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At HUD, Silence is Golden
We've documented Alphonso Jackson's tenure at HUD pretty thoroughly here: the cronyism, the politicization, the stonewalling of congressional investigators.
But let's not forget retaliation as a tool to further those ends.
Today the Washington Post reports on three minority HUD contractors who in very short spans went from few, if any, HUD contracts to many millions of dollar's worth. The common denominator for all three firms was that they were well-connected in GOP circles or with HUD officials.
Now that may be a scandal in itself, but so is what happened to the career HUD staffers who raised questions.
The contract specialist who flagged concerns about one of the companies was asked to return to her previous job within HUD, the Post reports. "At that point, the top procurement people -- Jo Baylor and Annette Hancock -- decided my services would no longer be needed because I was a pain in their neck," said Gloria Freeman, the specialist, who has since retired.
Another contracting specialist, also since retired, was reassigned to a different HUD job within weeks of finding that one of the companies had submitted an exaggerated claim under the contract and instead owed HUD money.
The Post doesn't link these three contractors directly to Jackson; rather, their rapid rise despite performance issues is symptomatic of HUD during the Jackson era. This isn't the first time retaliation has been alleged. The Philadelphia public housing director is suing for retaliation, alleging that his refusal to help out a Jackson buddy led HUD to take enforcement action against the housing authority as punishment. Emails previously published by the Washington Post suggest a warped management climate within HUD, with one HUD official asking another, "Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?"
Josh
Zachary
The major HUD programs are:
* Community Planning and Development
* Housing
* Public and Indian Housing
* Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
* Policy Development and Research (PD&R)
* Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
* Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
Do any of these sound like programs that should be overseen by a Republican? The whole concept of HUD runs counter to Republican philosophy.
No legislation regarding HUD has been enacted since 1992. And with relatively minor exceptions, the Congress has been chock full o' Republicans since then.
There's a lot of cleanup that needs to be done post Alphonso.
May 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jackson, just another Republican scum bag that should have been in the Big House (jail) months ago. Look at this guy, who else would hire him but Bush. I hear he is not able to find a job. Whoever hires him, keep your hands in your pockets and your purse close to your breast. This guy is the worst.
May 19, 2008 6:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just glad that our new Democrat led congress has instituted new regulations and criminal penalties for department herads committing fraud against taxpayers and the funds taxpayers are required (or go to jail) pay.
Oh... they HAVEN'T? I guess we just have a NEW bunch of mobsters then, don't we...
May 19, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I the only one to remember Sam Pierce? He was Reagan's HUD secretary, and he, too, was sacked after the looting of HUD under his direction was discovered.
Now that the pattern of HUD under Repub presidents as party ATM machine is established, I wonder when any member of the punditry will see fit to take this stroll down memory lane. Or shall this fit of shock and outrage over the crimes of Jackson waft away in the breeze without the Repub history of criminality concerning HUD ever being pondered publicly?
May 19, 2008 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
The HUD story is not over. Be very afraid.
Under the guise of "helping America recover" from the "credit crisis" and "subprime meltdown" the Federal Housing Administration (a subdivision of HUD) stands to take on new business and potentially billions of dollars of debt.
FHA is poised to do huge business volumes and will become a serious competitor to the banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Moreover, FHA will not be asked to return results... Since it's a government agency, dollars to dougnuts lots of things will be "written off" for "the good of the American people."
FHA is headed by a Bush crony named Brian Montgomery. Montgomery was previously a White House staffer who organized Presidential photo ops. Aside from being a PR guy in George W's Texas Department of Housing, he has no experience.
This is not going to end well.
May 19, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for that info. I am repeating to myself Brian Montgomery, Brian Montgomery. I do not want to forget that name.
May 20, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink