Flunking the smell test
Joe Sinsheimer is continuing to do the hard work, pushing to get to the bottom of yet another stinky mess in the General Assembly. The Dome has a good take on the story:
Joe Sinsheimer asked the Black Caucus to disclose its donors. In an April 18 letter to Rep. Alma Adams, the former Democratic political operative applauded her decision to order an audit of the caucus foundation's finances, but he said it does not go far enough. He asked the Greensboro Democrat to disclose a complete list of the non-profit's donors from 2000 to the present to both the state Ethics Commission and the State Board of Elections.
it would send a powerful signal in the post Jim Black-era that members of the legislative black caucus want to operate with a greater degree of transparency and a keen eye on avoiding even the appearance of a conflict-of-interest.
After disclosures about the foundation's scholarships going to caucus members, Sinsheimer renewed the call for disclosure today, saying the "hypocrisy" of "raising special interest dollars to pay for their own children and grand-children's college tuition betrays the Democratic Party's most fundamental ideals." emphasis added
Well, the Legislative Black Caucus responded to Joe's inquiry today with it's own press release:
Since its inception The North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation has supported and promoted higher education primarily among African American students and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by providing scholarships and sponsoring annual education conferences.
To involve and educate a broader base of North Carolinians, the Foundation has also spearheaded initiatives to encourage and support dialogue and understanding around issues affecting our state’s poor and underserved communities by hosting forums, educational summits and listening tours across the state.
The Foundation has carried forward a long tradition of support for African American students attending HBCUs. Annual scholarship awards to these schools have averaged $55,000 ($5,000 per school). In past years each school determined the recipients of these awards.
During the academic years 2005 and 2006, the Foundation solicited and received recommendations of students (based on academic promise and financial need) from members of the Legislative Black Caucus. As in previous years, all scholarship funds were issued directly to the college or university and applied to tuition and fees.
The Foundation provided scholarships totaling approximately $28,000 in 2005 and $26,000 in 2006. Roughly one-tenth of the total scholarship funds provided during these years benefited relatives of five legislators. To the best of the Foundation’s knowledge, the scholarship funds benefited students with financial need and academic promise, and there was no intention to improperly benefit a legislator.
In 2007, the Foundation has provided more than $12,000 to assist deserving college students, of which none were relatives of legislators. The Foundation is reviewing its process for determining appropriate guidelines for awarding scholarships and making revisions to ensure the integrity of the process and the organization.
Relatives of FIVE legislators got scholarships . . . out of the hundreds of thousands of needy families in North Carolina . . . and there was no intention to improperly benefit a legislator?
You gotta be kidding me.
I sure as heck hope the Foundation is reviewing its process, because right now it looks like the process amounts to something like a cross between influence peddling, insider trading, and money laundering.
To my knowledge.
- James Protzman's blog
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Once again,
why does it take an outsider to bring this to light? Is there not an entity in the GA that is tasked to monitor this stuff?
Why is it that supposedly intelligent people ...
... have never heard of, or do not understand, the phrase 'conflict of interest'?
I hate it when democrats pull this crap.
Good post.
Mike
Oh my....not quite sure what to say
The only way to avoid a hint of impropriety is to not allow any money to go to benefit the children/family of legislators. I'm sorry, but this is not good.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
It's sad
The problem here isn't even the conflict of interest - it's the mere appearance of a conflict of interest. It doesn't matter if it is inappropriate or not. If it looks bad, it is bad. And that's too bad, because that can make private money, and public money, for scholarship programs like this one dry up. And that defeats everyone.
Exactly....
From what I've read, they were completely within the law and the rules of the caucus. It still looks bad.
I don't know Alma Adams, but it seems that from the minute she took over she's been trying to make sure the caucus was above board. I remembered that she'd called for a routine audit, and just read she halted fundraising until the ethics board/panel reviews their fundraising.
So, it doesn't pass the smell test, but it appears that Alma Adams is trying to straighten things up.
Robin Hayes lied. Nobody died, but thousands of folks lost their jobs.
If this is the case
then both the law and the rules of the caucus need to be changed.
If it was some anonymous donor's money that was used, it's misappropriation of charitable funds. If it was their own money routed through the foundation, it was tax evasion.
owning a $160,000 Ferrari indicates lack of need
When anyone drives a car that costs approx $160K , they probably don't need a scholarship for their kid.
Probably not.
They could always sell the car. It's a matter of priorities, I suppose.