Confidential Docs Show Controversial Trump Ally Is Key Member of Soccer Stadium Management
Wednesday, June 07, 2023
PHOTO of Donald Trump and Jill Homan, one of the three members of the management team of the Tidewater Soccer Stadium in Pawtucket. PHOTO: Facebook
The documents show that one of the three members of the management team was a controversial supporter of Donald Trump in the 2020 election and is now an ultra-conservative Republican candidate for State Senate in North Carolina.
While Johnson is the public face of Tidewater Stadium LLC in Rhode Island, there are two other members of the management team, according to the documents being presented to targeted investors. The documents GoLocal secured have not been disclosed to state officials, nor were they provided to members of the board of RI Commerce.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBesides Johnson, the other two members of the management team are Dan Kroeber, director of development for the company, who has been involved in the negotiations with Pawtucket and the state of Rhode Island, and GOP activist and real estate consultant Jill Homan.
Homan has been a major booster for Trump, served as a National Republican Committeewoman, and is now a GOP candidate for the North Carolina State Senate. Her involvement as one of the three managers on the Tidewater management team is tied to her expertise as a consultant on opportunity zone projects.
The opportunity zone program offers wealthy investors unmatched tax savings for investing in "low-income" areas. The program was created by legislation authored by U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who is now a GOP presidential candidate. The program was strongly supported by Trump as President, and the Pawtucket soccer stadium's financial viability is tied to its opportunity zone designation.
Last year, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR), demanded information from several billionaire developers to determine whether they are abusing the Trump tax break that was supposed to benefit poor communities.
The refusal to disclose Homan's involvement is just the latest development for the company seeking tens of millions of dollars in public funding. A GoLocal investigation published in May found that a number of claims by Johnson were false.
A vote by the Commerce board in July approved the Tidewater minor league project to receive:
a. The award provides for net bond proceeds of $27,000,000;
b. $10,000,000 of net proceeds realized from the previously-authorized Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit award; and
c. $10,000,000 net proceeds from the City
The Tidewater project is also receiving tens of millions in state-funded infrastructure improvements.
Homan — Controversial Trump Backer Has Not Been Disclosed to State or City Officials
Homan's involvement in the Pawtucket soccer stadium has not been disclosed previously. When GoLocal asked Michael Raia about Homan's role on the management team, Raia said, "I'm not personally familiar with her but let me reach out to my client." Raia later changed his story.
SEE THE BIOS OF TIDEWATER PROJECT'S MANAGEMENT TEAM AT BOTTOM OF STORY
Homan broke into the national political spotlight in 2019 when she and Robert Kabel led a successful effort to drive the Log Cabin Republicans to endorse President Donald Trump. The effort led to multiple resignations of board members and the executive director to quit.
Log Cabin Republicans is the nation's largest Republican organization "dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies."
Homan’s effort to steer the endorsement of the group to Trump became national news. And, it drew national criticism from gay and lesbian members of the GOP and beyond.
Victoria A. Brownworth, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, wrote in a column published in Philadelphia Gay News.
"It would be difficult to envision a president with a more virulent and toxically anti-LGBTQ agenda than Donald Trump. Yet on August 16, the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s foremost gay conservative group, endorsed Trump for president in 2020. In 2016 they refused to endorse him," wrote Brownworth
"The very concept of LGBTQ people for Trump is shocking. He has attacked queer and trans people repeatedly. On the same day Log Cabin endorsed him, Trump proposed a religious freedom rule that would allow discrimination against LGBTQ employees based on an employer’s religious beliefs. The Trump DOJ has filed briefs in discrimination cases against gay and trans people that will be heard by the Supreme Court in October. Those briefs intend to vitiate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act with regard to gay and trans people and could be precedent-setting," wrote Brownworth.
Both NBC News and CBS News covered the controversy -- see the video below.
Presently, Homan Is a GOP Candidate for State Senate in North Carolina
In North Carolina, the Tidewater management team member Homan is an activist Republican fighting against climate initiatives and has supported banning the teaching of "critical race theory."
Homan is running for GOP Senate seat in NC -- while serving on the management team of the Tidewater project.
SEE HER COMMENTS ON FOX NEWS BELOW.
Raia Says She Is a Consultant
Raia later responded by claiming that despite Homan being listed as one of the three members of the management team, she is a consultant to the project.
"Jill Homan is a development consultant for the opportunity zone and has been consulting on the development for three years. Her involvement has been well known to all the partners working together on the development of Tidewater Landing," wrote Raia in an email.
When asked if he could produce a single public document or press statement disclosing Homan's involvement, Raia wrote, "She’s a consultant. Not every consultant appears in a press release."
But, clearly, investor documents distributed by Johnson seeking funding for the project list Homan as one of the three members of the management team. One set of documents for one group, another set for others.
SEE BELOW
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