Lee’s campaign gives $3M to charity
The widow of former Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee has emptied most of her late husband’s $3.8 million campaign account by donating to community groups and charities.
Ethel Kaye Lee, the campaign treasurer, said Thursday she chose the recipients based on the intentions of her husband’s donors.
“The campaign monies were given for two reasons — for support of existing Precinct 1 programs and keeping him elected — so that’s the formula,” she said.
The account donated more than $3 million to 12 groups, including $500,000 to the Precinct 1 Aquatics Program, $200,000 to the St. Paul Scholarship Foundation and $150,000 to the Julia C. Hester House in Fifth Ward, according to the campaign’s July finance report. The report covers the period from Jan. 1 to June 30.
The largest expenditure was $1.5 million to the Precinct 1 Street Olympics, a program Lee founded in 1986. The summer event serves thousands of children annually and includes swim lessons, a basketball tournament and career fair. It also supports the North East Adolescent Program, created by Lee in 1989, which seeks to lower rates of teen pregnancy, birth defects and sexually transmitted diseases in low-income Houston neighborhoods.
El Franco Lee had represented Precinct 1 for 31 years when he died of a heart attack in 2016 at age 66. He left behind a campaign account containing $3.9 million. As late as this year, the sum was larger than the war chest of any Harris County elected official.
Rodney Ellis, who succeeded Lee as Precinct 1 commissioner, said the Street Olympics were an enduring testament to his predecessor’s legacy.
“I’m grateful to Mrs. Lee for the generous donation and her family’s ongoing support of our efforts to educate and empower our youth to lead the next generation,” Ellis said in a statement. “I’m proud to carry on Commissioner Lee’s torch and looking forward to
building on his legacy through the Street Olympics.”
The Lee campaign also donated $200,000 to the Baylor College of Medicine’s teen health clinic and $50,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Two Catholic groups — the Dominican Sisters of Houston and the Dominican Friars, Province of St. Martin de Porres — received $50,000 each.
According to the finance report, the campaign had $791,140 remaining on hand as of June 30, which Ethel Kaye Lee has been allocated. Under state law, the campaign has until 2022 to close the account.
In addition to the charitable and community group donations, the campaign sent $1,100 to financial consultants and $13,716 to the Internal Revenue Service. The campaign
“The campaign monies were given for two reasons — for support of existing Precinct 1 programs and keeping him elected — so that’s the formula.”
Ethel Kaye Lee, the county commissioner’s widow and campaign treasurer
likely would have owed taxes on gains earned from investing campaign funds in the stock market.
The July finance report listed $89,951 in interest, gains and credits, including $82,878 earned from the sale of shares in a mutual fund.
The next finance report is due to the Harris County Clerk in January.