Secretary Roy Bernardi was nominated by President George W. Bush as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 2004. During his tenure, he was charged with managing HUD’s day-to-day operations, a $38 billion annual budget, and the agency’s 8500 employees. In 2008, Secretary Bernardi was appointed as Acting HUD Secretary under President Bush. As Deputy Secretary, he led the Department’s efforts to improve the standing of HUD with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Under Secretary Bernardi’s management, two HUD programs were removed from the GAO high-risk watch list, marking the first time since 1994 that no HUD programs had been on the list. His leadership also enabled HUD to eliminate more than $2 billion in fraudulent payments in the Department’s rental assistance housing program. Secretary Bernardi also served in President Bush’s Administration from 2001-2004 after his appointment by the President and confirmation by the U.S. Senate as Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development (CPD). His vision and decisive leadership at CPD was instrumental in developing thriving communities by promoting integrated solutions to the challenges facing the nation’s cities, urban counties and rural regions. Secretary Bernardi’s understanding of the need for such integrated community solutions fuels his enthusiasm for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) and its ancillary products as enormous tools for bringing clean energy, fresh water, sustainable food production, and economic development to many tropical communities across the globe. Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Secretary Bernardi was the 51st Mayor of the City of Syracuse, New York. As Mayor, he overhauled municipal financial services, eliminated duplicative departmental functions and streamlined governmental operations resulting in significant annual budget savings. Before his election as Mayor, Secretary Bernardi also served as Auditor of the City of Syracuse for 19 years. In that capacity, he was responsible for conducting audits within the agencies, bureaus and boards of city government, working to ensure that taxpayer dollars were spent wisely and for their appropriated purposes. Secretary Bernardi is a graduate of Syracuse University and serves as an adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as well as an affiliate Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He is the recipient of a host of public service awards, and is past President of both the New York State Conference of Mayors as well as the Leukemia Society of Central New York. An ardent supporter of education and lifetime committed public servant, Secretary Bernardi was a public high school Spanish teacher for four years and a guidance counselor for three years.
