Brinkman confronts Pepper on false claims regarding Freedom Center

Pepper denials disproved by Freedom Center's own prior statements

You may recall that COAST spokesman and State Representative Tom Brinkman, Jr. offered an amendment to the State Capital Budget bill to strip from it funding for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. In support of that bill, he made this speech on the floor of the Ohio House of Representatives.

On December 20, 2006, powerful corporate executive John Pepper (current CEO of Walt Disney Corporation and former CEO of Procter & Gamble Company) wrote to representative Brinkman challenging certain key facts in Brinkman's speech. A copy of Pepper's letter is here.

For example, Pepper claimed that the Freedom Center never projected a $20 million endowment fund raised from private dollars (in reality it has less than $1 million), and never promised to have an operating budget of $3 to $4 million (in reality it was originally $12 million, and now has been "cut" to $9 million in annual spending).

On Tuesday, Representative Brinkman sent Pepper a response, explaining "I carefully researched my speech before giving it," and thoroughly refuting Pepper's rebuttal letter, fully documenting all of the disputed issues. Brinkman also called the Freedom Center's claim to generate $40 million in economic benefit for the region "unsupportable puffery" in light of generating only $625,477 in admissions revenue the first year it opened. A copy of Brinkman's rebuttal letter is here. The documents to which Brinkman cites are here: 12/06/96, 02/10/97, 06/13/98 and, 06/14/04. Brinkman challenged Pepper to provide more specific information on the Freedom Center's admissions and private (non-governmental) revenues.

Brinkman wryly notes that Pepper did not even attempt to challenge Brinkman's contention that the Freedom Center broke its most central promise: not to seek additional public monies, because, of course, he contention that Pepper broke that key promise is indisputably true.

Brinkman concluded thusly:

"I find it more than a touch ironic that the 'Freedom Center' desires to become the source of enslavement for the citizens of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Ohio by demanding perpetual involuntary taxpayer life support."

Brinkman said that the errors of the Freedom Center Board, creating a deficit, was not he problem of the state's taxpayers. He closed his letter by quoting Green Township Trustee Chuck Mitchell:

"This was sold to everyone that it would be self-supporting. If Mr. Pepper likes it, Mr. Pepper can fund it."

 

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