Obama selects Bay Area Latina as his choice for U.S. Treasurer

By Carla Marinucci  |  SFGate.com  |  Link to article
May 15, 2009

President Barack Obama has nominated Rosa ''Rosie'' Gumatao Rios -- Oakland's former redevelopment and economic development manager -- as his nominee for United States Treasurer.

The nomination of Gumatao Rios, a veteran development official with more than two decades in urban management and who has worked in a score of key Bay Area cities, was a particular cause of Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, who said she will be a "wonderful addition" to the treasury.

''I am so very pleased that my constituent Rosie Gumatao Rios, who I enthusiastically supported, has been chosen to serve as our new U.S. Treasurer,'' Lee told us via email today.

"Rosie brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this position having served as the Director of the Redevelopment and Economic Development for the City of Oakland and Managing Director of Investments for MacFarlane Partners,'' Lee said in her statement. "While working for the City of Oakland she led the efforts to facilitate development and business opportunities within Oakland and revitalize the city's downtown and neighborhood corridors.''

Rios was also economic development chief in Fremont, and was a development official for San Leandro, and mananger of the Union City Redevelopment Agency.

She is currently a trustee of the Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association, a board member of the California Association of Local Economic Development and the Fruitvale Spanish-Speaking Unity Council.

The White House official bio said that Rios is currently managing director of investments for MacFarlane Partners, "one of the leading real estate investment management firms in the U.S. with more than $11 billion in assets under management.''

"Rios serves as a primary liaison with the firm's development and global capital partners to facilitate equity transactions for large mixed-use development projects in key urban areas and recently closed on over $345 million worth of equity commitments,'' the White House said.

Rios helped work on Latino vote issues in Virginia for the Obama presidential campaign, and took a leave of absence from MacFarlane Partners "to serve as a member of the Treasury/Federal Reserve Transition Team on behalf of the Obama Administration.''

She received her Bachelor's degree in sociology and romance languages and literature from Harvard University.