Robin’s Roundup 4: Back in the saddle. Brown watch, Stuckart sues & appointment patronage

POSTED 4 August 2023

LISA’S LACK OF REPORTING DATES BACK.  Lisa Brown quit her Commerce job earlier this year leaving a half-a-billion dollar mess and quickly took to attacking the Spokane Mayor with demands for premature budget reports and a no-pandemic excuse policy.  And yet, in 2020 Lisa wrote a letter to the WA Legislature stating that she would not be providing our state lawmakers with an annual WA Department of Commerce report on homelessness. Commerce director Brown wrote,

“I have directed Commerce staff to prioritize their efforts to support communities across the state as we fight through the COVID-19 outbreak. Because of this, staff will not produce the Homelessness in Washington State 2020 Annual Report.”

We will be following up on this story next week.

STUCKART AND JEWELS SUES FOR CAMP HOPES NEXT TO SCHOOLS.  As reported in today’s Spokesman-Review, Ben Stuckart and “Jewels Helping Hands” have filed a lawsuit to prevent people in Spokane from deciding whether homeless people can camp next to schools, daycare centers, parks and playgrounds. 

It is unclear who is paying the attorney’s fees for this lawsuit, however “Jewels Helping Hands” did just get $12,500 in taxpayer money from Betsy Wilkerson-sponsored funding.  Stuckart and Jewels are gratuitous in their “scratch-my-back” grift.  Last summer, Stuckart was forced to resign as our area Continuum of Care board chair as it became known that “Jewels Helping Hands” devised a contract to run the Spokane Trent Shelter, proposing to kick back a Stuckart salary of $151,000. 

Lisa Brown is likely a fan of “Jewels Camp Hope by Schools” as when the initiative to keep encampments safe distances from children passes, Brown will have a tougher time finding sites for her proposed camp hope neighborhood parking lots.

A PLUMBER ATTEMPTS TO UNCLOG POLITICAL PROBLEMS.  In today’s Spokesman-Review, a long-time Spokane business owner, Andrews Mechanical Inc., and advocate for reasonable approaches to tackling climate change, Larry Andrews provides his analysis on issues with Spokane’s City Council majority’s “trifecta” approach to appointing fellow council members and citizen boards and commissions. 

Have a great weekend and stay On the Ball 509!