Manipulating money and breaking trust

Empire Health Foundation drops neutrality, claims partisan position

This one is personal.

As one of the founding board members of the Empire Health Foundation, I put my heart into the development of the original grant program. We worked hard at establishing a culture of trust with communities crossing the full political spectrum. I treasure my service as chairman of the board when the decision was made to secure our own space, and we chose to restore the original Spokane Chamber of Commerce Building in the Riverside Avenue Historic District. We developed the Philanthropy Center as a place for EHF to be a neutral convener, and we carefully navigated through the partisan storm around the launch of the Affordable Care Act to provide navigator services in eastern Washington through Better Health Together.

But the culture has changed. Neutrality has been abandoned and EHF has been steered into extreme partisan paths. It turned up when Jim Hedemark decided to follow the money after the 2023 municipal elections. The money story just broke in The Center Square and there’s more to come.

First, let’s be very clear about the “she said/he said” at the end of the initial investigative report as published on December 8th in The Center Square. The person with the “pretty narrow” definition of the purpose of a healthcare foundation is Zeke Smith. Healthy communities rely on strong networks crossing partisan divides, not throwing money at inexperienced activists so they can practice manipulative techniques with progressive political PACs. Some of the expenses claimed are ordinary, some are legal (albeit frivolous or unusual), some will generate additional PDC complaints, and the multiple hands the money passed through thwarts the intent of transparency in campaign financing and the purpose of the Public Disclosure Commission.

While the story on campaign financing opposing Spokane’s Measure 1 ending up in Seattle is still being unraveled, two key quotes from The Center Square report:

My perspective: “EHF can't be trusted as a neutral convener in eastern Washington when EHCAF is paying to play statewide progressive politics.”

Zeke Smith’s response to the investigative reporter: “It wasn’t Empire Health Foundation. It’s the (501)c4 [EHCAF] that took these actions. Private foundations wouldn’t and don’t engage in political contributions, because it would be inappropriate to do so.”

It was a disingenuous and sanctimonious response. Zeke Smith is the President of both Empire Health Foundation and Empire Health Community Advocacy Fund, the 501c4 he is pointing to as if it exists outside of his control. EHF is the sole owner of EHCAF, and a majority of the board of EHCAF must also be directors of EHF. And while I am confident good lawyers were well paid to assure the Articles of Incorporation and 13 pages of bylaws are pleasing to the IRS, the membrane between the two corporations is thinner than a single sheet of paper.

EHF has always had a broad definition of health and health equity. Very early in the development of the foundation, work which I supported and nurtured well before Zeke Smith arrived from Portland with his social justice warrior flag flying, EHF recognized the broad nature of the social determinants of health and the disparate impacts on marginalized communities in eastern Washington.

EHF during my tenure was a pioneer in supporting food banks, healthy school lunch programs, exercise programs, and community-building initiatives in addition to supporting more traditional medical, dental and mental health outreach. We sought out real diversity on the board, with representatives from a variety of experiential backgrounds. We made sure to have broad geographic and cultural diversity across urban, rural and tribal communities.

Zeke Smith’s definition of purpose is narrowly focused on the progressive left's critical theory notion of “oppressed versus oppressor” classes. Under his leadership as President of both EHF and EHCAF, the inclusive vision of the founders has been dragged off track into extreme partisan politics, breaking trust in a way that has already alienated many with whom EHF had built and should be building bridges.

The reputation of the Empire Health Foundation as a non-partisan organization focused on supporting healthy communities in Whitman, Adams, Lincoln, Stevens, Pend Oreille, and Spokane counties is gone. It’s going to take time and new leadership to rebuild the other half of those broken bridges.

On the positive side, the action of EHF - sorry, the action of EHCAF in conspicuously dumping nearly a quarter million dollars into the progressive money mill was timely in drawing attention to flaws in the 2018 DISCLOSE Act in time for PDC watchdogs to monitor for similar machinations in the 2024 elections.

There will be more on this story after the last PDC reporting period for the 2023 campaigns. Over $80,000 in the Justice Not Jails campaign funds was unaccounted for as of the last reporting period. Final reports are due by end of the day on December 11.

The Center Square: Dispute follows Spokane County Measure 1 over campaign spending, transparency
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_9de0c7dc-9606-11ee-8c57-636c691d3000.html