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Brief
It may not be a quick transition from Minneapolis City Council to the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority for Abdi Warsame.

Warsame, the 6th Ward council member who was picked to be the executive director of the city’s housing agency, needs a waiver from the federal government — or must wait an entire year before taking over, according to Housing and Urban Development regulations.
Neither Warsame nor the city’s housing agency returned calls from Minnesota Reformer. HUD confirmed Warsame needs the wavier.
Warsame was selected to be the next executive director/CEO of the government agency that serves more than 26,000 people through managing public housing and administering Section 8 housing choice vouchers in the city. His appointment was announced last week at MPHA’s board meeting.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rule is detailed in Section 19 of Form HUD-53012A, which deals with conflicts of interest. It states, in many more words, that housing authorities cannot contract with public officials or members of local governing bodies while they’re in office or a year after unless they get a waiver from HUD.
It’s unclear if MPHA has submitted the waiver. A staff member in Warsame’s office said they weren’t aware when he would step down from his council seat, which will likely trigger a special election.
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