They paid $100, dined on chicken, listened to jazz and mingled with the governor in Seattle’s Westin Hotel.
This Mardi Gras gala Sept. 30 served a charitable, not political, purpose with proceeds earmarked to help New Orleans firefighters and their families rebuild their lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Vicki Gillis of Arlington threw the party. Now she finds herself at odds on its success with New Orleans firefighters union president Nicholas Felton.
In a Jan. 6 letter, he fired her as a fundraiser citing excessive expenses. And he sent copies to elected leaders in Louisiana and Washington, sparking a bicoastal spat.
“It shows complete malice. It’s clear he’s trying to ruin my reputation,” she said.
Gillis’ reputation is in politics, not charity. She raises cash primarily for Republican candidates. Her client list includes County Councilman John Koster, who paid her $15,000 in 2005, and Attorney General Rob McKenna, who attended the gala.
She said she felt compelled to travel to New Orleans to offer help in the manner she did for the New York Fire Department following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Helping firefighters is a mission inspired by the memories of those killed in the 1998 fire at the Anacortes refinery where her husband worked. He survived, though friends of theirs perished.
Gillis visited New Orleans last January. By May, she had a contract.
“They asked what I’d do and I said, ‘We’d have a big event in Washington,’” she recalled.
Cash from the event flowed into a union account and checks were written to pay the bills.
Too many bills, Felton decided.
In the letter, he calculated 72.5 cents of each dollar raised went for commission and costs, a level he termed reprehensible.
He said he’d rather see 80 or 90 cents on the dollar going to charity.
By the end of November, he said the union recorded $61,072 in income and $44,772 in expenses for a net of $16,300.
Gillis said the profit amount is closer to $20,000 including funds received after Dec. 1. She said she earned $12,000 for her year’s work.
“These bills are not out of line. Fundraisers are expensive,” she said.
While what Felton wrote was upsetting, the list of people he sent it to proved shocking.
Louisiana’s congressional delegation received copies. So, too, did Gov. Chris Gregoire, McKenna, every member of the state Legislature and even the Better Business Bureau in Seattle.
This was a diss of Everest proportions.
“I thought it was important because of the gravity and nature of the story,” Felton said.
Gillis was devastated. The two clashed, but she didn’t foresee this.
“We did the event,” she said. “We paid the bills and they have $20,000 more than they had.”
She plans to rebut Felton in a letter and send copies to everyone he did.
“I owe people an explanation,” she said. “And I plan to continue raising money for those firefighters.”
Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column on politics runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 8 a.m. Monday on the Morning Show on KSER 90.7 FM. He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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