Yesterday’s big “news,” not at all unexpected, is that Susheela Jayapal is quitting the Multnomah County commission after less than five years, to run for the cushier office she always really wanted, U.S. Congress. If elected to Earl the Pearl’s seat, Sushi would join her younger sister, who’s a representative from Seattle.
As soon as she files to run for the higher office, if not before, the elder Jayapal will have effectively resigned from the county commission. Her position will be filled in a special election in May. If the county elections office gets its act together in time, it could be by “instant runoff” rank-choice voting, but if not, there will be a primary, and if needed, a traditional runoff in November. No surprise there, either.
But get this: Under county rules, in the meantime, Sushi’s hand-picked successor takes her place. And according to this story, that will be…
Come on, take a guess…
Think about it…
What kind of person would she pick?
Who will continue her disastrous agenda, or lack thereof (besides joining her sis in D.C.)?
Who’s all about the “equity”?
Of course, the president of a nonprofit!
And a highly political one at that.
His name is Jesse Beason, that’s his photo up there, and he’s the head of something called Northwest Health Foundation. The foundation appears to be a lovely pot of money that gets granted out on a regular basis to other “nonprofits” to “fight” for “health equity,” while Beason gets paid a cool 200 grand a year or so to ladle out the moolah. The organization’s latest filing with the IRS that is available online is for 2021, when his salary was more than $193,000 before benefits. Prior to getting this gig, he was a minion for Sam Adams and worked for Metro. Classic Portland.
When I dig a little deeper into the foundation Beason runs, what strikes me is that it’s got a fair amount of money, and it has no qualms about getting involved directly in politics. Northwest Health Foundation writes regular checks for $500 or $1,000 to the campaigns of politicians, including several made out to the election fund of the “right to rest” queen, Khanh Pham. You also see names like Tina Kotek, Kate Lieber, Lew Frederick, and Tawna Sanchez among the recipients of these political contributions.
But the foundation’s biggest political donations in recent years were $50,000 shelled out to push the ill-advised city charter revision, through an organization called Portland United for Change.
Northwest Health Foundation also reported paying $328,000 in 2021 to an Ashland company called Dancing Hearts Consulting, LLC, whose website shows a largely one-person political consulting firm. Golly, it’s almost as if people are using the foundation as a way to make anonymous political contributions. In 2021, one person gave $900,000.
Meanwhile, the foundation was the sole owner of a real estate holding company, called Philanthropy Center, LLC, listed as worth $4.3 million. And it owned interests in limited partnerships booked at $26.2 million. I can’t tell what any of that is about. It would certainly make for a fun afternoon for an IRS agent, if that agency policed nonprofits the way it’s supposed to. (It doesn’t.) Or maybe Ellen Rosenbum’s office would give it a hard look. Ha! Ha! Only kidding.
Anyway, if you liked Jayapal’s bungling on the county board, you’re gonna love six months to a year of Beason. Let’s hope that’s the extent of it. But who with any common sense can win an election in District 2, which is North and Northeast Portland? I certainly couldn’t. Maybe Jo Ann With the Bullhorn will burn through all her newfound money and stage a comeback.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post identified the foundation as a section 501(c)(3) charity. In fact, it files as a section 501(c)(4) organization, commonly known as a “dark money” fund.