Alphonso Jackson
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Alphonso Roy Jackson (born September 9, 1945 in Marshall, Texas) is the current and 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 and confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. He previously served as Deputy Secretary of HUD since June 2001.
After former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez left the administration in his quest to become a U.S Senator for Florida, Deputy Secretary Jackson became acting secretary of HUD.
Born in Texas, Jackson grew up in South Dallas in a family with 12 children. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science (1968) and a master's degree in education administration (1969) from Truman State University and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1973.
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. Later, Jackson was Director of the Department 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. 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, and he served until 2003.
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 who had made a "heck of a proposal" and was selected upon the basis of that proposal, but upon thanking Alphonso for being selected the bidder mentioned that he did not like Bush. As a result, Jackson said, the bidder who had criticized Bush did not receive the contract: "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." [link]
This statement created controversy, as denying contracts based on political affiliation is illegal. After the revelation of this comment, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for Jackson to resign. [link] 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." [link]
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