Best City Bureaucrat

Paul Hilgers

As the city's point man on its thorniest public-policy issue - affordable housing - Hilgers, the city's community development officer, better be good. He has been. He's taken on the corrupt logrollers (including his predecessor) that, sadly, turn up often on this turf. He's gotten the city to spend its own money, and not just federal sugar, on affordable housing. And he's bodily inserted housing into the city's Smart Growth effort. We are very lucky to have him around.