McKee names new RI housing secretary. What we know.

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Dan McKee has named a new housing secretary: Deborah J. Goddard.

Who is she? Goddard, the former managing director for policy and program development at MassHousing, currently leads the Massachusetts-based DJ Goddard Consulting, which has done consulting work for the Rhode Island Department of Housing among other public, quasi-public and nonprofit agencies, according to a press release from the McKee administration.

Prior to this role, Goddard served at the executive vice president for capital projects at the New York City Housing Authority from 2016 to 2019, where she oversaw $3 billion of construction builds and helped advance the agency’s energy and sustainability programs, the press release said.

She is scheduled to start her new $238,597 job on Dec. 2. In the interim, her name has been submitted to the Rhode Island Senate, which is in recess, for advice and consent after the legislature convenes in January.

“Deborah Goddard is a deeply committed and accomplished housing professional whose work has benefitted people from all backgrounds,” said McKee. “Housing affordability and availability in Rhode Island have never been more important than they are right now. I am confident Deborah’s knowledge and experience will guide the department to achieving our housing goals.”

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said he “look[s] forward to the Senate’s thorough review of Ms. Goddard’s appointment through the advice and consent process.”

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said he met with Goddard for the first time a day earlier “and she was very impressive.”

In her own turn, Goddard said her career has been “dedicated to creating and preserving housing opportunities … for the unhoused, for renters and homeowners, alike, with attention to equity.” As such, she said, “I am very aware of the persistent headwinds that we face in this arena, but they are not unique to Rhode Island nor are they new.”

The Rhode Island Department of Housing has been run by an interim chief – former Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors – since Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor’s last day in July in one of the state’s most critical jobs.

A former Senate majority leader, Connors – who quit a job as a top aide in the Raimondo administration after his arrest for driving under the influence – had most recently been chief of staff in the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services, making $184,000 annually.

On the day of his interim appointment, the governor’s office said: “He is not being considered for the permanent position and will return to his role at EOHHS at the end of this process.”

Pryor is now a partner in Palm Venture Studios, which “works to rescue and build companies that positively impact human and planetary health,” according to his LinkedIn profile..

How did we get here?

Spokesman Andrea Palagi told The Journal at that time that McKee’s office would interview local candidates for the permanent position over the coming weeks, and a national search would only be initiated if a qualified candidate could not be found. As it turned out, there was no national search.

Pryor announced that he was leaving in late June after close to a decade leading Rhode Island’s economic development efforts as its first commerce secretary and, for a year-and-a-half as head of its Department of Housing,

The hunt for his replacement stretched out over several months, amid significant jockeying between the many arms of Rhode Island’s housing community for advantage − and appointment.

The Department of Housing is responsible for managing hundreds of millions of previously dedicated state dollars and the newly approved $120-million housing bond.

But the picture that has emerged in the wake of Pryor’s departure was of an agency beset by employee infighting, leaks about end-runs in the award of contracts, and complaints to the governor’s office about the management styles of both Pryor and Assistant Secretary Hannah Moore, whom Pryor brought into the department with him.

More recently, Rhode Island’s deputy housing secretary, Deborah Flannery, resigned to take a job with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Her last day is imminent.

The Department of Housing was unable to pinpoint the amount Goddard and her firm have been paid as a consultant or promised. As for her role, spokeswoman Emily Marshall listed non-specific duties, such as: “drafting regulations for internal review, and co-authoring  multiple grant applications, among other responsibilities.”