A.G. Gancarski
This month, the Alvin Brown campaign gave a 2011 campaign donation made by Zakee Fur’qan to a local charity, finally bringing an end to the saga that began with Fur’qan being trumpeted in March as one of the “job creators and business leaders” who backed the Mayor’s reelection bid.
Once the Brown campaign was made aware of Fur’qan’s past, the campaign quickly distanced itself from the “business leader,” scrubbing his name from the media release archived on the campaign website, with Campaign Manager Isaiah Nelson calling the local landscaper “exactly the kind of lawbreaker the mayor has zero tolerance for, and we condemn his actions in the strongest possible terms,” before pledging to give the donation to charity.
The charity of choice: Community Connections, a local non-profit that provides day care programs, after-school programs and transitional housing for women, children and families.
Fur’qan gave to other Democratic candidates, Corrine Brown and Constance Hall, as well. Neither the Congresswoman nor the School Board member responded to inquiries about what they would do with that contribution.
We reached out to the Brown campaign on Saturday afternoon for comment. Yianni Varonis said in a statement that “[p]er our promise, the campaign has donated this contribution to a local charity. Community Connections was our choice because of its dedication to finding working families jobs.”
