Alphonso Jackson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alphonso Jackson
13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
In office March 31, 2004 – April 18, 2008
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Mel Martinez
Succeeded by	Steve Preston
Born	September 9, 1945 (1945-09-09) (age 63) Marshall, Texas
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Truman State University Washington University School of Law

Alphonso Roy Jackson (born September 9, 1945, in Marshall, Texas), served as the 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. On March 31, 2008, Jackson announced his resignation, effective April 18, 2008.

Jackson became the Deputy Secretary of HUD in June 2001. After former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez left the administration to campaign for the November 2004 election for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Jackson became acting secretary of HUD.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Cabinet career 3 Allegations of misconduct 3.1 Selecting contractors based on politics 3.2 Withholding funds for political reasons 3.3 Countrywide Financial Loan Scandal 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Texas, Jackson grew up in South Dallas. His father was a lead smelter; Jackson was the youngest of twelve children. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science (1968) and a master's degree in education administration (1969) from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1973. Jackson is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

In 1977, Jackson became the Director of Public Safety for the City of St. Louis. Jackson also served as executive director for the St. Louis Housing Authority. While there, he also became an assistant professor at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Later, Jackson was Director of the HUD Office of Public and Assisted Housing in Washington, DC.

From January 1989 until July 1996, Jackson was President and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Dallas, Texas. He later became President of American Electric Power-TEXAS, a large utility company located in Austin, Texas. In 1995, Governor George W. Bush appointed Jackson to the Texas Southern University Board of Regents; he remained on the board until 2003.

[edit] Cabinet career

Jackson first joined the Bush Administration in June 2001 as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As Deputy Secretary, Jackson managed the day-to-day operations of HUD, which had an annual budget of over $30 billion. After HUD Secretary Mel Martinez left the administration to campaign for the November 2004 election for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Jackson became acting secretary of HUD. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 to take that position on a permanent basis, and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. Jackson was the fourth African American to hold that post. On March 31, 2008, Jackson announced his resignation, effective April 18, 2008.

Harry Alford, founder and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, argues that Secretary Jackson should be credited with increasing minority contracting at HUD to record levels, citing The Department of Housing and Development as leading among all other federal agencies in minority and women contracting during Jackson's tenure:

It didn’t take long for the minority portion of contracts to rise from 14.5 percent to over 45 percent. This is something unheard of from a federal agency until then. Blacks, Asians, Hispanic, White women became euphoric but the mainstream, White male faction found little to be happy about. So, the start of a formal White press condemnation of Secretary Jackson began.^[1]

[edit] Allegations of misconduct

[edit] Selecting contractors based on politics

On April 28, 2006, Jackson spoke at a meeting in Dallas and addressed the subject of government contracting. He recounted that a prospective HUD contractor had made a "heck of a proposal" and was selected upon the basis of that proposal, but upon thanking Secretary Jackson for being selected the bidder, mentioned that he did not like President Bush. As a result, Jackson said, the bidder who had criticized Bush did not receive the contract: "Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary." Jackson asked the crowd, "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."^[2]

After Jackson's comment, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for Jackson to resign.^[3] In response, the Department of Housing and Urban Development stated that Jackson's statement was not literally true but instead "anecdotal," and meant only to "explain to this group how politics works in D.C."^[4] An inspector general's report later claimed that Jackson "personally intervened with contractors whom he did not like...these contractors had Democratic political affiliations," however no direct proof was found that Jackson's staff obeyed.^[5]

[edit] Withholding funds for political reasons

In March 2008, The Washington Post reported on a series of emails in early 2007 between HUD assistant secretaries Kim Kendrick and Orlando J. Cabrera that suggested that HUD leadership sought to punish Carl R. Greene, the director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). Greene had refused to turn over property to Universal Community Homes, a development company founded by Kenny Gamble; Greene said that Universal had not performed as promised. Gamble complained to Jackson about the situation in 2006. On the same date that the emails were sent, HUD notified PHA that it was in violation of rules regarding accessibility for disabled residents.^[6]

U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond ruled Monday, April 18, 2008 in Philadelphia that HUD acted legally and did not retaliate against the housing authority.^[7]

On October 16, 2008, the Philadelphia Housing Authority signed a ten year agreement with HUD. PHA said that over the next four years it would make sure 760 units of housing were upgraded to be fully accessible for people with disabilities.^[8]

[edit] Countrywide Financial Loan Scandal

In June 2008, Conde Nast Portfolio reported that Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson alledgedly got below-rate loans at Countrywide Financial because the corporation considered the officeholders "FOA's"--"Friends of Angelo" (Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo).^[9]

Financial commentator David Fiderer argues that according to the Countrywide documentation, there were no fee waivers, or other financial benefits, for three V.I.P.s - Paul Begala, Henry Cisneros and Alphonso Jackson, and that their names were simply added to sensationalize the Portfolio article. ^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alphonso Jackson

• HUD Department biography

Political offices
Preceded by Mel Martinez	United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Served Under: George W. Bush March 31, 2004 – April 18, 2008	Succeeded by Steve Preston

v • d • e United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Weaver • Wood • Romney • Lynn • Hills • Harris • Landrieu • Pierce • Kemp • Cisneros • Cuomo • Martinez • Jackson • Preston • Donovan

v • d • e Cabinet of President George W. Bush (2001–2009)   Cabinet Secretary of State Colin Powell (2001–2005) • Condoleezza Rice (2005–2009) Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill (2001–2002) • John Snow (2003–2006) • Henry Paulson (2006–2009) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (2001–2006) • Robert Gates (2006–2009) Attorney General John Ashcroft (2001–2005) • Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) • Michael Mukasey (2007–2009) Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton (2001–2006) • Dirk Kempthorne (2006–2009) Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman (2001–2005) • Mike Johanns (2005–2007) • Ed Schafer (2008–2009) Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans (2001–2005) • Carlos Gutierrez (2005–2009) Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (2001–2009) Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson (2001–2005) • Mike Leavitt (2005–2009) Secretary of Education Rod Paige (2001–2005) • Margaret Spellings (2005–2009) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez (2001–2003) • Alphonso Jackson (2003–2008) • Steve Preston (2008–2009) Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta (2001–2006) • Mary Peters (2006–2009) Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham (2001–2005) • Samuel Bodman (2005–2009) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi (2001–2005) • Jim Nicholson (2005–2007) • James Peake (2007–2009) Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge (2003–2005) • Michael Chertoff (2005–2009)   Cabinet-level Vice President Dick Cheney (2001–2009) White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card (2001–2006) • Joshua Bolten (2006–2009) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Whitman (2001–2003) • Mike Leavitt (2003–2005) • Stephen Johnson (2005–2009) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels (2001–2003) • Joshua Bolten (2003–2006) • Rob Portman (2006–2007) • Jim Nussle (2007–2009) Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters (2001–2009) Trade Representative Robert Zoellick (2001–2005) • Rob Portman (2005–2006) • Susan Schwab (2006–2009) Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Joe Allbaugh (2001–2003)

Persondata
NAME	Jackson, Alphonso
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Jackson, Alphonso Roy
SHORT DESCRIPTION	13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
DATE OF BIRTH	September 9, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH	Marshall, Texas
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH