Is this the kind of corruption this scumbag intends to bring to Clark County?
Casino developer pours last-minute cash against Mielke
Friday, October 31 | 4:38 p.m.
(updated)
Would-be casino boss David Barnett cut checks for $59,000 (Now up to $76,500) this week opposing county commissioner candidate Tom Mielke. The political fliers seem likely to arrive in mailboxes sometime this weekend.
Neither Mielke nor his opponent, Pam Brokaw, say they oppose the Cowlitz Tribe's proposed reservation and casino near La Center. (This is not true. Mielke has a long history of opposition to Barnett's organized crime venture, unwanted in our county.) Both say they want the county to sign a new, stronger deal with the tribe in case the federal government approves the casino.
Barnett, the son of a former tribal chairman, has a contract to develop the casino for the tribe and take a share of its revenue.
Brokaw said Friday that Barnett had approached her "about a week ago" to offer his direct support, but she turned him down. (Sure she is "surprised." And here again, is she telling the truth?
Brokaw and her people were frantic for money. She has been scrambling for every dollar, because she's been getting hammered on TV... which is why she has received even more from the casino union. So, she magically, out of a clear blue sky, just happens to hear from Barnett. And then, with equal magic, roughly a week later, the pieces are done, printed, sorted and mailed. I can see it now: "Dave, of course I want your money, but it can't be traced back to me. After all, if they knew I was in your pocket, how could I go on lying about my support of your casino?"
After all, it's not like Barnett hadn't done the EXACT SAME THING BEFORE, RIGHT? Oh, wait a minute. He HAS done the exact same thing before... and SHE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO DO IT THIS TIME, AS WELL.)
On Wednesday, LRNW LLC, a company owned by Barnett, hired Seattle marketing firm Strategies 360 to produce and mail $59,000 worth of political fliers.
Mielke said this follows in the path of a similar action in 2005, when a Barnett-funded PAC spent $86,500 to defeat him in an earlier commissioner race against now-Commissioner Steve Stuart.
"Once again, they're interfering with the operation of Clark County and not being upward and forward about it," Mielke said.
Both Brokaw and Mielke expressed surprise Friday to be told of the contribution, which was filed Thursday with the state public disclosure commission.
"I have stayed neutral on this and haven't taken money from any gambling interest, tribes or anything," Brokaw said. "This is something that folks have the right to do, but it's not something that I have anything to do with at all." (Intrepreted, this means "I have lacked the guts to take a public position, but I have taken several thousand dollars in contributions from the union that will wire the megacasino, and I have taken a donation from the casino's attorney in Clark County." So here, she is flat out lying.)
Mielke has directly accepted $7,500 from La Center's four existing casinos, which have long opposed a larger tribal operation nearby.
Last week, the county Republican party, boosted by a big donation from the local Building Industry Associaton, dropped $28,800 on the other side of this race with a sharp anti-Brokaw mailer and TV campaign.
But here's a question: why so late in the race? More than 100,000 ballots have already been cast. How many can possibly be left?
More in Saturday's paper. If you've seen these mailers yourself, we'd love to know.
michael.andersen@columbian.com
Posted by Hinton at October 31, 2008 08:21 PM | Email This