It's been a fun game going through the story on the Jefferson County Dispatch, but let's cut through the nonsense and ask some real questions. Some of the answers I have, and will roll out in the next two weeks. Others will be asked I'm sure by the appropriate state authorities. And the last ones will be brought up by voters when the full misdeeds and lack of oversight that led to the funding of ACORN/SEIU through Jefferson County capital funds is made apparent.
1) Who initially referred Forefront Organizing to Jefferson County Dispatch? Was this a phone call, a private conversation to board members, or an official request from a board member.
2) What role did Terry Meadows play and how did his pitch win the day? Is Terry related to anyone of consequence in Jefferson County?
3) Did anyone bother to look into the background of Forefront Organizing before agreeing to a campaign that would cost $200,000? What was Forefront called before this campaign? Why did they go through a name change?
4) What relationship did board members and Mike Dalton share that was disclosed. Did any board member, including Robert Sweeney and Ed Kemp, benefit financially from the use of Forefront Organizing?
5) At what point, if ever, did board members realize POWER was outsourced to do the work? What is the relation of POWER to Forefront Organizing? And SEIU?
6) Why did the board approve invoices written before the work was performed, including per diem, travel allowance, and transportation?
7) After the resignation of Cindy Feist, did someone from "Forefront" step in to take her place, or was her work billed and never performed?
8) What led the board to sign an open-ended contract that laid out very vague details on what was to be done? When it was finally described, was there a board vote on the matter with the new information?
9) How did the board write checks for over $186,000 to a company with no history in Missouri until mid-2009, several months after the campaign was completed? Was the company financially secure? Did they perform any of the services, or was the work outsourced 100%? How many employees did Forefront Organizing have during this time?
10) Was any attempt made to bargain with Forefront to secure a better price than $60.02 an hour for 320 hours of work a month? Did Forefront ever provide any documentation of the 320 hours of work, or was this a best guess billed to Jefferson County Dispatch in advance of the work?
Of course, those are just the start. Questions that don't need to be answered include when an educational campaign is an advocacy campaign and breaks state law. Especially helpful is when the lawyer for the board and Forefront Organizing explain the difference, and what needs to be done to remain legal, but the "organizing" ends up crossing that line anyway. Also on display is the need of board members to raise private funds after getting called out by the local paper, but time and money are too tight and funds are used in exactly the manner they discuss as not being appropriate.
Confused? You won't be next week.
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