HARTFORD — Governor Dannel P. Malloy on March 17 announced that he is selecting Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson to serve as the state’s Under Secretary for Intergovernmental Policy, a position that will be responsible for the streamlining the delivery of targeted state investments into urban communities and regions in order to maximize their output and extend those improvements across surrounding areas.

Mayor Jackson recently served as chairman of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, a 16-member panel that was . It was tasked with reviewing current policies and making specific recommendations in the areas of public safety, with particular attention paid to school safety, mental health, and gun violence preventionformed in the immediate aftermath of 12/14

The group of experts released a 256-page draft report in early February, calling for new gun control measures, detailed school building standards, and a new approach to mental health care. Its formal report was presented to Gov Malloy on March 6.

In his new role, Jackson collaborate on behalf of the state with civic, municipal, and industry leadership to determine and prioritize transformational neighborhood revitalization strategies through a range of issues areas such as quality affordable housing, development of community leadership and advocacy, workforce development, early childhood education and academic achievement initiatives, violence reduction, tax and labor policy analysis, and transportation corridor development.

Gov Malloy on Tuesday said that the health and vibrancy of the state’s urban centers “are critical to the overall wellbeing of our state and the regions that surround them. Whether we’re talking about housing needs, economic development strategies, education concerns, transit oriented development investments, or criminal justice issues, these issue areas are frequently interconnected and need to be cohesively strategized for maximum effectiveness.

“Scott Jackson has years of experience handling many of these issues in a number of positions with the Town of Hamden and will serve as an effective advocate for the state to ensure that we are unified in our approach to these policies,” the governor continued.

The position is within the state’s Office of Policy and Management and effectively serves as a liaison between state agencies, as well as representative organizations serving municipal interests, corporate interests, civic interests, utilities, higher education, and regional entities.

Jackson said the challenges being faced by Connecticut are serious but not insurmountable.

“Although serving as Mayor of my hometown has been enormously gratifying, the opportunity to join a statewide team like the one assembled at OPM is a truly exceptional opportunity,” Jackson said. “I look forward to helping advance a solution-oriented agenda that makes Connecticut a better place to live not only for my mother’s generation, but also the generation of my two young sons.”

He will begin serving in the position with the state on April 17.  He will resign his seat as Mayor effective April 16.

Jackson first became Mayor in 2009. Prior to that, he served in a number of positions with the town, including as its Chief Administrative Officer, managed the Housing and Neighborhood Development Agency, and served on the Community Development Advisory Commission.

He previously served as project manager and technical director for the Connecticut Policy and Economic Council, an entrepreneurial nonprofit dedicated to improving the delivery of government services.  He also served in a number of positions in the office of former Senator Joseph Lieberman

Jackson attended Cornell University, where he majored in Government and, in addition to his role of Secretary of the Cornell Civil Liberties Union and on the editorial staff of Cornell Political Forum, he was also awarded a Mellon Foundation Fellowship to study demographic trends in municipal government at Yale University.

At the end of his collegiate career, Jackson was awarded one of two Minority Student Achievement Awards for the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences.

He is married to Mandi Isaacs Jackson, a labor researcher and author of the Jane Jacobs Urban Communication Award-winning book Model City Blues: Urban Space and Organized Resistance in New Haven and contributor to the Encyclopedia of Social Movements. They have two sons, Maxwell and Elijah.