Considering that Harry Jackson is leading the war to prevent marriage equality from coming to the District of Columbia, it would be nice to figure out if he actually lives in the District.
A few weeks ago we asked this question, pointing out that while he was claiming to be a resident of DC, there was also evidence that he was actually a resident of Maryland. Then, last week, the Washington Blade reported that Jackson had recently registered to vote in DC using as his address an upscale condominium, suggesting that he had in fact moved to the District.
But now the Blade reports that its not actually clear whether Jackson really lives at the address he used on his registration:
The pastor of a Maryland church who filed papers calling for a voter referendum to overturn a D.C. law recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions lists his address as a condominium that is owned by another person and that is barred from being rented.
A member of the condo board at the Whitman, an upscale condominium apartment building at 910 M St., N.W., said the owner of the sixth floor apartment listed on D.C. voter registration rolls as the address of Bishop Harry Jackson Jr. told the board that Jackson is his roommate.
But the board member, D.C. gay businessman Brian Pruitt, and another resident of the building, Earl Fowlkes, co-founder of the city’s Black Pride celebration, said they and other building residents have never seen Jackson in the building and were not aware that he lived there.
Pruitt said the condo board placed a cap on the number of apartments in the building that can be rented and that Joseph Honaker, the owner of the apartment in which Jackson says he’s living, is not eligible to rent his apartment.
If Jackson has moved to DC, that appears to come as something of a surprise to his neighbors in Maryland … and his wife, who seemingly still lives at their home in Silver Spring:
In a related development, a source familiar with the street in Silver Spring, Md., where Jackson and his wife, Vivian Michelle Jackson, have lived since early 2006 said Jackson’s neighbors on the street were not aware that he or his wife had moved from their $1.1 million house on a four-acre tract of land at 15713 Holly Grove Road. Michelle Jackson is executive pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and Harry Jackson is senior pastor.
Records with the Montgomery County Board of Elections show that as of Monday, June 8, Jackson was still on the voter registration rolls as a Montgomery County voter, with the Holly Grove Road address listed as his residence.
Records from the U.S. Federal Election Commission show that Jackson listed the Holly Grove Road address as his residence in November 2007 when he made a $2,300 contribution to the presidential campaign of Republican Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor.
…
A source familiar with Holly Grove Road in Silver Spring said neighbors continue to see cars arrive and leave at Jackson’s house.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Vivian Michelle Jackson was seen on the property within the past week. The source did not know whether Harry Jackson had been on the property within the past few weeks, but neighbors assume the couple still lives there because there were no signs of the family moving out.
This really shouldn’t be this confusing. If Jackson does live in Washington, DC, he ought to explain when and why he felt this sudden move was necessary.
If he doesn’t live in DC, then he is probably going to have some trouble explaining why he registered to vote there.
As the leading force behind the effort to get a voter referendum in DC on the same-sex marriage law, Jackson really ought to clarify whether or not he actually lives in DC.
