Homele$$ Money Trail from Your Tax Dollars to Lisa Brown’s Dept. of Commerce to her Campaign Coffers

UPDATED 26 June 2023 | 9:30 AM

Additional Brown for Mayor campaign violations of the Spokane Fair Elections Code include a $500 donation from Michelle Hege, CEO and $250 from Christine Varela, Partner at DH (Desautel Hege, Inc.). Spokane’s Code prohibits contractors and their principals from donating to a candidate for city office if they have a contract in excess of $50,000 with the City in the past two years.  DH has at least one contract with the City in the amount of $150,000/year through 8/13/2024. 

This brings the known amount of donations that Lisa Brown should return to $1,250 including donor Desimone’s $500 (see below).  Again, Lisa Brown might want to consult her husband Brian McClatchey and campaign manager Adam McDaniel, because they literally wrote the code Handbook.

Speaking of Desautel Hege … according to this handy state resource, the public relations firm has received $414,425 so far in contracts from the WA Dept. of Commerce (led by Lisa Brown until March of this year) between 2021 and 2023 and over $19 Million in all contracts from the State.

Not as lucrative, Desautel Hege is also the public relations firm for Lisa Brown’s campaign for mayor of Spokane.  The DH firm has only banked just over $48,000 from the Brown campaign, however that is a surprising just under 25% of the campaign’s total income to date.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  No ill will is intended towards the public relations firm mentioned above.  In fact, if our State must be in the business of awarding huge contracts (with our taxes) to PR firms, I’m at least glad that a creative company based in the 509 area code is not being bypassed for the talent in the 206! 

With that said, the overly cozy relationship between Brown and her PR firm requires heightened scrutiny.  Especially when considering that the PR firm produced Brown’s announcement press conference on March 2, 2023 … but, her last day as Director of WA Commerce was March 3, 2023. 

This means that Lisa Brown was presiding over contracts with a PR firm as the WA Director of Commerce AND presiding over that same firm as a candidate.

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ORIGINALLY POSTED 25 June 2023

Celebrating self-proclaimed “success” at Camp Hope with his opinion editorial in today’s Spokesman-Review, Zeke Smith (President, Empire Health Foundation) congratulated himself and his fellow tax-funded partners … but, left out the lobbyists. 

Not to worry, the lobbyists got paid, and they are sharing your money with Lisa Brown’s campaign.

In December of 2022, Director of WA Commerce Lisa Brown teamed up for a press release with Zeke to announce state funding of $24 million to “help” the homeless in Spokane.  It remains to be seen how their policies will play out – but, one thing is for sure, professional politicians know how to reward those that help them, and themselves.

Rick Desimone (Desimone Consulting Group)  By far, the biggest allocation ($14 million) of WA Commerce homeless funding (your taxes) was awarded to Catholic Charities for the controversial “Catalyst” project to purchase and renovate the old Spokane House hotel in the West Hills into a hundred-bed low-barrier shelter.

Desimone donated $500 to Lisa Brown’s campaign on 6/12/23.  Desimone’s lobbying firm received the 3rd of a 4-year, $80,000 per year lobbying contract extension by the Spokane City Council on 1/24/23.

Who else does Desimone lobby for?  Catholic Charities.  Desimone’s lobbying as reported in the link above for Catholic Charities started in 2022 with a $30,000 contract.  That’s right – Catholic Charities hired a longtime close political ally of Lisa Brown.  And, Lisa Brown granted a contract directly with Catholic Charities for $14 million later that year.

Incidentally, Desimone’s donation this year to Lisa Brown is illegal as it violates the Spokane Fair Election Code that was authored by Lisa Brown’s husband Brian McClatchy and her campaign manager Adam McDaniel when they worked for the Spokane City Council.

Erik Poulsen donated $500 on 3/7/23 and another $500 on 3/30/23 to Lisa Brown’s campaign.  Poulsen is the Manager of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Spokane City Council.  Poulsen proposed Desimone’s City Council contract extension earlier this year.  Poulsen’s wife Alison donated $500 to Lisa Brown’s campaign on 3/7/23.  Alison is the Executive Director of “Better Health Together” which contracts with lobbyist Erica Hallock, clients including Empire Health Foundation and Better Health together. 

Patrick Dunn & Associates hasn’t donated to Lisa’s election this year yet (they have in the past).  They were paid lobbyists for clients including Empire Health Foundation. Empire Health Foundation got $3.5 million from WA Commerce under Lisa Brown.

And, of course Ben Stuckart had to get a piece of the action.  He thanked Lisa Brown with a $500 donation to her campaign on 4/28/23.  Ben is the Executive Director of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium that pays Lobbyist David Foster $3,000/month to bring them the bacon.  Stuckart’s group was a named recipient of Lisa’s largesse with our money.

Friends - I am not fooled by the frenetic “Camp Hope Success” opinion pieces that continue to be posted in the Spokesman-Review.  I doubt you are either. 

The people that brought us “Camp Hope” have hired professional lobbyists and are paying politicians so they can continue Helping their Hands to our nation’s increasing homeless industrial complex.

Let’s stay On the Ball 509 and keep following your money!