TL;DR -> Kay Crowder is not anti-LGBTQ or anti-abortion, but she did push through a grant of $30K to a local clinic that is associated with pro-life pregnancy crisis centers and a church that supports gay conversion therapy. Those facts run counter to an October 5th Facebook post where she claims she never pushed-through a grant for the clinic.
A recent mailer from one of Kay Crowder’s opponents reminded District D voters that Councilor Crowder pushed through a grant to support a local clinic with ties to pro-life pregnancy crisis centers, and a church involved with LGBTQ conversion therapy. Mrs. Cowder’s campaign quickly posted a rebuttal of the mailer and claimed…
I did not “force through” a $30,000 grant as the mailer alleges. There was no grant. I proposed to support a non-profit, faith-based health clinic that serves uninsured, mainly immigrant populations.
–Crowder4Council Facebook Post October 5th
First, anyone that knows Councilor Crowder knows she wouldn’t knowingly support an organization that’s against women’s reproductive rights, nor one associated with groups promoting LGBTQ conversion therapy. However, that’s not the issue with this topic. The issue is Mrs. Crowder made a mistake by circumventing the City of Raleigh processes for vetting non-profits before those charitable groups are eligible to receive money from the city.
The above video is from the May 7th 2019 City Council session. Councilor Crowder brings up a clinic serving an underserved population in her district. She mentions the clinic tried to apply for a City of Raleigh grant but missed the deadline for submission. She then makes a motion for the Council to provide $30,000 to the clinic out of the City Council contingency budget (taxpayer money).
Councilor Russ Stephenson seconds the motion to provide the funds, but quickly raises concerns asking Councilor Crowder…
(Stephenson) “Just want to make sure you’ve had conversations with them [Neighbor Health], and others about what the scope of their services are and their performance over the past year?”
(Crowder) “Yes, I have”
Russ Stephenson & Kay Crowder May 7th City Council Meeting
Councilor Crowder goes on to mention she’s visited the clinic several times in person and is very familiar with the group and its services. After she gives this testimony to the clinic’s mission the rest of the Council votes to approve the funds for the clinic, but it was done so at Councilor Crowder’s urging. The details of the issue are covered in a News & Observer story on May 14th.
The details above appear to be in direct conflict with Crowder’s campaign post on October 5th. While the money provided to NeighborHealth wasn’t a formal “Grant”, it was taxpayer money and it was Councilor Crowder’s motion to provide those funds to NeighborHealth without expecting them to pay the City of Raleigh back. Strangely from the exact same Facebook page she refuted ever pushing through the grant money motion, Crowder’s campaign had previously posted an apology for pushing through the funding and circumventing the normal grant process.
However, even the apology post from May 13th doesn’t really cover the entire issue. Councilor Crowder only mentions one of NeighborHealth’s supporters is a church involved in LGBT conversion therapy. She doesn’t mention the clinic’s ties to pro-life pregnancy crisis centers, nor the fact the lead physician at the clinic is against abortion. That information came up after IndyWeek writer Leigh Tauss visited the clinic and published an article with interviews she had with the clinic staff. The IndyWeek article was also updated after Councilor Crowder contacted Tauss and informed her she would be voting to rescind the grant at the next Council meeting (also contradicting her October 5th post).
The City of Raleigh should never provide taxpayer funding to organizations without them going through the proper vetting procedure. It was Councilor Crowder’s mistake to misrepresent to her fellow Councilors just how much she knew about the organization, and another mistake to circumvent processes meant to properly research these organizations before they receive taxpayer funds. Her statements were responsible for the Councilors having enough confidence to vote with her to circumvent the grant process, and provide the clinic with taxpayer funds. It was a hard lesson learned, but from Councilor Crowder’s campaign post, it doesn’t seem like she’s willing to admit her fault.
