HUD Director's Focus Is On Jobs, Home Ownership

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The new regional administrator for a federal housing agency says his top priorities include putting people to work and making home ownership affordable.

Antonio Riley was sworn in last month at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He oversees Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

He says housing issues are directly tied to economic stability. He says his goals include developing strategies that will create jobs and make it easier to afford a home.

He says he also wants to create more opportunities for minority-owned businesses.

Riley previously ran the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. In that role he helped administer a U.S. Treasury program designed to help state and local housing-finance agencies that were crippled by the economic downturn.

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