Island homeowner and housing advocate Alan Wiener joined the Island Affordable Housing Fund board of directors last week. The organization’s board elected him at its October 21 meeting.
Mr. Weiner heads Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital, a New York company specializing in government mortgage financing.
He has worked for the federal government and the city of New York on housing, planning, community and economic development issues.
In a news release issued by the housing fund, Mr. Wiener said the fund alone cannot solve the Island’s housing issues. He said he would work “to promote better coordination of the various housing organizations on the Island by gathering their leadership in one place to see if we could together do a better job of actually solving the problem.”
Executive director Ewell Hopkins said Mr. Wiener would bring new expertise in housing and management to the board. “He’s going to ask questions and force housing advocates to look at what they do,” Mr. Hopkins said. “Preserving organizations to preserve organizations is not in his realm. It’s about getting housing built in this community.”
