Pork barrel spending, Alameda County-style

$1 million in county funds is heading to Black Panther icon's non-profit; Pamela Price made police accountability the focus of her campaign. Now she's been booted from the highest profile case

Former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown, left, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, and former Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks.

COUNTY NEWS

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

—CARSON CLASSIC—An Alameda County Grand Jury report in 2017 made eye-raising determinations that Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson improperly gave $710,000 in discretionary funds to Elaine Brown, the Black Panther icon turned capitalist, who, at the time, was his employee.

—The grand jury found that Brown discussed allocating county money to her non-profit, Oakland and the World Enterprises, while she worked as an aide in Carson’s district office.

—The discussions constituted a conflict of interest on Carson’s part, the grand jury wrote in its report.

—The grand jury also alleged that Carson attempted to conceal Brown’s connection to the non-profit in documents by referring to her as it chief financial officer, and not a principal executive.

—On Tuesday, the connection between Carson and Brown gets another look as the Board of Supervisors are set to approve a $1 million allocation from Carson’s discretionary funds to Oakland and the World Enterprises.

—The funding, via Carson’s miscellaneous residual property tax fund, will go toward Oakland and the World’s goal of acquiring commercial space that will be used for micro-businesses…

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