Jarrett named senior White House aide

CHICAGO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Valerie Jarrett, a longtime confidante of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, has been named to a top White House post, officials said Saturday.

Jarrett was named senior adviser and assistant to the president in charge of intergovernmental relations, acting as a go-between for governmental agencies and outside groups wishing to get the ear of the president-elect, the Washington Times reported Saturday.

Jarrett, who is currently serving as co-chair of Obama's transition team, is a Chicagoan who worked in several high-level capacities for the city, including commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development.

In recent years she has been president and CEO of the Habitat Company, a real estate firm tasked with enforcing court orders to end racial segregation in Chicago Housing Authority developments. Her grandfather, Robert Taylor, was the CHA's first chairman and namesake of what was once one of its biggest South Side housing complexes, the Chicago Tribune said.

The Times reported Obama has also appointed Phil Schiliro, an investigator for U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., as the head of the White House legislative affairs office, and Ron Klain to serve as chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.