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68 Henry Cisneros has always believed that a strong, sustainable home is at the heart of a stable life in America, born out by a decades-long political career of which a primary focus has been helping Americans achieve the dream of owning a home. His relentless efforts were largely responsible for the U.S. homeownership rate reaching record highs during his four-year tenure as HUD Secretary (1993-97). As the top housing official in the country during the first half of the Clinton Administration, Cisneros became widely known for his innovative solutions to combat homelessness, reform public housing, and restructure HUD's bureaucracy. e social and economic transformation of San Antonio during Cisneros' two terms as mayor of the River City (1981-89) made his accomplishments in homeownership as HUD Secretary no surprise to those who had followed and supported his political career through the years. But the success story doesn't end there – as the first Hispanic mayor of a major American city, his accomplishments as mayor of the San Antonio blazed a trail for countless Hispanic hopefuls in the political arena. After leaving HUD in 1997, Cisneros served as president of a Spanish television network in Los Angeles for three years. In 2000, he returned to his passion – housing – as he his family returned to San Antonio, where he founded American City Vista, an institutional investment and real estate development firm that eventually became CityView. Now 68, Cisneros serves as executive chairman of CityView and as an executive committee member of the Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America's Families, two positions that allow him to continue his quest to make homeownership affordable for Americans. In June, he penned an op-ed with former senator Scott Brown urging those campaigning for next year's presidential election speak about the housing industry's most pressing issues in their campaigns and address what they call a "silent" housing crisis, since it is "largely overlooked by the media and strangely underestimated by our nation's political leaders. e authors point out that the nation's homeownership rate is at its lowest point since the early 1990s and the rate for younger households has fallen to levels it has never seen before. Homeownership rates for minorities have also fallen substantially, "wiping out virtually all of the gains achieved over the past two decades." Millions of homeowners transitioned from owning to renting after losing their homes to foreclosure since 2008 but now find homeownership out of reach due to a combination of tighter lending standards and years of stagnant incomes, according to Brown and Cisneros. Also, demand for rental housing is growing, causing the price of rents to rise, meaning many Americans are paying unsustainable portions of their incomes on rent and forcing them to forego necessities such as medical care and other essentials. We sat down with Secretary Cisneros to discuss his current endeavors, his time at HUD, and the future of homeownership. Tell us about your current work as executive chairman of CityView. I founded the company in 2000. It focuses on urban projects, particularly residential for the middle income group of the population. It S U C C E S S F O R M U L A / B R I A N H O N E A The former HUD Secretary weighs in on the silent housing crisis. CATCHING UP WITH HENRY CISNEROS