The New York City Housing Authority last week appointed Cecil House, a former utilities corporate executive, to the long-vacant position of general manager—a position in charge of thousands of long-delayed repairs at hundreds of buildings throughout the five boroughs.
House was last a senior vice president and chief procurement officer for Southern California Edison, a utility serving 4.9 million customers.
“Utilizing his substantial operations, supply chain, and strategic management knowledge in providing critical public services – and his experience steering organizations through change—I know that Cecil will effectively guide NYCHA’s management team through this transformational period,” NYCHA Chairman John Rhea said in a statement.
Earlier this month, despite having nearly $1 billion in unused federal funds for public agency, which houses 400,000 New Yorkers.
Rhea vowed to bring in a new general manager, and replace highly-paid board members with an all-volunteer staff.
House holds a bachelor’s degree form University of Virginia, a law degree from Harvard Law School and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. House is a board member of the National Utility Diversity Council and a former board member of the Urban League of Los Angeles and La Casa de Don Pedro, a community development and affordable housing provider in Newark, New Jersey.
Before his time at SCE, House was vice president of customer operations at PSE&G in New Jersey.
When asked by a Daily News reporter to comment on House’s appointment, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said simply: “They believe the new general manager will help. You have a federally funded agency that keeps cutting resources. If you want to complain, call the Feds.”
Along with House, Andreas Spitzer was also recently appointed as NYCHA’s executive vice president for finance and chief financial officer—a role he had been performing for the past year in an acting capacity.
