San Francisco native to join Obama administration

President Obama has nominated John Trasvina to be assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
John Trasvina

John Trasvina

Trasvina has served as president and general counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund since 2006. His impressive resume also includes special counsel for immigration-related unfair employment practices under President Clinton. He holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.

And if that doesn't make you feel inadequate enough, he also is a member of the city's Elections Commission, president of the Harvard Club of San Francisco, and a board member of La Raza Lawyers Association, CORO of Northern California, the Lowell High School Alumni Association, the League of Women Voters and the Pacific Coast Immigration Museum.

For all your San Francisco trivia buffs, if Trasvina's new position -- pending Senate confirmation -- sounds familiar, it's because it's the same one held by Roberta Achtenberg from 1993 to 1995.

The supervisor quit the board to take the position, making her the first openly gay or lesbian official to win Senate confirmation to a federal position. The confirmation was temporarily stalled, however, by Sen. Jesse Helms who called her "a damn lesbian." She left Washington to return to San Francisco for an unsuccessful run at mayor.

Posted By: Heather Knight (Email) | March 30 2009 at 01:38 PM

Listed Under: Housing
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