planning at the CUNY Graduate Center inquired about the enforcement of Section 3, a program implemented by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to hire residents in the area to assist in construction. Donovan maintained that Section 3 was created to help foster better families and more prosperous businesses in the area. He asserted that Section 3 is a good idea in theory but may be harder to carry out because construction companies do not report every single project they are currently working. However, the government is taking measures to correct this by asking companies to report all existing projects.
A Hunter College student studying education asked about the role of education in housing and urban development. Donovan sustained that a focus on education would always be important, especially with regards to poorer neighborhoods that lack good schools and have a low rate of graduation. He says that too often children from low-income families receive a poor education due to their zip code. With NYCHA developing a neighborhood’s infrastructure, Donovan believes it will in turn bring in more federal funding and increase the level of education provided in zone schools.
At the conclusion of the Youth Roundtable, Emily Apple, a current Macaulay student at Hunter College and daughter of Housing Preservation and Development First Deputy Commissioner Douglas Apple, presented Donovan with a Hunter sweatshirt, while Raab urged him to consider all the immigrants attending Hunter College and bring that thought with him to D.C. when supporting the DREAM Act, a bill that aims to provide conditional residency to undocumented immigrants who have graduated from high school in the U.S.
