Bush’s HUD Pick: Unknown Quantity—

With Florida’s Mel Martinez, President-select George Bush’s pick for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, it’s a little hard to tell what we’ll be getting. This Orange County [Florida] chairman has none of the right-wing, anti-government bona fides of some of Bush’s other Cabinet appointees. (He has most recently appeared in the press for taking Elian Gonzalez to Disney World and serving as a Florida elector.)

He also doesn’t have much background in housing, but unlike many Republicans, he at least seems to understand why a federal housing department exists at all—with skyrocketing population growth, development has become a huge issue in Orange County, which contains Orlando and much of the Disney World area. “He’s sensitive to those types of issues, and believes that there is reason and purpose for providing government services,” said Mitchell Glasser, director for housing and community development for Orange County.

And his staffers may find him a breath of fresh air—something of an anti-Cuomo. Like the current HUD secretary, Martinez has a reputation in Florida for being whip-smart and a very quick study. But unlike our present housing chief, who has a well-documented nasty streak, Martinez is also known for being affable, easy to get along with and non-ideological.

The worst thing that housing developers and advocates could find to say about Martinez is that he doesn’t seem to know much about his new job. But sometimes, they point out, that’s an asset in a new secretary. “He has very little housing experience,” pointed out one Florida developer. “But that’s not bad, necessarily. Maybe he won’t have an agenda, and won’t meddle around in things.”

Martinez also has a contrarian streak, infuriating developers last year with an anti-sprawl measure in Orange County. This year, he’s been heading up the governor’s ad hoc Florida Growth Management Commission, which just last week stepped on some important toes with an early draft of its findings. The report recommends tough measures to shut down uncontrolled suburbanization, preserve agriculture and encourage urban redevelopment—and is sure to launch a political firestorm in Florida, where development is very big business.

—Anna Ciezadlo, Alyssa Katz and Kathleen McGowan

Reprinted with permission from City Limits Weekly.