Ex-Philadelphia Finance Official, PFM Founder to Lead Stimulus Oversight

Vice President Joe Biden on Monday tapped Edward DeSeve, former Philadelphia finance director and founder of Public Financial Management Inc., to lead the administration's efforts to make sure the stimulus law is implemented quickly and effectively.

DeSeve will serve as special adviser to the president, assistant to the vice president, and special adviser to Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag.

President Obama also nominated David H. Stevens, president of Long & Foster, as assistant secretary for housing and Federal Housing Administration commissioner at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

DeSeve, who previously worked at KPMG as a partner and national industry director, and as a managing director at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets, "will focus on interagency coordination," a news release stated.

His management efforts inside the executive office of the president are to "complement the oversight work led by the independent Accountability and Transparency Board, chaired by Earl Devaney," the release stated.

DeSeve was deputy director for management of OMB under the Clinton administration, as well as controller for the OMB and as the chief financial officer at HUD. He currently serves as a senior lecturer at the Fels Institute for Government of the University of Pennsylvania and was a professor for eight years at the University of Maryland's school of public policy.

He founded PFM in 1975. In addition, he was special assistant to former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey and Philadelphia's director of finance, where he began his career.

DeSeve received a bachelor's degree in labor economics from Cornell University and a master's of government administration in public finance from the University of Pennsylvania.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said Stevens, who currently serves as the president and chief operating officer of the Long & Foster Cos., is an "innovator and single-family housing industry leader."

"The president's swift nomination of David Stevens, an innovator and single-family housing industry leader, shows this administration's commitment to moving this country out of the current housing crisis," Donovan said. "David's depth of knowledge in real estate, housing, and the mortgage industry will help us transform not only the way HUD does business, but help to transform the housing market as the FHA's market share continues to grow. He is an excellent choice to lead the FHA through the current housing crisis and I am thrilled with his nomination."

Stevens also served as executive vice president, national wholesale manager at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's wholesale channel; vice president of single-family business at Freddie Mac; and group senior vice president at California's World Savings Bank. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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