It did not take long for Barry Abrams' politicization of the district's election procedures to formalize.
A new political action committee, Families 4 Every Child PAC, first published its website approximately one a month ago:
This PAC is registered in Texas and is focused on political activities in SBISD. Its mailing address lies within the school district's boundaries.
Among their political goals, the PAC states "...it is crucial that the board hails from all areas of the district...", which is the polite way of saying they are pro-SMD.
So, where did this PAC come from?
Yesterday, Families 4 Every Child PAC filed its first financial disclosure with the Texas Ethics Commission, which is linked at the bottom of this update. The PAC has raised $10,929 as of April 7th, 2022.
According to the PAC's own financial disclosures, its very first donor was a man named Amin Mitha, from Lakeland, Florida, zip code 33809. Although this PAC is very clearly domiciled within Spring Branch ISD, that address is most certainly NOT in the neighborhood.
Mr. Mitha donated $2,000 of seed money to Families 4 Every Child PAC on February 24, 2022:
Families for Every Child PAC then spent $1,681 on fees and startup expenses over the four weeks following Mr. Mitha's founding contribution.
Mr. Mitha's seed investment has since grown five-fold to over $10,000, per yesterday's required disclosure.
Families 4 Every Child PAC held another fundraiser hours after the reporting cutoff; those proceeds will not be reported until 8-days before election day. Dark Money, multiplying indeed.
So, who is this generous man living 1,000 miles away from Spring Branch ISD, contributing startup funds to a pro-SMD political action committee?
A public records search shows Amin Mitha as the owner of various corporations in Florida, including a Travelodge motel.
That Travelodge motel is used as the mailing address for an entity known as Emgage Foundation, Inc. ("Emgage"), for which Mr. Mitha was the registered agent (and also a board member):
So, what is Emgage you may ask?
Emgage is an active voter turnout organization operating in ten states, including Texas, according to their latest annual report.
Surely, many individuals operate their nationwide electioneering enterprises from side-of-the-highway hotsheet motels 1,000 miles from their targeted electorate, right??...so we figured there was probably not much more for us to find here.
Nonetheless, we kept digging...
So, where does Emgage get its money to operate?
Emgage's 2019 Annual Report makes early reference to their largest financial sponsor, the Open Society Foundations, which has contributed $1,000,000 to Emgage's coffers:
Open Society Foundations confirms this donation in their 2019 third quarter lobbying report:
What is the Open Society Foundations?
Open Society Foundations was founded by its Chairman, George Soros, in 1993.
Open Society Foundations is endowed with tens of billions of dollars and is politically active in many global arenas including, now, it seems, our own wonderful Spring Branch Independent School District.
Their full Q3 Lobbying report is linked below.
There is much more to this story, and we will continue to update you throughout the weekend.
Links to source documents below: