Ron Sims Sworn in as Deputy Secretary of HUD

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Following confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Ron Sims has been sworn in as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.   As the second most senior official at HUD, Sims will be charged with managing the HUD’s day-to-day operations, a nearly $39 billion annual operating budget, and the agency’s 8,500 employees.Sims replaces Roy A. Bernardi. (Pictured: HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan (right) administers the oath of office to Deputy Secretary Ron Sims as Sims’ wife, Cyan Topacio, holds the Bible.)”President Obama, Secretary Donovan, and Congress have all voiced a clear expectation that HUD can and must now step up to unprecedented levels of leadership in America’s national recovery,” said Sims. “I am ready to help Secretary Donovan to bring transformational change to HUD. This organization must work—and it must serve not simply as a pass-fail bureaucracy. It must be a creative engine of ideas, actions and tools—in which employees, partners and our customers are empowered to implement a shared vision of the future.”HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan says, “The drive and vision Ron brings is critical to our efforts to not only transform the agency, but to help the nation’s communities recover and to better position them for the future.”Formerly the King County, Wash. executive, Sims earned numerous accolades and a national reputation for his environmental stewardship, aggressive reforms of government, and for his willingness to make the tough choices necessary to ensure that American tax dollars are spent wisely.