Apartment Exec to Lead City Housing Department: David Mincberg Will Only Serve in the Position on an Interim Basis
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 November 2006, 06:00 CST
By Mike Snyder, Houston Chronicle
Nov. 28--Mayor Bill White has named Houston apartment industry executive David Mincberg interim director of the city's Housing and Community Development Department.
Mincberg, who has advised the city on multifamily housing issues since July, will run the department until White finds a successor for Milton Wilson Jr., who resigned last month. Mincberg, the chairman and chief executive of Flagship Properties Corp., said he doesn't want to be considered for the permanent job.
Mincberg said he hopes to bring several policy initiatives to fruition while he heads the department, including a federally funded project to renovate rundown apartment developments in five neighborhoods and an ordinance requiring that apartments be inspected every three years to ensure they meet minimum habitability standards.
White also has asked him to develop plans for a city-sponsored single-room occupancy apartment development to be built in 2007, Mincberg said. The small apartments are a key part of a plan to develop more permanent, supported housing to reduce Houston's population of chronically homeless.
Wilson, 62, stepped down after two years as head of a department that for years had been one of the most troubled areas of city government. Wilson said he had accomplished most of the goals established when White recruited him to overcome the department's management problems and resolve disputes with federal officials that had limited funding for local projects.
Mincberg, 56, said he will devote at least 40 hours a week to his city job while continuing to play a role in the management of Flagship Properties. He said an associate at the firm will handle most day-to-day management duties while he works at City Hall.
Mincberg, a native Houstonian and former Harris County Democratic Party chairman, is the husband of Lainie Gordon, the Houston Chronicle's marketing director. He said White offered him a salary to temporarily run the housing department but he chose to donate his time.
mike.snyder@chron.com
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Copyright (c) 2006, Houston Chronicle
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Source: Houston Chronicle
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