HUD Fair-Housing Official Resigns to Run for Mayor of San Francisco

After two years as the federal government’s chief watchdog for fair housing, Roberta Achtenberg resigned from her position as an assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development to run for mayor of San Francisco.

“My experience at HUD has given me a national perspective on what works--and what doesn’t work in municipal government today,” Achtenberg said in announcing her resignation. “It is this knowledge that will help me develop innovative solutions to San Francisco’s problems.” Achtenberg, the first acknowledged lesbian to serve in high federal office, said her two years at HUD gave her insight into problems in San Francisco, where she once served as a member of the Board of Supervisors.

“I envision an activist, reform-minded city government that is reinvented to meet the needs of all its people,” said Achtenberg, a former civil rights attorney. “I envision a neighborhood-oriented City Hall that is aggressively seeking practical, innovative solutions. I envision a mayor’s office that acts as a catalyst to invigorate San Francisco’s economy.”

During her tenure at HUD, Achtenberg was responsible for enforcing the nation’s fair-housing laws and ensuring that the agency’s programs were administered fairly. She played a key role in the agency’s highly publicized forced integration of public housing in Vidor, Tex.

“Roberta’s sound judgment and dedication to civil rights and equal justice have made a substantial difference in the lives of many Americans that might otherwise have faced the obstacle of housing discrimination,” said HUD Secretary Henry G. Cisneros.