D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is standing by his pick to lead the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development even as administration officials acknowledged that Michael Kelly had an extramarital affair with a subordinate while he was running Philadelphia’s housing agency.
“I absolutely support Michael,” Gray said, citing Kelly’s lengthy professional record, including a nine-year stint as the leader of the D.C. Housing Authority.
A senior Gray administration official confirmed a report from Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV that Kelly had an extramarital relationship while he was the head of the housing authority there.
The official, who demanded anonymity to speak about a personnel matter, said that Kelly had told the administration of the affair and that Gray has known about it since last week.
But the mayor said he had little information about the scandal.
“I don’t know a lot of the details,” Gray said. “I don’t sense that Michael tried to deceive us on anything.”
The Philadelphia station reported that Kelly had rewarded his mistress with raises and promotions. But the Gray administration official said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had found no wrongdoing in their probe.
Kelly’s nomination, which still must win approval from the D.C. Council, was announced Monday. He resigned his post in Philadelphia on Friday, citing his family.
