Ex-Phila. finance director tapped to lead stimulus spending

The Obama administration is expected to name G. Edward DeSeve, a former Philadelphia finance director who in the 1980s helped steer the city away from bankruptcy, as a high level adviser to the president and vice president to oversee the federal stimulus program, according to sources.

His responsibilities will include managing the distribution of $787 billion in stimulus funds, the sources said. The White House is expected to announce the appointment today or tomorrow.

Now a professor at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, DeSeve served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration.

In that job, he coordinated the development of strategic and performance plans for various federal agencies, and managed efforts to prevent a massive computer breakdown because of the Year 2000 glitch. He also produced a government-wide audited financial statement.

Also during the Clinton years, DeSeve worked as the chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He has private-sector experience as well, as a partner at the accounting and consulting firm of KPMG LLP, where in 1999 he oversaw services provided to the federal government. DeSeve also worked at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets and Drexel Partership Interests.

In Philadelphia, DeSeve helped shape the city's finances during the tenure of three mayors: Frank L. Rizzo, Bill Green and W. Wilson Goode Sr.

In 1974, as a 29-year-old deputy finance director to Rizzo, DeSeve resigned his job to protest a budget the mayor wanted that was balanced on revenues full of conjecture. Rizzo, concerned about election to a second term, wanted to prevent a call for a tax increase.

The next year, DeSeve established an economic consulting firm, Public Financial Management, which continues today to provide financial advice to local governments and public authorities. DeSeve's first hire was Sam Katz, a three-time unsuccessful mayoral candidate.

In 1979, DeSeve left the firm to join the Green administration, where he became a key figure in guiding Philadelphia out of a financial meltdown. As Green's finance director, he oversaw a budget that forced the layoffs of 1,300 city workers.

Nearly 10 years later, DeSeve helped save Philadelphia from another perilous fiscal plight. Serving as a special aide to Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey, he helped prevent the city from running out of cash during Goode's first term.

While in that role, DeSeve also participated in talks that led to the creation of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a state agency that monitors city spending.

Those who have worked with him credit DeSeve with making the city's finances sound, and increasing the city's financial integrity.

More recently, DeSeve served as a fiscal adviser to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah during his 2007 bid for mayor. He was behind Fattah's proposal to privatize Philadelphia International Airport to generate millions in new revenue.

Mayor Nutter also reached out to DeSeve during his 2007 campaign and his transition into the mayor's office.

A fly fishing fan, DeSeve once said he would go "anywhere there is a trout in the water."

Raised in Albany, N.Y., DeSeve moved to Philadelphia in 1967 to study public finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He obtained his bachelor's degree from Cornell University.