From homeless to a seat in the room where it happens: Meet Brockton's Patricia Jackson

BROCKTON – A major player in the city's residential and commercial development brings a rare background to her new job.

Patricia Jackson, interim executive director of the Brockton Redevelopment Authority, has strong academic credentials. She obtained a doctorate in law and policy from Northeastern University. But she also graduated from the Kansas City, Kansas, branch of the school of hard knocks.

"We were homeless a lot growing up," Jackson said, adding that her father had a drug problem. "There were six of us, so my mother couldn't always afford the rent."

The family lived out of cars, motels, family members' houses and shelters that opened at 6 p.m. and kicked you out at 9 the next morning. Something Jackson learned after moving to Massachusetts for her master's degree, also at Northeastern, was that her family's experience might have been different had they lived in the Bay State.

Massachusetts is one of the few places in the country with a "right to shelter" law. It guarantees emergency housing for families with children or pregnant people without other children.

From her new School Street office across from City Hall, Jackson brings a perspective that includes her personal history plus years of working with people experiencing homelessness in Brockton and Boston. She spent five years working  at Father Bill's & MainSpring after a stint with the state Department of Mental Health. For the past two years, she's been the housing development manager for the Brockton Redevelopment Authority.

Jackson's smarts and her gift of being able to talk to all kinds of people caught the attention of Robert Jenkins, the longtime director of the Brockton Redevelopment Authority. He recently  resigned after 14 years with the quasi-public agency to take a job at Mass Development, where he's senior vice president for real estate development.

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Reached at his new office in Boston's Financial District on Friday, Jenkins had warm words for Jackson.

"To have that life experience is not something we all have and can share," he said. "And I think that made her not just more likable but also she's not just an academic."

Jackson tells the story of how Jenkins required her to submit a 10-page paper to show that she could argue persuasively not just in person, but also in writing.

Jackson's vision for the  agency includes getting the word out about its programs that help local homeowners,  such as lead abatement. She wants to work with the city's Planning Department, the mayor's office and developers to help Brockton grow into what she calls an "18-to-19-hour city," where people have not just a place to live, but a good job and  spend their money at local recreation spots.

Countering 'urban decline' in Brockton

Jackson's doctoral thesis is all about the City of Champions. It's  titled  "Countering Uneven Development and Urban Decline: An Assessment of the Causes of Disinvestment and Lack of Reinvestment in the City of Brockton, Massachusetts."

The 98-page thesis in particular examines the role of tax incentives in community development.

"I'm not from Brockton, but I wrote my dissertation on the City of Brockton because I love it so much," Jackson said. "People don't see. There's a negative connotation with regards to Brockton, and people can't see past that. They can't take that lens off to see what the city actually offers."

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Brockton has more cranes at work than in past years, in part because the mayor's office never shut down construction during COVID. Brockton must also compete for developers' dollars with places that might look better on an investor's spreadsheet.

Take for instance the Opportunity Zones created in President Donald Trump's 2017 tax reform. Developers can receive incentives to build in lower-income areas.

"The City of Cambridge has one qualified Opportunity Zone, where the area median income is far above what it is in Brockton," Jackson said. "If you were a developer, where are you going to go? You'll go down there, where you can get a return on your investment a lot quicker."

If she's able to lead the Brockton Redevelopment Authority for as long as Jenkins did,  what would she want people to say about her?

"I want people to see me as an advocate," she said, motioning to the office door behind her. "This door is always open."

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This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton Redevelopment Authority's new director is Patricia Jackson