Lee S. Jackson, collector-treasurer for Boston, is expected to be appointed by President Bill Clinton today to a senior post at the Bank for European Reconstruction and Development in London, according to several sources.
Jackson, 35, has served as treasurer since August 1988, when he was appointed to the post by former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. He is expected to join the bank at the end of September.
In his new job, Jackson will handle the United States' day-to-day interests in the bank and serve as alternate U.S. executive director.
The bank was established two years ago to help the former Communist-bloc countries rebuild industry and to privatize services previously controlled by the state. The mandate creating the bank states that 60% of its loans go to the private sector and '40% to governments. The bank has more than $6 billion in assets.
All members of the European Community and the United States hold stock in the bank. The U.S. President is entitled to name two members to the bank's board.
Arthur Jones, former press secretary for Flynn and now a spokesman for Clinton, said the White House would have no comment until later today. Jackson, who is vacationing, could not be reached for comment.
An interim treasurer for Boston is likely to be named until after the conclusion of the mayoral race in November, one city source said. The mayor's job became available after Flynn stepped down this summer to become the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican.
Before serving as Boston's treasurer, Jackson served as a vice president from 1987 to 1988 in the investment banking department of First Boston Corp. While there, his clients included Clark County, Nev.; Los Angeles; San Jose; and Oregon.
Earlier, Jackson served as a vice president in the municipal bond department at Salomon Brothers from the beginning of 1987 until the firm disbanded the department in October 1987.
Jackson began his career in public finance at the New York City office of Kidder, Peabody & Co. in 1983. In 1986, he moved to San Francisco to develop a West Coast presence for Kidder's financing of infrastructure projects.
He is a graduate of Williams College and earned a master's in business administration from Stanford University.
In 1992, Jackson was asked by the French government to deliver a speech to officials on Boston debt issuance policies.
Over the last five years, Jackson has served as vice chairman of the board of trustees of the National Infrastructure Bond Coalition and was a board member of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, the National Urban League, the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals, and the Dimock Community Health Center.
The job at the European bank would not be Jackson's first position in the federal government. After graduating from Williams, he worked as an economist at the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Department of Energy.
During Jackson's tenure as treasurer, Boston's debt rating has been upgraded five times. Several sources said the city will miss his financial advice.
"It's really hard to overstate Lee's performance as treasurer," said J. Chester Johnson, chairman of Government Finance Associates Inc., the city's financial adviser. "Across the board, he has done an outstanding job."
Johnson said that Jackson's development and codification of debt management guidelines was one of most important and long-lasting accomplishments for the city.
He also said that Jackson's involvement in a swap transaction earned the city $6.4 million for its reserve fund, while his use of the Federal Housing Authority to insure revenue bonds sold to build and renovate the Boston City Hospital saved the city between $20 million and $25 million.
It was the first time a publicly held and managed hospital qualified for the FHA-backing.
The city is slated to sell $50 million of general obligation bonds on Sept. 8, marking the first time since 1983 that the city has sold bonds competitively.
