Virtually every organization, from the Girl Scouts to Google to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, has a mission statement that describes why the organization exists and what its primary goals are. Although such statements don't reference all the organization's activities, the chosen words signal priorities and intent—both to internal staff and to outside clients or partners. Changing a mission statement is both symbolically and practically important, as activities or programs that can't be clearly linked to the mission statement are more likely to be cut when budgets are tight.
So the news that U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson plans to change HUD's mission statement is yet another worrying sign that the Trump administration is backing away from long-term goals of urban policy. In particular, the proposed new statement removes references to “sustainable, inclusive communities” and consumer protection, shown in the text below.
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