Do $tuckart and Jewel$ have the inside track on TRAC proposal?
Posted 11 September 2023
According the Spokane Community, Housing, & Human Services (CHHS) Board September 6, 2023 meeting agenda, the Evaluation and RFP Committee provided a report on applicants to manage the Trent Resource Assistance Center (TRAC).
While reporting has indicated that Jewels Helping Hands received a favorable review by the CHHS Evaluation and RFP committee, the determination is not official and the applicants’ submittals do not appear to be public.
According to the Spokesman-Review’s Emry Dinman in the article linked immediately above (emphasis added below),
”Jewels came out on top, according to committee members, in large part due to the depth of its network of agreements with other organizations and service providers, which are needed in order to provide support services at the shelter, as the facility is meant to be a brief stop on the path out of homelessness. Jewels Helping Hands also emphasized the dignity of those they served in their application and included money in its budget for addiction and mental health treatment, said Karen Ssebanakitta, a member of the city’s Community, Housing and Human Services Board, which was tasked with forwarding the committee’s recommendation to the City Council.”
Jewels Helping Hands and Ben Stuckart have a history of teaming up for homeless contracts that don’t end well. The last time the two teamed, Stuckart was forced to resign from a community board for unethical behavior.
What is troubling is that CHHS Committee member Ssebanakitta spoke to proposals with the press without the opportunity for the public to also see the proposals. Who is involved in Jewels’ “network of agreements with other organizations and service providers?” Empire Health Foundation? The Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (Stuckart as executive director).
The following details donations and other information from CHHS Board Members:
CHHS Board Chair, Jeri Rathbun – Program Officer Empire Health Foundation. Empire Health Foundation subcontracted with Jewels Helping Hands for over $1.5 million dollars in “camp hope” services as reported by Noah Corrin at NonStopLocal KHQ earlier this year.
CHHS Evaluation and RFP Committee (Chair) Karen Ssebanakitta donated to Ben Stuckart’s campaign for Mayor of Spokane.
CHHS Evaluation and RFP Committee Member Anne Stuyvesant-Whigam donated to Ben Stuckart’s campaign for Mayor of Spokane.
CHHS Evaluation and RFP Committee Member Rowena Pineda donated to Naghmana Sherazi who is one of three staff members at The Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (SLIHC). Ben Stuckart is the executive director.
CHHS Evaluation and RFP Committee Member Fran Papenleur donated to Ben Stuckart’s campaign for Mayor of Spokane.
CHHS Evaluation and RFP Committee Member Barb Lee donated to Betsy Wilkerson’s campaign for City Council. Wilkerson is currently defending the controversial Jewels trip to Vegas.
Six out of the nine people on the committee that evaluated Jewels Helping Hands “preferred” application have either direct or close ties to those who likely have much to gain through the award of the TRAC contract to “Jewels.”