PROVIDENCE – Daniel Connors will fill the role as interim secretary of housing while the search for a permanent replacement of Stefan Pryor continues, Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s office said Wednesday.
Pryor, who took on the job in early 2023, announced on June 27 he was stepping down for a job in the private sector.
Connors, who is currently the chief of staff in the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services and will provide “temporary leadership” and is not being considered for the permanent position, said Andrea Palagi, communications director for McKee. Once a permanent replacement for Pryor is found Connors will return to his role with EOHHS.
Palagi said McKee’s office will be conducting interviews with local candidates for the position in the coming weeks. If no candidate is found from those interviews, a longer-term national search may be started.
Along with EOHHS, Connors is a board member with the R.I. Department of Health and commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission – both of which are part-time positions, according to his Linkedin page.
In 2020 Connors, a former Senate majority leader, resigned as senior adviser for former Gov. Gina Raimondo after pleading guilty to a DUI charge, according to a report from WJAR-TV NBC 10. A judge ordered Connors to attend DUI classes and complete community service, his driver’s license was also suspended for 30 days and he had to use an interlock device for six months.
Connors marks the third person to serve as Rhode Island’s housing secretary since the office was created two years ago.
Pryor had taken over as housing secretary after Josh Saal resigned, following months of criticism from lawmakers over his leadership and lack of progress.
Pryor was able to make headway in addressing the state’s housing crisis. In May, developers in Rhode Island received $102 million in funding for housing and community projects. In a statement, Pryor also said the state has financed around 2,600 units of housing, boosted homeless shelter beds by 32% from the previous winter and secured a $120 million housing bond – the largest in the state’s history – that will appear on ballots in November.
With enough funding available, Housing Network of Rhode Island members estimate they could produce more than 2,100 affordable homes in the next three years, Melina Lodge, executive director of the organization said in a statement.
Lodge also praised McKee for appointing Connors as interim housing secretary.
“Stable transitional leadership will be crucial in the months ahead as we continue to work with the State to address Rhode Island’s pressing housing challenges together,” Lodge said.
(ADDS last three paragraphs with Lodge comment.)
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com. PBN special projects editor James Bessette contributed to this report.
