Amid Housing Crisis, Bush Appoints HUD Novice

Heckuva job version 2.0?

President Bush yesterday named Steven C. Preston as his new secretary of Housing and Urban Development, installing a well-regarded corporate and government administrator -- yet one with little experience in housing issues -- as his point person in dealing with the consequences of the subprime mortgage meltdown.

For the past 18 months, Preston has headed the Small Business Administration, where he upgraded an agency that had been criticized for its response to Hurricane Katrina.