HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson Forced Out Amid Corruption Charges
Accused of awarding contracts based on political views. Quote: “One contract can make you wealthy!” An FBI investigation continue, it is alleged that Jackson directed large government contracts to friends.
Dallas Business Journal, March 31, 2008
Nearly two years after a Dallas Business Journal report sparked a federal investigation of U.S. Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson, the embattled administrator is expected to resign. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has scheduled a press conference for Monday morning, according to various reports.
Jackson, former president and CEO of the Dallas Housing Authority, has fought off charges of cronyism and the politicization of HUD’s contracting processes for the last two years. The controversy was sparked by a report last May in the DBJ, which covered a speech Jackson gave in Dallas to a private group of minority real estate executives.
The secretary told the group he had canceled a contract after the contractor said he had a problem with President Bush: “Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use the funds to try to campaign against the president?” Jackson said. “Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”
The secretary also told the audience “how government works. Once you get the contract,” he said, “they just keep giving you tax dollars. … The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen is the amount of contracts we give out every day. One contract can make you wealthy.”
Jackson later apologized for the remarks about the contractor and said he had lied. Responding to a flurry of complaints, the HUD Inspector General launched an investigation.
According to an internal copy of the IG’s findings, obtained by the DBJ through a Freedom of Information Act request, top aides to Jackson testified that they and other senior staff members were advised to take political leanings into consideration when awarding discretionary contracts. Click here to read more in the Dallas Business Journal.