Mon
Jan 31 2011
01:42 pm
Madeline Rogero releases campaign finance report
By: R. Neal

Madeline Rogero released her first campaign finance report today ahead of tomorrow's deadline. It shows $44,264 in donations from 268 individual supporters, $14,671 in expenditures, and $29,542 on hand. There are no self-finance loans.

Press release...

Campaign finance report...

UPDATE: Some analysis...

The average donation amount is $165. The breakdown by combined primary/general election donation amount from 268 donors is as follows:

$1000+: 12
$500-$999: 15
$101-$499: 64
$1-$100: 177

Some familiar names on the donor list include Julia Tucker, Rodney Lawler, Mark & Becky Harmon, Ray Abbas, Dr. Bill Snyder, Harold & Sylvia Woods, Cortney Piper, Indya Kincannon, Dawn Coppock, Liza Zenni, and Dr. Paul Kelly, plus a bunch of KnoxViews regulars.

Supporters making donations of $1000 or more after the jump...

Chris A. Hodges, Emerald Housing Partners LLC, 2,000.00
Debbie Helsley, CWA Local 3805, 1,000.00
Dell R. Lawler, 1,000.00
Gary and Libby Long, Weichert Realtors-Harold Long Realty, 1,000.00
Hank Barnett, Walters State Community College, 1,000.00
Jamie Harris, Self-employed, 1,000.00
John Thomas, Retired, 1,000.00
Julia Tucker, Retired, 1,000.00
Kim Stephens, Self-employed, 1,000.00
M. Edward Owens, Lewis King Krieg & Waldrop P.C., 1,000.00
Melissa Ziegler, Wilbur Smith Associates, 1,000.00
Rodney Lawler, Lawler-Wood, 1,000.00

Topics:
R. Neal's picture

Updated with some names and

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 2:49pm.

Updated with some names and numbers...

R. Neal's picture

Previous comment removed for

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 4:08pm.

Previous comment removed for violation of site rules.

Be Serious's picture

Rachel Craig who sits on MPC

Submitted by Be Serious (not verified) on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:13pm.

Rachel Craig who sits on MPC gave Rogero $125. Rachel Craig is a public figure. Explain why this is such a big deal that people know this. I saw you removed the post from Don J. about this. Why the special treatment for MPC Commissioner Craig?

R. Neal's picture

@be serious: Everything you cite is public

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:23pm.

@be serious: Everything you cite is public record. That's fine. Challenging someone who posts here to identify themselves and their agenda without identifying your own is not only unbecoming it's against site rules. (#9 detractors take note.) Rachel is free to answer or not answer questions, as are you.

Rachel's picture

Hi BeSerious; would you like

Submitted by Rachel on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:02pm.

Hi BeSerious; would you like to share who you are with us?

Yes, I sit on MPC. So does George Ewert, who is Ivan Harmon's campaign treasurer, Mose Lobetti, who is publicly supporting Padgett, and Jack Sharp, who is publicly supporting Harmon. And at least one other MPC Commissioner has donated to Rogero.

Any other questions?

EconGal's picture

Well, we have the Lawler Wood candidate

Submitted by EconGal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 5:39pm.

Chris Hodges, plus Jon's momma and daddy.

Does it bother anyone that Madeline initially awarded the construction of Minivilla to Pat Wood's brother without advertising it - in violation of federal law?

R. Neal's picture

The goals of TYP are worthy

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 5:50pm.

The goals of TYP are worthy and just. The public-private aspects, including the funding and beneficiaries thereof, are troublesome at best to anyone paying attention.

You are making a pretty serious accusation about the awarding of the Minvilla contract. Care to elaborate?

Either way, Minvilla is a suspect project, as are some of the other proposals. And it's possible that Madeline was carrying out policy handed down from above as she was hired to do. (Been there, hate that.)

Perhaps Madeline should distance herself from those aspects and come out with some of her own reform proposals.

Rachel's picture

Whoa, Nellie. You've got

Submitted by Rachel on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:04pm.

Whoa, Nellie. You've got more than a few facts wrong.

The first time the contract was bid, there was no Federal $$$ involved. Southeastern Housing, as VMC's contractor, advertised the bids and selected Wood Bros. Construction.

Later, AFTER Council approved passing Federal funds to VMC for Minvilla, the City (specifically, Madeline's department) required that Southeastern Housing rebid the project to be in compliance with Federal law.

Wood Bros. Construction was the low bidder and was awarded the contract.

So instead of Madeline "violating" Federal law, she actually required VMC and SEH to FOLLOW Federal law.

See: (link...)

R. Neal's picture

Rachel, clearly you are a

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:06pm.

Rachel, clearly you are a Rogero shill working for her campaign. Why don't you identify yourself and disclose your TYP agenda? :)

P.S. That said, I generally like econgal. She's pretty smart and brings some at least somewhat rational conservative/libertarian arguments from time to time (even though I frequently don't agree with them).

She apparently missed the mark this time.

cafkia's picture

There are things to worry

Submitted by cafkia on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:19pm.

There are things to worry about in any election cycle, valid things. The idea that Madeline might be anything other than completely above board is not one of them. The idea that Madeline might not be wonkish enough to know what the rules are is not a reasonable worry. That she might have somehow wormed her way into the GOB network or, that if she just gave out a contract or two she could, is pretty laughable.

Among the things that made Madeline so valuable to the Haslam administration is that in dealing with her, you know exactly where the boundaries are. You know that rules would not be broken, that "t"s would be crossed and "i"s would be dotted.

As a long time Madeline supporter I admit that she is not very tall and that she lives in South of the river. If there are other things to hold against her, I haven't heard about them.

R. Neal's picture

There are things to worry

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:25pm.

There are things to worry about in any election cycle, valid things. The idea that Madeline might be anything other than completely above board is not one of them. The idea that Madeline might not be wonkish enough to know what the rules are is not a reasonable worry.

What he said.

Rachel's picture

she is not very tall and that

Submitted by Rachel on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:28pm.

she is not very tall and that she lives in South of the river.

Careful, big guy.

The Patriot's picture

in violation of federal law

Submitted by The Patriot (not verified) on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:14pm.

If you have knowledge of a crime and do nothing have you, yourself, committed a crime?

j.f.m.'s picture

Six guys going on every

Submitted by j.f.m. on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 5:59pm.

Six guys going on every comment board in Knoxville pretending that the TYP is the only issue anyone cares about, or that that's what's going to drive the mayor's race and all the Council races, is not actually going to make it true. FYI. (Or one guy pretending to be six. Whatever it is.)

But it will make any discussion of the mayor's race on local comment boards and blogs really, really dull.

My advice to the sock hordes would be to take a step back and remember when you thought the sale of the Candy Factory was the Most Grievous and Important Injustice in the Known Universe. Then take a deep breath or two and think about finding another hobby. The monomania, the constant latching onto things as vehicles for your vague sense of persecution, is unhealthy for you and very boring for everyone else.

burntorange68goat's picture

Only 45K raised so far by

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 6:56pm.

Only 45K raised so far by Rogero. Considering the Padgett totals, anyone care to take a swipe at the state of the Democratic Party in Knoxville, or what this means for either candidate moving forward with their fund raising?

j.f.m.'s picture

They are, but that's not the

Submitted by j.f.m. on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 8:35pm.

They are, but that's not the right response to that particular jab. Padgett's a Democrat, too. Do people not know this?

EDIT: OK, re-reading the post, maybe the implication is that Knox Democrats are all tapped out between the two of them. Dunno. But there are a lot of small donations on Rogero's list by people who can give more if they want.

R. Neal's picture

j.f.m., you need to identify

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 8:40pm.

j.f.m., you need to identify yourself and tell us who you are working for and what your agenda is. For the benefit of drive-by trolls, of course.

(And the rest of us curious about your hipster new urbanist hip-hop centrist but progressive yet non-judgmental of other political points of view agenda and how it relates to the elections.)

j.f.m.'s picture

I saw the Drive-By Trolls

Submitted by j.f.m. on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:22pm.

I saw the Drive-By Trolls open for Lou Reed once.

My secret agenda was to get Rob Frost elected, because he would have been the first former member of the Metro Pulse softball team to serve as mayor. (Played a pretty good second base, fwiw.) And he had promised to make Ian Blackburn Secretary of the Sunsphere. Now that that's shot, I dunno. I guess I'm stuck hoping for some serious discussion of the Future of Knoxville.

R. Neal's picture

I guess I'm stuck hoping for

Submitted by R. Neal on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:27pm.

I guess I'm stuck hoping for some serious discussion of the Future of Knoxville.

Clearly that won't happen here. I suggest the KNS comments section.

j.f.m.'s picture

I don't mean here, I mean in

Submitted by j.f.m. on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:38pm.

I don't mean here, I mean in the actual campaigns. Or anywhere. And I think it's fine and good to talk about the TYP, it's one of the many issues the next mayor will have to deal with. But the insistence by a tiny, largely anonymous, hugely obnoxious contingent for the last six months or so that it's going to be THE issue of the elections this year is both irritating and bewildering. Irritating because there are so many other, equally-or-more important things to talk about. Bewildering because the volume of commentary (both in terms of amount and decibel level) is so out of proportion to the issue itself.

burntorange68goat's picture

j.f.m., "Bewildering

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:55pm.

j.f.m.,

"Bewildering because the volume of commentary (both in terms of amount and decibel level) is so out of proportion to the issue itself."

It's funny that anyone would think that the TYP is not a major issue in the City of Knoxville. Over 30 million dollars has been spent to date, to impliment the Ten Year Plan, and so far, there is only about 20 people housed at the first Unit to open. Most people that I have talked with have many of the same concerns. Like, how much will this plan cost to fully impliment? What does fully impliment mean? How long will it take and what is the end result expected to be?

burntorange68goat's picture

Sorry, Implement. Intersting

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 11:00pm.

Sorry, Implement.

Intersting that when I tried to correct that spelling through my edit button, I was denied, and then you pointed it out for me.

Thank yo for the quick editing.

j.f.m.'s picture

It's an important issue,

Submitted by j.f.m. on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 12:40am.

It's an important issue, which is why the paper I work for has devoted and will continue to devote serious space and attention to it. It is not the most important issue facing the city of Knoxville, in terms of either the amount of money or number of people affected by it. And anyone insisting that it is or should be the central political issue of this year is pursuing some other agenda of their own.

slapshot's picture

TYP shilling

Submitted by slapshot (not verified) on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 8:40am.

"It's an important issue, which is why the paper I work for has devoted and will continue to devote serious space and attention to it. It is not the most important issue facing the city of Knoxville, in terms of either the amount of money or number of people affected by it. And anyone insisting that it is or should be the central political issue of this year is pursuing some other agenda of their own."

Another decider telling us the supposed relevance of campaign issues via their own agendas. Simple math shows the TYP can be more of a financial hit than the City Pension. It is one of the three top financial issues facing the City. That makes it very relevant to voters and taxpayers.

Things have changed a great deal from last year when announcements were made by City officials that no City money would be required for case managers. Your very own paper the Metro Pulse had a story by Joe Sullivan that the TYP would come to County Commission for $570,000 for case managers because Federal money fell through. That was for the case managers for 300 chronically homeless people.

The TYP has stated numerous times there are 1,200 chronically homeless people. So for 1,200 chronically homeless people local taxpayers will have to come up with four times $570,000 a year. That is $2.28 million dollars a year. Compare that to the City pension fund. That is ONLY for case managers. Funding still must be found for addiction recovery therapists which will cost much more than the case managers. That also does not include other City grants for the TYP for new construction or site purchases.

Your paper is not being objective and you are mixing your own personal agendas into covering the story.

j.f.m.'s picture

This is the sound of me not

Submitted by j.f.m. on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 9:54am.

This is the sound of me not ever caring what you say or think about anything. I've told you before, I don't talk to you on KnoxBlab, I'm not talking to you here. I wish others could restrain themselves, too. Capiche?

Somebody's picture

"Over 30 million dollars has

Submitted by Somebody on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 2:12pm.

"Over 30 million dollars has been spent to date, to impliment the Ten Year Plan..."

I'm pretty sure this is patently false information.

burntorange68goat's picture

"I'm pretty sure this is

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 12:10am.

"I'm pretty sure this is patently false information."

Really?

7.3 million for MinVilla
7.1 million for Flenniken
325,000 x 5 for the TYP Office = 1,625,000
500,000 to 1,000,000 per year in undisclosed Funds raised by the TYP office for assorted efforts = ?
125,000 at least x 5 for the HMIS System = $600,000 at least.
About 1.5 million a year for at least 5 years, in ongoing HUD money to all the usual suspects for Shelter Grants etc....

This is almost 30 million with the amounts that are public record. Only Jon Lawler knows how much the TYP office has actually raised and spent.

R. Neal's picture

What does this have to do

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 12:46am.

What does this have to do with Rogero's campaign finance report?

cafkia's picture

Obviously if Madeline had not

Submitted by cafkia on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 1:23am.

Obviously if Madeline had not paid all of that money to Wood, she would have 30 mil in her campaign fund. DUH!

sobi's picture

Pretty shameful. Even by your standards.

Submitted by sobi on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 1:51am.

$7.1M has already been spent on Flenniken? Incredible. I drove by there, in my, Car within the last week. If they've already spent that much on it, that's going to be about a $47M project when it's finished.

Has the TYP office been funded at a level of $325k per year for five years? As a matter of "public record," as you say? Prove it.

$500k to $1M in "undisclosed Funds"? WTF does that mean? That you don't actually know anything about them? That at least makes sense, and is thus entirely congruent with the rest of your post.

The $1.5M: is that, like, the recently-announced Continuum of Care renewal that predates the adoption of the TYP by something like four or five years, and you're just rounding up to the nearest quarter million dollars? Is that what you mean? And isn't that how HMIS is funded, by HUD through the Continuum of Care?

You're a failure as Maximum Leader. Every time you activate one of your Peappets, you do deeper damage to your already thread-skinny credibility. Seriously. With one breath you scream "Thirty! Million! Dollars!," and with the next you whisper, "but only Lawler really knows."

You're, monstrously Peathetic.

Which is relevant to this thread, because you just forced me untimely to donate to Madeline's campaign.

Oh, and by the way, the pension can't bankrupt the City, idiot. The TYP is the thing that's going to do that, remember?

TYVM. All done. G'night.

burntorange68goat's picture

From the TYP Advisory Board

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 9:36am.

From the TYP Advisory Board meeting minutes from March of 2010-
(link...)

"Goal #4: Raise at least $450,000 from the local community to provide gap funding for TYP operations in year 4. This was accomplished in quarter #1."

Reviewing the Advisory Board Minutes, it appears that Mr. Lawler has raised somewhere between 2 & 3 Million dollars since 2007 for the TYP. Where did it come from and how was it spent? (link...)

From the KNS- (link...)

"The county this year budgeted $50,000 for the TYP's $314,000 administrative budget, which includes three full-time employees who help implement the plan and a case manager."

FYI, the $314,000 Budget does not include the cost of the benefits that the employees recieve, so the actual cost will probably be more like $365,000 per year.

On the Continuum of Care Funding from the KNS- (link...)

"Donovan said in a telephone interview in which he announced more than $1.24 million in grants to Knoxville homeless projects as part of a $1.4 billion national program."

This $1,24 million does not include the thousands of additional dollars that many of the Stake holders, such as HRM, SA, VMC receive each year, in pass through grants from HUD, byway of the City and the County, nor does it include the $6 million + that the County pays for Indigent Care Programs each and every year, although not all of the Indigent Care money goes to Homeless programs some of it goes to the needs of Low Income individuals.

R. Neal's picture

What does this have to do

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 9:37am.

What does this have to do with Rogero's campaign finance report?

burntorange68goat's picture

And before you say it R., it

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 9:42am.

And before you say it R., it is relevant to this thread for two reasons.

First, If you allow the Sobi person's continued attacks and degrading comments to anyone that states facts about the TYP to be "relevant", than rebuttals should be allowed.

And second, Madeline Rogero is 100% for the TYP and it shows by all the TYP affiliated Donors on her Donor list.

Rachel's picture

Irritating because there are

Submitted by Rachel on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 11:52pm.

Irritating because there are so many other, equally-or-more important things to talk about. Bewildering because the volume of commentary (both in terms of amount and decibel level) is so out of proportion to the issue itself.

Amen, brother.

burntorange68goat's picture

OK, how about this for

Submitted by burntorange68goat on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:48pm.

OK, how about this for serious,

The City Pension is going to Bankrupt the City as it is currently structured. To expect anything more than a modest return on these types of accounts for the next 10 years is foolhardy at best. The days of 14%, 10% or for that matter anything over 5% returns, are just not going to happen.

What is the solution from the 4 Mayoral candidates still in the race?

BTW, we can Study group this subject from here to eternity but unless the workers pay a lot more, or move to a matching, 401 or 403B retirement plan, they are just wasting their time and endangering the financial stability of the City of Knoxville Government.

That should get us started.

fischbobber's picture

Retirement

Submitted by fischbobber on Mon, 2011/01/31 - 10:52pm.

My 401k returned 32% per annum last quarter. Responsibly managing a pension plan is not that difficult , nor expensive.

Bird_dog's picture

past performance is no guarantee

Submitted by Bird_dog on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 12:53pm.

of anything. And one quarter's results annualized? A pension plan that returned 32% in one year would actually be mis-managed for risk.

It's the defined-benefit that will be a problem. Regretfully, that's something I didn't understand at the time I voted for the KSO pension plan.

In retirement, I am all about managing risk.

j.f.m.'s picture

Yes. That is a serious issue.

Submitted by j.f.m. on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 12:40am.

Yes. That is a serious issue. And it should be discussed.

Rachel's picture

Agreed. And I'm sure it will

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 2:06am.

Agreed. And I'm sure it will be.

bill young's picture

Good Shape

Submitted by bill young on Tue, 2011/02/01 - 11:15am.

Good report for Madeline.

I know the media spin doctors & the City Hall crowd luvs to
talk about who has the most $$$.

I agree one does need a little $$$.

But don't let the spin doctors & the City Hall crowd fool you.

Elections are not won by who has the most $$$.
Elections are won by who has the most votes!

R. Neal's picture

As per repeated previous

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2011/02/02 - 9:50am.

As per repeated previous requests, off-topic TYP discussion should be on TYP related topics somewhere else. See new post above. Take it there.

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