A Princeton University grad, Doar's first job was working for New York City's economic development office, encouraging businesses leaving Manhattan to move to another borough rather than New Jersey. Then he worked in journalism, assisting the editor at The Washington Monthly, then being an editor himself at the Harlem Valley Times in Dutchess County, New York. He joined OTDA in the Pataki administration, serving as deputy commissioner of child support enforcement from Nov. 1995 to May 2000, when he became executive deputy commissioner. He served as OTDA commissioner from 2003 through this winter. Doar is married with four children.
On Feb. 1, Doar assumed leadership of HRA, overseeing more than 15,000 employees who deliver public assistance, public health insurance, home care for senior citizens and the disabled, food stamps, HIV/AIDS support services, homeless and domestic violence services, and more, to some three million city residents.
CITY LIMITS: In the announcement of your hiring, HRA is described as the nation’s largest municipal social services agency.
ROBERT DOAR: The way that New York state is set up, the social services are delivered through the localities. Whether it’s Dutchess County, or Wyoming County, or New York City, the bulk of the work, the real action, the real customer service, is done at the local level. And the state role is one of oversight, monitoring, cheerleading. The state does a lot with computer systems and training, sets policy sometimes, and does it in concert or in discussion with the locals, but it’s not the actual delivery of service. The delivery of service happens at the local level.
So this is much more exciting, much more challenging, much more difficult. If we don’t succeed here, then the state doesn’t succeed. The state can do lots of nice things, but they are entirely dependent on what happens at the local level. And in the state of New York, the local level, to a very large extent, is the city of New York. So this is much larger, and a lot more challenging and a sort of management task.
CITY LIMITS: Coming in, do you feel like there are some clear needs or top things to address?
ROBERT DOAR: I’m a big believer in supports for the working people, as is Mayor Bloomberg. I believe very strongly that we have a whole array of publicly funded programs that can help low-income workers move up and have greater resources and feel as if they are making it. And in New York City we want to have people of all incomes feeling like they’re part of the community. And if you have a lot of people of low incomes who don’t have these kinds of supports, they really feel disconnected from the community. So whether it’s food assistance, or food stamps, or the Earned Income Tax Credit, or child support collection, or health care coverage or HEAP, I want to make sure that we’re making our ability for folks to access those programs better. That’s my number one priority.
Now I think we do a pretty good job of that. Mayor Bloomberg’s done an outstanding job, HRA is a good agency – it’s got some issues, but Ms. Eggleston held the position longer than anybody else, and I don’t come with a big turn-the-place-upside-down reform agenda.
