President of Bronx Could Get Cabinet Post

President of Bronx Could Get Cabinet Post - NYTimes.com

President of Bronx Could Get Cabinet Post

By JONATHAN P. HICKS

Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Bronx borough president, is being considered for a senior position in the Obama administration, possibly as secretary of housing and urban development, people involved in the transition said on Saturday.

Mr. Carrión was elected Bronx borough president in 2001 and re-elected in 2005. He is one of several prominent Hispanic officials reportedly under consideration for a cabinet post; Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who is considered the country’s most influential Hispanic politician, is a contender for secretary of commerce.

Mr. Carrión, 47, met with transition officials last week, but a decision on the selection of a housing secretary is not expected to be made before next month, people involved with the transition said.

Besides Mr. Carrión, the others being considered for housing secretary are believed to be Manny Diaz, the mayor of Miami, and Saul N. Ramirez Jr., the former mayor of Laredo, Tex., who was deputy housing secretary in the Clinton administration.

Initially, Mr. Carrión had supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primaries, as had many other elected officials in New York. However, after Senator Barack Obama secured the nomination, Mr. Carrión became an active supporter, campaigning on his behalf throughout the country, particularly in states with large Hispanic populations. He has also been mentioned as a possible appointee to Mrs. Clinton’s seat if she becomes secretary of state.

Before his election as borough president, Mr. Carrión was a member of the City Council. When he was elected to the Council in 1997, he operated a nonprofit health agency in the Bronx.

Mr. Carrión, who is also the president of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, has an extensive background in urban planning. He earned a master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College and worked for several years in the Bronx office of the Department of City Planning. He was also district manager of Community Board 5 in the Bronx.

Since becoming borough president, Mr. Carrión has emphasized making homeownership more affordable and developing new housing, particularly for moderate- and low-income residents of the Bronx.

The son of a minister, Mr. Carrión was an associate pastor at a church in the Bronx and later a public school teacher.

Though he had the support of the Bronx Democratic organization in the borough president race, he has not been particularly close to its leadership. He has been criticized by some party leaders in the Bronx, especially during his 2001 race for borough president, as trying to set his sights higher too quickly and without consulting party leaders.

The city’s now-amended term-limits law would have forced Mr. Carrión to leave his post at the end of next year, and he had planned to run for mayor in 2009, but he changed his mind a year ago and opted instead to run for comptroller. The City Council passed a bill in October sponsored by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to revise term limits and allow city officials to run for a third term.

Mr. Carrión did not return telephone messages on Saturday. But last week, apparently before meeting with transition officials, Mr. Carrion said that that his plans to run for comptroller were unchanged and that he would not run for re-election as borough president.

Since the term-limits vote, many Bronx Democrats wondered if Mr. Carrión would abandon his plans to run for comptroller and seek to keep his current position. Mr. Carrión said that he would not oppose the incumbent comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., but added that Mr. Thompson seemed firm in his plans to run for mayor next year.

Should Mr. Carrión become the housing secretary, his appointment would immediately alter the political landscape in New York City, recalibrating the races for both comptroller and Bronx borough president next year.

An appointment would remove a well-financed contender from the list of candidates for comptroller if Mr. Thompson continues with his plan to run for mayor next year.

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