Mayor Johnson taps affordable housing advocate to head city’s Department of Housing

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the appointment of Lissette Castañeda as the new commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Housing Thursday.

Castañeda currently serves as executive director of LUCHA, an affordable housing advocacy and housing counseling organization that also owns and manages a handful of residential buildings in Chicago. Her appointment is subject to City Council approval.

Castañeda fills the seat vacated by Marisa Novara, who began leading the reconstituted Department of Housing in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration in the summer of 2019. Housing had been absorbed into the planning department a decade earlier.

“I firmly believe that housing is a human right. Lissette has the expertise and the experience to make that right a reality for all Chicagoans,” Johnson said in a Thursday news release. “I look forward to working with her to ensure that everyone in our city has access to affordable housing and homeownership opportunities in their communities.”

Novara was vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, where she worked to research and highlight the cost of racial and economic segregation. Under Lightfoot, she focused on affordable housing development — overhauling the city’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, bolstering incentives for transit-oriented development, and helping craft and oversee a series of measures to protect current residents in gentrifying areas such as Woodlawn, Pilsen and near The 606 trail.

She was one of the first major departures from Johnson’s administration, announcing this summer she would “pass the baton” to another commissioner. Jim Horan has been interim commissioner since July. Novara has since joined the Chicago Community Trust.

Castañeda will be “tasked with streamlining the affordable housing development process … and expanding homeownership to Chicagoans in historically disinvested communities,” according to the news release.

“Stable, affordable housing is a cornerstone of community safety, economic development and mental health,” Castañeda said in the news release. “I am honored to serve in this role where I can spearhead new housing developments while ensuring Chicagoans have the services they need to stay in their homes for the long term.”

The Tribune reached out to Castañeda via email on Thursday requesting an interview but received a message that she is out of the office until 2024.

Castañeda previously served as interim executive director and director of community engagement for the Center for Changing Lives, a social services organization in Chicago.

Johnson campaigned on a robust affordable housing agenda. He pledged to reduce homelessness in the city — including the Bring Chicago Home proposal that he and allies successfully got placed on March primary ballots — as well as increased accountability for the Chicago Housing Authority and fast-tracking zoning and building approvals for new affordable buildings.

On Thursday, Johnson also announced the appointment of Jose Tirado as executive director of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. OEMC manages 911 call taking and dispatch, the city’s 311 center, traffic management, and planning for large-scale events and disasters.

Tirado had already been acting head of the office since April, when the former chief, Rich Guidice, announced his retirement. Guidice has since become Johnson’s chief of staff.

According to the release, Tirado led the planning efforts for this summer’s NASCAR street race, the Chicago Marathon and Lollapalooza. He will continue helping lead the city’s response to the migrant crisis and planning for the Democratic National Convention in August.

Before his time at OEMC, Tirado rose through the ranks of the Chicago Police Department for more than two decades, ending his tenure as chief of the counterterrorism group.

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