Earlier this month, Lisa Brown, one of four candidates for City Commission Seat 3, sat down with Steve Stewart for an interview on “Above the Fold,” a local news program on RealTalk 93.3FM.
During the interview Brown discussed priorities and specific ideas for meeting challenges facing Tallahassee.
Brown is a Tallahassee native, who lived and worked in Jacksonville and South Florida for several years before moving home to raise her family and continue her career in banking and finance. She is the president/CEO of Tallahassee/Leon Federal Credit Union.
She said her three priorities, if elected to the city commission, feed into each other: economic vitality, crime, brand image. She believes improving Tallahassee’s economy will influence the crime rate. Improving the economy and crime problem will allow the city to improve its tarnished brand image.
She said economic vitality includes more than bringing in industry and high paying jobs. If elected, Brown will support and develop programs like TechHire Tallahassee. This program of the Tallahassee/Leon County Office of Economic Viability creates a link between those seeking high-wage jobs with local businesses looking to hire by providing cutting edge training, credentialing, and placement.
“{With TechHire) people are paying for their own school, there’s no subsidy, which is brilliant and is the whole reason I support it. It takes government coordination, but not government money to put the right people at the table so everyone is talking together. Folks who invest like that are more successful in the future,” she said.
On the topic of affordable housing, Brown said she would engage in “forward-thinking and creative ideas” to address the problem. A former member of the Palm Beach County Affordable Housing Board, Brown wants to investigate several programs designed to help Tallahassee’s nurses, police officers, and the average Joes buy homes.
One of these programs involves a CRA-type group purchasing land and placing it in a land trust. Homes are built on that land which allows the purchaser to get a lower mortgage just for the house, not the land. The land stays inside of the trust. If that person goes into foreclosure, the trust buys the home back and the home stays in trust and is given to someone else that needs affordable housing.
She said, “I’m not proposing that we do that, it’s just something to look at.”
Brown said she sees issues like term limits and returning the office of the mayor to a non-elected position as part of a bigger question — what is the right governance for our situation in Tallahassee?
“Our community needs to have those discussions and now is the time,” she said.
One discussion she has put off for now involves possible conflicts between herself and two of her credit union board members, should she be elected. Questions were raised by Tallahassee Reports regarding the potential for conflict between Brown and board members, Dustin Daniels and Ben Pingree.
Daniels, the former chief of staff for Mayor Andrew Gillum as of March 21, 2018, is running for Mayor of Tallahassee.
Pingree, in his role as a local government official, reports to the Intergovernmental Agency (IA) where city and county elected officials sit jointly. Pingree is responsible for the management and oversight of Planning, Land Management, and Community Enhancement departments, including the “Blueprint 2020” program.
Following an April 20 meeting of the credit union board, it was decided any potential conflicts of interest would be resolved following the Nov. 6 General Election, if Brown wins.
Lisa Brown Discusses City Commission Priorities added by Karen Murphy on
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TIMELINE OF CORRUPTION : A Misuse of Credit Union Funds
1) February 6, 2018 – Lisa Brown premieres the TLFCU country music video at the Challenger Learning Center complete with a red carpet show. Were TLFCU funds used to pay for this? If so, how much?
2) February 15, 2018 – Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat reports that Lisa Brown, CEO of the TLFCU sponsored, through the credit union (TLFCU), a country music video. Burlew also mentions Brown’s aspiration to seek public office. Burlew reports that, “if she does decide to run for public office, she already has a campaign song in the hopper.”
3) April 5, 2018 – The Tallahassee Democrat’s Jeff Burlew reports that Lisa Brown is running for City Commission.
4) Present – Lisa Brown, CEO of TLFCU refuses to answer who at the TLFCU authorized the funds to expend on the video and fails to produce minutes from TLFCU board meetings where the board approved the expenditure of funds for the video. She also refuses to answer who was paid to produce the video (Vancore Jones?), how much the TLFCU paid for the video, and what account at the TLFCU was used to fund this video and the Challenger Learning Center premiere.
Is this adding up to the video was produced solely to promote Lisa Brown, CEO, as a political candidate and paid to Vancore Jones to secure their services at the expense of the TLFCU members solely for her political public relations expenses? Her campaign treasurer’s reports shows no public relations expenses were paid out. What was the cost of the video, cost of PR for the video, and the cost of the premiere all paid for by the TLFCU members? If there was ever a misuse of funds — this is it, in my opinion.
Why are the board members Ben Pingree or Dustin Daniels not questioning this or reporting this to the financial institution regulators?
Again, why are TLFCU funds being used to fund the CEO’s public relations political campaign expenses?
Wonder if George Soros is interested in her?
If she wants some of the old hater’s money Mayor Andy can “hook her up”!!!
This Lisa Brown bit is just more of the same !! Isn”t there an honest , non connected , conservative out there that will stand up and run for office anymore ? Good Lord , there must be an able bodied person with a brain and common sense that does not have spend, spend, spend of taxpayer money on their agenda ! AMEN
Beware of trying to over-analyse everything these leftists say and do when you know all they want is more and more and more of your money to enable more and more and more things that you and everyone with common sense and a love of God and Country totally disagree with.
Let me preach on it!!!
Snidley’s free advice on the incredibly good looking (in comparison to the other leftist ladies running for office)…Ms. Lisa Brown:
Democrat – Insider – Oh Hell No!!!
There you can now relax and go out and do something productive.
You are welcome!!!
Are the numerous solicitations Lisa Brown sends to the TLFCU credit union members for insurance at high costs and low benefits appropriate/legal? Is this an approved practice by the financial institutions regulators?
Does Ms. Brown, TLFCU board members , or the TLFCU profit in any way from the insurance solicitations? Does the TLFCU pay for the mailings? If so, is this appropriate (legal)? Is anyone illegally profiting from these solicitations?
Did the TLFCU pay for the video of the band that catapulted Ms. Brown into the political arena? If so, who at TLFCU approved the expense, what was the cost, what account was it paid from, and was it paid to Vancore Jones?
Is Ms. Brown using TLFCU funds for her campaign public relations?
There is no expense listed on Ms. Brown’s candidate’s treasurer report filing for the video. So, how was this video paid for?
Unless we are provided answers to these basic legitimate questions I do not see a credible candidate here.
Also, TLFCU’s auditors in Miami sent credit union members letters asking them to verify the amounts in their accounts. The letters provided postage paid envelopes to respond to the auditors. Is this a regular practice or is there a serious audit being conducted at the TLFCU regarding misuse of funds?
Anyone believe it’s coincidental that she already has ties to a couple of insiders? With the track record of many of our local insiders, their lack of transparency and tone deafness toward anyone not in their orbit…I do not have any confidence she would’nt become part of the ongoing problem…if she isnt already. My feeling is why take that chance?
Just give me someone with no political experience, no contacts with insiders, and a desire to serve one or two terms as a public service. I’d much rather see someone learn on the job than have a well connected, slick dishonest person with experience.
We have an obligation to call out corruption locally to prevent them from being promoted on to State and National office where they can do greater damage. Until TR began a few years ago, we did not even hear a peep from any local media about all the local corruption.
Thanks Tallahassee Reports for your public service!
Steve’s reporting on Lisa Browns corporate candidacy has been excellent and I hope the Democrat finally catchs up to you on this Steve. Her conflicts of interest between Dustin Daniels, Ben Pingree and Vancore Jones is all you need to know.
As Erwin Jackson said on his Facebook page: “New names but the corruption remains the same!
Lisa Brown wants to be a city commissioner but can’t see a conflict with city commissioner candidate Dustin Daniels and local government employee Ben Pingree who serve as directors on the Tallahassee-Leon Federal Credit Union complements of Ms. Lisa Brown!
City lobbyist, city vendor, and campaign manager Vancore-Jones is pulling all the strings hoping to make Gillum and Pingree happy while electing Dustin Daniels and Lisa Brown!”