24thState

Did Forefront Organizing Overbill Jefferson County 911 Dispatch?

During the 911 campaign paid for with county taxpayer dollars, Forefront Organizing sent monthly invoices for labor and travel. The labor costs were substantial, and were supposed to cover a full time organizer, a part -time organizer, and strategic consulting services amounting to another full person.

Did the Jefferson County Dispatch get what they paid for? 

Here is an invoice for Forefront Organizing for March 2009.  Notice that it includes 320 hours of campaign management and strategic consulting services, as well as 160 hours for part time staff.  It's an interesting mix, because it suggests that 480 total hours were spent in March on the campaign.

March Invoice Forefront

There are a number of problems with this.  One, there is never any indication of who exactly is working on the project.   Mike Dalton is mostly absent, missing meetings, following up late, and generally unavailable.  And then Cindy Feist, the main campaign worker for Forefront, resigns as of March 1st.  And yet the invoice is still applied.  If Feist only worked December-February, then who is billed out in March and who is billed in April?

Three HCAN Volunteers Charged With Assault Outside Carnahan Townhall

That's the correct title.  There was no violence breaking out - there was no scuffle. Two SEIU staff members and an OFA volunteer attacked two people outside Russ Carnahan's Townhall on Aging the day after HCAN President Margarida Jorge authored a document on how to counteract the Tea Party protests.

Here's the subtitle:

Dozens Of Witnesses In Gladney And Owens Cases Found To Be Credible

In addition to the foolishness of those leftwing bloggers who claimed a lack of charges proved Gladney to be a liar, we will now hear that charges aren't convictions.  Don't worry - there will be convictions.

I'm glad to see that charges have finally been filed in the Kenneth Gladney and Kelly Owens assault cases.

It's been disgusting that Patricia Redington's office sat on this case, considering that prior to this week, her office was reporting that no lawyer had been assigned to the case.  One wonders if it was the KMOX report by Kevin Killeen or the pressure from new media that made it happen.  

Redington's office has been a whirlwind of false hopes.  They've suggested the cases would be prosecuted separately, then together, then that they were under investigation.  She wrote emails to citizens claiming multiple witnesses were interviewed, and in the Post Dispatch report we see this:

"Ordinance violation charges are usually filed within four to six weeks of an incident, Reddington said, but this case involved interviews with dozens of witnesses and review of many videos posted on the Internet."

That quote is going to be a mistake.  If dozens of witnesses were interviewed, then they were all HCAN supporters, because there wasn't a single Tea Party member called in the last three months.  Redington's office didn't meet with Kelly Owens, who called repeatedly, and they didn't meet with Kenneth Gladney, standing him up yesterday.  They didn't meet with Harris Himes, or any of the people who shot the video and had better resolution than what you can find on YouTube.  Dozens of witnesses is quite the statement.  That means at least 24.  Where did they find them?  It will be interesting to see whether any of that was documented.  I'd hate to find out she lied to the Post Dispatch.  Maybe someone should follow up?

So charges have been filed.  As good as it is that people like Adam Shriver and Media Matters have been proven feckless fools once again, the case is not yet ruled on.  The charges were filed the day before Thanksgiving, to bury them in holiday stories.  They were filed as minor charges, which is interesting considering that we don't know if Redington has the medical report for Gladney, which would have elevated the charges to a felony. Do you think they talked to the physicians at the hospital who looked at Gladney's injuries?  Did they speak to Gladney's family to ascertain the bruising over his back, chest, and abdomen from being kicked?  Did they speak to the two people who shot the original video? 

Just who were those witnesses?  We're not waiting until January 21 to find out, Ms. Redington.

fun factoid: We know that Molens and McCowan were at one point represented by Paul D'Agrosa and their legal bills paid by SEIU.  Is that no longer the case?

The Post Dispatch's story contains more mistakes, including where they misidentify Gladney as a Tea Party protestor and give lots of ink to Molens and Spitz claiming their innocence and whining about it being a holiday.

I'll have some interesting pieces to dissect on this next week. Don't think for a second this is the full story.  And it's not going away.

Gateway Pundit and Dana Loesch also write on the story.

Be assured that those of us following this case will not be turned away.  As good

Robert Sweeney Discussing Frontline Organizing With Big River Ambulance

Since documents are important, I figured I'd go ahead and post the meeting minutes for Big River Ambulance District.  Robert Sweeney is also the attorney for Big River, and in March of 2007, he was asked to introduce an organization called Frontline Organizing to the Board.

The Attorney stated that it is legal to spend district money on informational promotion for the District.  The statements were made in the context of hiring Frontline Organizing to do such a campaign.  The motion passed.

Big River Meeting Minutes - Bob Sweeney

This is the basis for asking if Bob Sweeney introduced Jefferson County to Mike Dalton's group. He was involved during the Board meeting with Big River. What was the extent of his involvement with the hiring of Forefront Organizing for Jefferson County? Maybe we can get answers at the next Board meeting.

Glenn Burleigh's Role In Jefferson County 911 Campaign

One thing I've learned in blogging is that written allegations have an impact, but some people prefer to see the documents themselves.  So we're going to do that.  I've alleged that Glenn Burleigh, the head of Missouri ACORN in St Louis and a self-professed communist, was paid to assist Jefferson County Dispatch pass a new tax on emergency 911 services.

Glenn is on the board of POWER, the union subcontracted to do the work for Forefront Organizing.  In addition, he helped manage the dialing campaign, and also served as the media contact for the campaign.

Jefferson County Dispatch 911 emails - Burleigh

McCaskill Has Chance To Correct Record On Walpin

The truth about the firing of an Inspector General is out, and Claire McCaskill has the chance to do the right thing, or sweep it under the rug.

On October 2, McCaskill said on Twitter that she would look into the report.

@24thstate You,snarky? Never. Seriously, I'll check where Collins & Lieberman are on investigation their committee staffs are conducting.

Nothing has been heard from her office since about the improper firing of the IG, the attempt to smear his character, and now what looks like a coverup in the use of Americorps funds. It's too bad, because it gives McCaskill the perfect opportunity to show her auditing acumen. 

I'd strongly suggest the Senator take a look at the Grassley/Issa report.  The allegations of a coverup involving money, underage teens, and now the head of the DC schools isn't getting any prettier.  Remember, McCaskill inserted herself in this debate, and then quickly withdrew.  It's her law that was violated.  If she can't defend her own law against an overzealous Obama administration, then one wonders why she bothered to write it in the first place. McCaskill initially said the Obama administration was in violation of the law, but after receiving new documents, said they were now in compliance, and that the "decision to remove Walpin appears well founded."

In light of the investigation and report, does McCaskill still believe the firing was well founded?  Does she still believe the Obama administration is in full compliance? 

Is the Senator's well-known allegiance to the White House  stronger than her desire for transparency and honest accounting?  She needs to do more than Tweet the answer.

Was Bob Sweeney Paid To Bring Forefront To The Jefferson County 911 Dispatch?

Robert Sweeney is the attorney for the city of Arnold.  He also works with the Jefferson County 9-1-1 Dispatch. He is also the vice president of POWER.

Considering that we now know that Forefront Organizing was hired by the Jefferson County Dispatch to run a voter education campaign, and we know that POWER ran the campaign for Forefront Organizing, it's fair to ask if Bob Sweeney makes any money from POWER, and specifically if he was paid on both ends for the 911 campaign. 

This is a serious charge, and I'm not making it at this time, namely because I don't have his tax returns, but I do want to know if Bob Sweeney or any affiliated business or relative was paid by POWER for work on the Jefferson County Dispatch 911 campaign.  And while we're at it:

1) Did Bob Sweeney introduce Forefront Organizing to Jefferson County Dispatch?

2) Did Bob Sweeney recommend the use of Forefront Organizing to Jefferson County Dispatch?

3) Did Bob Sweeney disclose that he was an officer in the union that would subcontract from Forefront Organizing?

4) Did Bob Sweeney bill any work to Jefferson County Dispatch concerning contracts or legal matters when he was an officer in the company that would perform the actual campaign?

This is the Missouri  Office of the Chief Disciplinary Council.  It's where you go to file ethics complaints against lawyers. The section on lawyer's ethics is down right now, but when it's up, and as we get further into it, perhaps a citizen of Jefferson County may decide to question whether it's in the best interest of Jefferson County to pay a lawyer to recommend a group he belongs to receive taxpayer funds with no formal bidding process, no investigation of who will perform the work involved, and no contractual requirement that the work be performed by principals and not subcontractors.

Jefferson County Taxpayers Pay Democratic Party To Raise Taxes

The $100 million tax increase on Jefferson County for enhanced 911 services was accomplished through a list that was purchased from the Missouri Democratic Party.

Forefront Organizing prepared a report for the Jefferson County Dispatch on their work.From that post-campaign report, we get this gem:

To determine a target audience for the educational program, the population was processed using the Voter Activation Network, a paid service provided by the Missouri Democratic Party.  the criteria used to determine how to educate this audience through the VAN, among other factors, included voting frequency, trending, modeling and micro-targeting.

Set the fancy language aside.  Basically the Missouri Democratic Party has a list of reliable voters.  They use this list to drive GOTV during election cycles.  They allow organizations to purchase that list data.  It' shady to use the information for those purposes, but not against the law.  If the money for the campaign were run through an organization that raised funds for just such purposes, it would be acceptable.

That's not what happened.  Jefferson County Dispatch paid Forefront Organizing, who either directly or through subcontractors paid the Missouri Democratic Party for that list. In other words, Republican and independent voters, through their taxes, helped fund the Missouri Democratic Party and its voter outreach program. 

That information was then handed over to the SEIU MO/KS Council and ACORN staff to use to drive support to raise taxes, under the guise of voter education.

Jefferson County Taxpayers Fund ACORN And SEIU Organizers For 911 Project

From yesterday we find out that Glenn Burleigh, MO ACORN Chief Organizer and communist, is involved in a number of organizations.  One of those organizations is Forefront Organizing, a company with locations in Washington D.C. and St Louis, whose purpose seems to be as the kind face of organizing backed by the manpower of ACORN and the phonebanks of SEIU.

In April of 2009, Jefferson County voters passed a 911 funding initiative backed by the Jefferson County Dispatch.  This followed an intense lobbying campaign from the Dispatch, which included the use of the paid services of Forefront Organizing.  When all was said and done, over $185,000 was paid to this Forefront Organizing by the taxpayers of Jefferson County.

On its own, that's bad enough.  County funds shouldn't be used for political campaigns to raise more funds, and Pat Martin of the Jefferson News-Leader wrote as much in an editorial attacking the decision.  What isn't known is just who backs Forefront, and how they do business.

Glenn Burleigh, noted communist, is the key.  Glenn sits on the board of another union group called POWER.  This website was up last night. Today it returns a 404, but you can see it here at the Google cache. 

POWER not only works with Forefront, they are in negotiations with them for a pay raise.  It seems they aren't paid enough for their work, so they posted this note on the website that Mike Dalton should pay them what they deserve.

There are 3 campaigns that Power has helped Forefront win, but there are a lot of questions.  Who is Mike Dalton?  How big of a company is Forefront?  How long have they been around? Do they have employees, or do they only exist to funnel money from county taxpayers to these union groups?  And who is getting paid for what?

Glenn Burleigh: ACORN flavored Communist

  It was a good thing I wasn't drinking coffee when Charles Jaco asked why Tea Partiers call their opponents socialist.  The resulting outrage wouldn't have been good for my carpet or couch.  We call our political opponents socialists and Marxists because they call themselves socialists and Marxists. If Jaco was a real journalist, and not a leftwing hack posing as a responsible interviewer, he would know he had a genuine certified Marxist on his very set just two months ago.

Glenn Burleigh, the head organizer for Missouri ACORN, was on Jaco's show defending ACORN after Congress voted to defund them.  You would think Jaco would know his guest was a communist, especially when he had the nerve to act shocked that Tea Parties would call them out, but if so, Jaco doesn't care.  He's a shill, not a journalist, so let's do his work for him. 

Glenn Burleigh, like all good Marxists, fancies himself as a pretty good writer.  He's studied the history of socialist thought, and in his long academic pursuits he's learned the truth, namely that Marxism didn't do enough to reward the women who drove forth socialist doctrine.  I'll take him at his own words. Here's Glenn writing in Political Affairs magazine, a publication of the Communist Party. 

With the advent of better and better communication technologies (e-mail, Web, cell phones), we can say that if this had been a true key to unlocking the contradictions inherent in capitalism, we would be living in a socialist wonderland, by now. In fact, better means of communication are the very mechanisms that are leading to the sharpening in conflict, both within the capitalist class and between the two classes. The ability to access information anywhere in the world has lead to a rapid expansion into previously unindustrialized countries, causing increased population centralization, and, as a result of this, increased proletarianization...

Like Marx, Engels and Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg’s arguments stand up today. The timelessness of her contributions to socialist thought is the hallmark of a true dialectical materialist, and her arguments are just as relevant today as they were when first written.

Finally, Rosa thanks for fighting to get your thoughts out there. Thanks for breaking into the boys’ club. Generations of Marxists, male and female, have gained insight and direction from your writings.

Get that?  Burleigh is a big fan of the political arguments of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, but feels that we can't really understand the coming socialist wonderland without reading some of the illuminating arguments of communist women.  He's writing at Political Affairs, which bills itself as Marxist Thought Online.  This isn't in the past - this is five years after he leaves St Louis University and while he's organizing political campaigns for Missouri ProVote.  And he's the frickin head of ACORN in St Louis.

First, can we all now agree that Glenn Burleigh is a communist?  Great. Now can we ask if there's some kind of a rule at Missouri Provote that at least one communist has to be running things at all times?  It makes you wonder about Ron Barry, Julie Terbrock, and Laura Egerdal.  They represent/ed Missouri ProVote - I guess they get along pretty well with people who believe that capitalism cannot be reformed, but must instead be defeated and replaced with a socialist wonderland.

Again, these aren't slurs - they are facts.  These aren't hateful attacks - they are simply the repeating of the words these "progressives" use to describe themselves when no one is looking.  Real live communists are involved in politics in St Louis.  They move with ease between ProVote, ACORN, SEIU, Jobs with Justice, and a half dozen other "progressive" organizations who feed the Missouri Democratic Party with workers, volunteers, and money.

If they have nothing to hide, I'm sure we can start seeing information associated with Pecinovsky, Burleigh, and others soon to be named as communists.  Surely they will step forward and say, yes, I'm a communist, and proud! But we won't because they know that even the Democrats can't hang out with commies.  There's a lot more on our buddy Glenn, but there's another angle to pursue first.    

In addition to being the educated white middle-upper class face of ACORN to the local media, Glenn is also a thread we can follow.  Glenn went on a tour with local media in September to defend ACORN.  In those interviews, which include Jake Wagman, Jo Mannies, Charles Jaco, and a blog appearance with ShowMeProgress, Glenn makes a whopper of a statement.  He claims ACORN is funded primarily by member's dues.  This was his pat response to the defunding of ACORN on a federal level.  He glosses over the loss of ACORN housing (and we're still waiting to see what happened to that $100,000 Mayor Slay gave them earlier this year), and pretends they are fine.  The problem, he says in an interview with Jo of SMP (also known as hotflash), is that they don't have enough money to obey the law, so they mix non-profit work with campaign issues. 

I asked Burleigh about this charge as well. He said that most non-profits can't afford to hire separate people for the non-profit aspect of their work and the lobbying or political part of their work. He, for example, reports how many hours a week he spends on the work that's paid for by charitable contributions and how many on political work. But he gets one pay check.

Hmmm.  Well I've figured out where some of that money comes from, and it's not from member's.  It's from you the taxpayer. 

Start scrubbing your sites, cockroaches.  Tomorrow we get to see documents.

Tony Pecinovsky: Communist Party USA

There are communists among this.  Many younger people don't recognize or don't see it as a problem.  Communism was defeated in 1989, and twenty years is a long time to worry about the ghosts of a Cold War.

But communism isn't dead.  The ideology itself, abhorrent to anyone with an ounce of self-respect or belief in a higher power, continues to ensnare the lazy, who see communism as a way to use the less fortunate in a society as a road to political power.  White middle and upper class kids become communists because it sounds like they are helping out society's workers, but in reality they are looking to use these people for their own ends.  And that end is always power.

Charles Jaco wants to know why Tea Party protestors talk about socialists and Marxists.  Here's the beginning of that answer.  The first in our series is Tony Pecinovsky.  Tony is a good starting point because he's not just a student of communism, he's a member.  He proudly displays his communism.  

From this LinkedIn Profile, we see Tony is:

Missouri/Kansas District Organizer at Communist Party USA

I have worked as a union organizer, advocacy journalist and District Organizer for the MO/KS Communist Party.

I currently serve in the following capacities: secretary-treasurer, Greater St. Louis CWA City Council; secretary, St. Louis area Jobs with Justice Leadership Team; St. Louis area Pro-Vote board member; and the St. Louis Newspaper Guild.

We see that Tony is an organizer, that he has written articles for Political Affairs (billed as Marxist Thought Online), and that he was a member of the Young Communist League USA before joining the full-fledged Communist Party.

His email address is the cpusa.org (communist party usa).

So we can now all agree that Tony is a communist?  No one disputes that?  Let's move on.

Tony is the secretary of the St Louis area Jobs with Justice.  He is the secretary-treasurer of the Greater St Louis CWA City Council.  And he's a board member of the St Louis area Pro-Vote.

So from what we can easily discern, Tony's status as a communist is not in question, and neither is his involvement with local progressive organizations and unions. There is a comfortable ease with which he serves on the boards and as an officer in these organizations.

And he's just the first one.