THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                       (The Hamptons, New York)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      July 31, 1998

                          PRESIDENT CLINTON 
            NAMES CARDELL COOPER AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
              FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 
         AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The President today announced the nomination of Cardell Cooper as Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mr. Cardell Cooper is the former Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, serving from 1990 until December 1997. Prior to his position as Mayor of East Orange, from 1988 to 1990, Mr. Cooper served as the County Administrator for the County of Essex, New Jersey, where he was responsible for the daily management of the largest county in the state of New Jersey. From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Cooper was the Business Administrator for the City of Irvington, New Jersey.

Mr. Cooper received his B.A. in Political Science from Montclair State University and his M.A. in Public Administration from Rutgers University.

The Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development oversees major federal neighborhood revitalization, economic development, housing and homelessness programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Assistant Secretary is responsible for the oversight of important community, economic and housing rehabilitation programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, Hope for Ownership of Single Family Homes, Home Investment Partnerships, Housing for People with AIDS, as well as various other programs that provide funding for shelters, housing and support services to the homeless.

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