A Complaint to the Office of Inspector General

Here is my letter of complaint to the Office of Inspector General (hotline@hudoig.gov):

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, at a forum sponsored by the Real Estate Executive Council of the Dallas Housing Authority, repeated a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor.

"He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years," Jackson said of the prospective contractor. "He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something … he said, 'I have a problem with your president.'

"I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I don't like President Bush.' I thought to myself, '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.'"

Federal law clearly shows these actions to be illegal due to discrimination based on political bias. In addition, there is a public admission of guilt. Federal Acquisition Regulations, 48 CFR 3.101-1 says:

Government business shall be conducted in a manner above reproach and, except as authorized by statute or regulation, with complete impartiality and with preferential treatment for none. Transactions relating to the expenditure of public funds require the highest degree of public trust and an impeccable standard of conduct.

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Please take legal action against Mr. Jackson, if only to show U.S. citizens that we really are not in a Bush administered dictatorship. Your office’s failure to act in this matter will prove its tacit complicity in political bias in the award of Federal contracts.