Henry Cisneros

Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is a prominent American politician, businessman, and community leader. He was the first person of Hispanic background elected as mayor of a large American city, and later served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997. He left public office, after being convicted of making false statements to federal officials. He is currently active in business ventures related to inner-city residential development.

Background

The son of Elvira and George Cisneros, Henry Cisneros was born in San Antonio, Texas. He was one of five siblings. He received his primary education in Catholic schools in San Antonio, and later received a B.A. and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned an additional Masters degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Ph.D in Public Administration from George Washington University. He married Mary Alice Perez in 1969. They have two daughters, Teresa and Mercedes, and a son, John Paul.

Public life

In 1975, Cisneros was elected to the San Antonio City Council, becoming the youngest councilman in the city's history. He served for six years on the City Council and was elected Mayor of San Antonio in 1981. He served four terms as mayor. As mayor of San Antonio, Cisneros began to attract national attention for his success in developing new growth in the city's business sector, and in 'promoting cooperation' among the city's various ethnic groups. Also while mayor, Cisneros had a well-publicized affair with constituent Linda Medlar. The affair did not end until 1991, when Cisneros's wife filed for divorce; although the couple reconciled and the divorce action was dropped, the affair would nonetheless come back to haunt Cisneros in the future.

In 1989, Cisneros left public office and became chairman of the Cisneros Asset Management Company, a national asset-management firm for tax-exempt organizations. He also served as deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and was a board member of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Cisneros was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was sworn into office by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on January 22, 1993. During his term, he reformed the public housing system, and successfully resisted efforts to substantially reduce or wholly eliminate the Department. Citing the needs of his family, he resigned as Secretary in January, 1997 while under a cloud of personal and political scandal.

Independent Counsel's investigation

In March 1995, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno secured the appointment of an Independent Counsel, David Barrett to investigate allegations that Cisneros had lied to FBI investigators during background checks prior to being named Secretary of HUD. He had been asked about payments that he had made to former mistress Linda Medlar, also known as Linda Jones. The affair had been 'public knowledge' for a number of years - during the 1992 presidential campaign, U.S. Treasurer Catalina Vasquez Villalpando publicly referred to Cisneros and candidate Clinton as "two skirt-chasers" - but Cisneros lied about the amount of money he had paid to Medlar. The investigation continued for three and a half years. In December, 1997, Cisneros was indicted on 18 counts of conspiracy, giving false statements and obstruction of Justice. In January, 1998, Medlar pleaded guilty to 28 charges of fraud and obstruction of justice related to her having falsified audio-taped evidence against Cisneros. In September, 1999, Cisneros negotiated a plea agreement, under which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI, and was fined $10,000. He did not receive jail-time or probation. He was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in January 2001 ( See: List of people pardoned by Bill Clinton). The independent counsel investigation continued after the pardon focusing on alleged obstruction of justice. In May 2005, Senator Dorgan (D-ND) proposed ending funding for the investigation; negotiators refused to include the provision in a bill funding military operations in Afghanistan. The funding at that point for the investigation totaled $21 million.

According to a New York Daily News report on October 3, 2005, "lawyers are fighting to suppress a potentially embarrassing final report from the probe that found Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros lied to the FBI about paying $250,000 in hush money to his ex-mistress. ... Lawyers at the Washington firm Williams and Connolly who work for Cisneros and both Clintons have argued to judges overseeing the case that allegations of illegal activity, for which no charges were filed, should be snipped before the report is made public." [1].

On January 19, 2006, the New York Times reported that the independent counsel is finally closing his investigation with a report accusing the Clinton administration of thwarting the inquiry into Cisneros. [2]

The office of the independent counsel issued a press release along with the final report stating:

An accurate title for the Report could be, “WHAT WE WERE PREVENTED FROM INVESTIGATING.” After a thorough reading of the Report it would not be unreasonable to conclude as I have that there was a coverup at high levels of our government and, it appears to have been substantial and coordinated. The question is why? And that question regrettably will go unanswered. Unlike some other coverups, this one succeeded. [3]

The Independent Counsel's report has been a source of partisan bickering because it was heavily redacted with an estimated 120 pages removed by court order. [4]

After leaving public office

Upon resigning from his post as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Cisneros became president of Univision, a Spanish-language television station. Cisneros also serves as a board member for Latino Public Broadcasting.

In August 2000, he formed American City Vista, a joint venture with KB Home for the purpose of building homes in central areas of major metropolitan areas. American City Vista was later transformed into CityView, with Henry Cisneros as Chairman and Joel Shine as President. With offices in Santa Monica, California, and San Antonio, Texas, CityView provides financing to housing developers, as well as acting as a builder.

External links

Preceded by Jack Kemp	U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 1993–1997	Succeeded by Andrew Cuomo