SACRAMENTO, CALIF.—Sean L. Spear has been named executive director of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee (CDLAC) by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer.
Spear has more than 20 years of community development and housing finance experience. He is currently director of major projects for the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD).
He will assume the post Aug. 24 and will replace Joanie Jones Kelly, who is retiring Aug. 4, after more than 20 years with the Treasurer’s Office.
“Joanie will be missed greatly and hard to replace,” said Lockyer. “She’s an office institution and has been a wonderful public servant. But, I’m confident Sean has what it takes to assume the helm at CDLAC. H e has exceptional experience and accomplishments, and an outstanding reputation.”
CDLAC administers the state’s tax-exempt bond program and has overall responsibility for making allocation decisions. Each year, states receive a maximum amount of tax-exempt bond financing that they can allocate. The cap is based on each state’s population and is set by federal law. Program areas include housing, industrial development, student loans, and waste recycling. California received $3.3 billion in bond financing for 2009.
In Los Angeles, Spear, 43, led the city’s efforts to create the $100 million New Generation Fund, an affordable housing acquisition and predevelopment loan fund that closed last year.
Prior to joining LAHD, Spear was a community development manager with Fannie Mae’s housing and community development unit in Pasadena, Calif. He has also worked as a senior development specialist with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and a project manager with the San Francisco Housing Authority. He began his career with the New York City Department of City Planning, where he was the city planner for the Crown Heights and Bedford –Stuyvesant neighborhoods of Brooklyn.
Spear was raised in Brooklyn and received his bachelor’s degree in urban and regional affairs and a master’s degree in regional planning from Cornell University.
