Head of Community Development Commission/Housing Authority Retires July 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact:  Elisa Vásquez, County CDC, 323-890-7415 (o)

 

 

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RETIRES

 

Interim Appointment Announced

 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA --- July 7, 2008.  At last week’s meeting, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of William K. Huang, as Interim Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission/Housing Authority (CDC).  Carlos Jackson, the current Executive Director, announced his retirement in April, effective July 7, 2008.

Mr. Jackson has held the position of Executive Director since 1991.  He originally joined the CDC in June 1983 and occupied various management positions within the organization.  Prior to his career with the CDC, Mr. Jackson was the Assistant City Manager of Compton and served on Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s executive staff.  In addition, he was Assistant Dean of Students at Stanford University and held an administrative position with the School of Public Administration at the University of Southern California.  Mr. Jackson received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from California State University Los Angeles, and earned a Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.  He currently lectures as a part-time instructor of Public Administration at California State University Dominguez Hills. 

During his tenure, Mr. Jackson oversaw the fourth largest public housing authority in the Country, responsible for administering 21,000 Section 8 vouchers and 3,200 public housing units.  Additionally, he brought innovative services to residents living in the
Housing Authority’s public housing developments, such as job training, Youth in Focus, a program that exposes youth to visual arts through photography, and a Crime and Safety Unit, which reduced crime in County operated public housing sites.

Another innovative program introduced by Mr. Jackson is “The Growing Experience,” a community garden and joint program of the Housing Authority and the University of California Cooperative Extension.  Over 60 low-income families who are residents of the Carmelitos Housing Development, located in Long Beach, have their own individual raised plot in the community garden.

Mr. Jackson also administered the largest Urban County Community Development Block Grant program in the nation, rated excellent by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as other community, economic and housing development programs, such as the City of Industry Funds (Industry Funds).  Industry Funds, tax increment set-asides, serve as a financing resource for the development of affordable rental and single family and special needs housing.  During his tenure, 6,049 units were produced, totaling over $1.2 billion in leveraged funding. 

Various County sponsored economic development projects were also successful under Mr. Jackson’s leadership, including the development of a shopping center and introduction of the first major market (Farm Fresh) in the West Altadena Community Redevelopment Project Area, La Alameda Shopping Center, a $64 million, 18.3-acre project that combines 220,000 square feet of retail space with 18,000 square feet of office space in the Walnut Park Revitalization area, and a fruitful partnership with the City of Santa Fe Springs and Golden Springs Development Company to finance the transformation of a defunct oil refinery and storage tank farm into Golden Springs Economic Development Project, which created over 3,500 jobs.

William K. Huang has been with the CDC since 2001, and has held the position of Director of the Housing Development and Preservation Division, since 2006.  As Director, he is responsible for the CDC’s affordable housing activities, as a lender and developer.  He was previously the Division’s Manager of Housing Development, where he oversaw the affordable housing loan funds used to develop affordable rental, homeowner and special needs housing.

Prior to joining the CDC, Mr. Huang headed-up the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s community development, lending and tax credit investment work in California.  In that role, he was involved with urban revitalization in the downtown L.A. historic core, and with the community development and historic preservation in surrounding communities such as Highland Park and Pasadena. 

Mr. Huang is a licensed architect in California, and has a Master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.  He has been the recipient of numerous professional awards for architecture, public service, historic preservation and community development.  He was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2001 by the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

 

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