The non-partisan California Citizen’s Redistricting Commission is supposed to draw lines for new State Assembly, Senate and U.S. Congressional districts that evenly and fairly distribute the political balance of power among communities and groups of interest.  Instead, the commission has drawn fire from the start and recently came under attack by the California Republican Party after it was revealed Friday by CalWatchDog.com that Commissioner Dr. Gabino Aguirre concealed political contributions and was found to have ties to radical political organizations with a Democrat partisan agenda, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), which is actively lobbying the commission.

Californians may recall the words that were immortalized by the godfather of Democrat politics in California, former State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown who said, “In politics, a lie unanswered becomes truth within 24 hours.” Instead of repudiating the allegations of political favoritism and engaging in partisan gerrymandering of districts which tilt the political balance of power, a spokesperson for the commission said that Commissioner Aguirre would be unavailable for comment.  Perhaps Aguirre and other individuals from the 14 member panel were busy recalling another quote by former Speaker Brown when California’s electorate turned against Democrat policies. Speaking about Democrats Brown said, “We are in trouble” which proved to be an accurate assessment then and would seem to apply now.

In addition to the allegations of gerrymandering, Aguirre is accused of violating the California State Constitution, as recently amended by voters with the passage of Proposition 11 during November 2008, which legally mandates “strict non-partisan rules designed to ensure fair representation.”

As first reported by CalWatchDog.com, Commissioner Aguirre was found to have concealed contributions that were made to Democrat candidates and that he hosted a fundraiser in his home for a Democrat candidate for State Assembly.  He is further accused of influencing a redistricting map that was too favorable to Assemblyman Das Williams, who Aguirre financially supported during his bid for the seat.  Other allegations include Aguirre’s ties to radical special interest groups involved in political activism who have also submitted their own redistricting proposals to the commission.  One such special interest group is MALDEF.

With the revelation of political improprieties infiltrating what is supposed to be a non-partisan process, one must look closer at the relationships that Commissioner Aguirre has with Democrat elected officials and the special interest groups that are trying to influence the process.  Upon examination, a common link is found between the controversy now surrounding the California Citizen’s Redistricting Commission and the San Diego Redistricting Commission which recently came under intense public scrutiny as reported in the local media (here) and (here).  In the case of the San Diego Redistricting Commission, which is tasked with drawing a new ninth council district in addition to reapportionment of residents, Commissioner Carlos Marquez was found to be a partisan carpetbagger residing in West Hollywood after accepting a job with Honor Fund as Executive Director.

San Diego Redistricting Commissioner Carlos Marquez departing his West Hollywood residence on the morning of April 30, 2011.

The media would have you believe that in California, former Governor Jerry Brown has already won with poll reports showing Meg Whitman trailing and Barbara Boxer surging to a low single digit lead over Carly Fiorina. Sources associated with the Whitman and Fiorina campaigns have indicated that internal polling actually shows Whitman and Fiorina to be much more competitive than the media would have you believe, and in some cases, beating Brown and Boxer who represent the relics of failed Democrat ideals.

Americans have come to understand the phrase “all politics is local” as immortalized by former House Speaker Tip O’Neill; however, all local politics are not reported equally.

I would like to share with you three examples where the media has been protecting politicians and an explanation of how the media is being influenced in their decision to not report these stories.

First, on October 19, 2010, with news cameras present in studio and rolling, it was revealed on The Rick Amato Show that Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA 51st) was having an inappropriate relationship with a Southwest Airlines corporate lobbyist. It was also revealed that Congressman Filner who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee agreed to sponsor legislation impacting aircraft maintenance.

All of this occurred while Congressman Filner received nearly $30,000.00 from airline and aviation special interest groups, including Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association PAC. Besides sexual favors, there seem to have been additional perks for the Congressman. At his urging, Filner received free airfare from Southwest Airlines for constituents to travel to Washington, D.C. The Congressman’s own office admits that it enlisted the support of Southwest Airlines to help with transportation expenses for the Chula Vista Park View Little League World Champions to travel to Washington D.C. where they met with President Barack Obama. He also arranged for airfare tickets for high school students from California’s Imperial Valley to travel to the nation’s capital, all free of charge.

It is unquestionable that Southwest Airlines has a large presence in the San Diego region and has regularly been rated one of the best companies in the United States. Perhaps Southwest Airlines is just being a good corporate citizen by offering free airfare; and corporate donations to Congressman Filner’s re-election may just be a way of showing gratitude for being willing to sponsor favorable aviation industry legislation; or perhaps not.

Secondly, there is the story from San Diego, once known as “America’s Finest City” which has rightfully earned the title of “Enron by the Sea”. San Diego City Council President Ben Hueso who is running for California State Assembly admitted this week to money laundering $25,000.00 in campaign donations by illegally funneling that money to a union controlled campaign committee to support Mr. Hueso’s brother, Felipe Hueso, who is attempting to replace Ben Hueso on the San Diego City Council. Although there has been some local media coverage for this particular story, one would think that an elected official publicly admitting to committing a felony would garner more media attention. One angle to this story that the media has thus far kept from the public is that Mr. Hueso was not the only elected official to break the law. California Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, (D-56th Assembly District) representing portions of Los Angeles County and nominee Henry Perea (D-31st Assembly District) who is a candidate to represent the people of Fresno, California also broke the law by making illegal donations to support the candidacy of Felipe Hueso for the San Diego City Council.

The third example of the media’s bias involves a relatively unknown race that in many circles would elicit yawns for being one of the most boring. That would be the campaign for San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/Clerk. Yes, even in California we vote on who should be issuing your marriage licenses. One important function that this office performs is assessing property values which the County of San Diego depends on for determining the amount of property tax to be collected from homeowners. With billions of dollars in upscale beachfront property to downtown high rise condominiums to mountain vista estates it quickly becomes evident how important this elected bureaucratic position is.

On Tuesday, San Diego County voters will be asked to decide between two candidates that most have never heard of, Ernie Dronenburg and David Butler. Mr. Butler is technically the incumbent in this race, having been appointed to the position in March 2009. This boring race has remained so, due to the local media’s refusal to report a discovery that David Butler, who is responsible for determining the amount of property tax that homeowners pay has been cheating on his own property tax. It seems that in 1992, Mr. Butler made a second story addition to his private residence but failed to disclose the true value of that addition. Records obtained from the City of Chula Vista and the County of San Diego show that his failure to properly report the improvements to his residence resulted in his escaping payment of tax on nearly $1.2 million worth of property value over an 18 year period. And then there is the aspect to the story where he tried to cover all of this up by instructing a county employee to alter tax records. One would think that the public would be interested in knowing about the veracity of the person responsible for determining the amount of property tax that others pay when he himself is not willing to pay his fair share. However, the media seems to think differently on this matter.

So, what do Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, Bob Filner, Ben Hueso and David Butler all have in common? Why does the media report certain stories and not others? The answer is simple: labor unions. Americans have come to know and understand the power of labor unions in politics, but that influence has now extended to our unofficial “fourth branch of government”, the media.

As editors evaluate the news worthiness of stories, they have to make a careful analysis to determine if the story is simply a “gotcha attempt” by a political opponent just prior to a contentious election. But more and more, those determinations are not based on the news worthiness of the story but upon politics. Television stations in California that rely heavily on the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in political campaign advertisements are finding that if they run the wrong story they risk being boycotted altogether by one political party or the threat of a labor dispute action by their employee unions. Has anyone noticed that the number one television station in the San Diego market has no Democrat television ads? It certainly cannot be because Jerry Brown feels that confident he is going to win the Governor’s race. And what about those television cameras that were present to capture the moment that Congressman Filner’s inappropriate relationship with the lobbyist was revealed on The Rick Amato Show? The story was killed by a local news editor who happens to support the congressman. What about the absence of any news stories about a public official cheating on $1.2 million worth of property taxes? The one commonality that all of these stories have is the influence of labor unions over mainstream media.

Many Americans believe that this Tuesday they will simply vote for a new city council representative, congressman or governor. Some even believe that this is a referendum on public policies and economic factors; but the reality is that this election is more than just about people. It is about ideas. It is about the very essence of our republic and the democratic principles that our country was founded upon. We have accepted that labor unions have influenced our politicians and public policies but many have yet to grasp the influence that these same groups now have on the mainstream media and the information that you receive. As you vote this Tuesday, be sure to educate yourself so that the union tentacles that have a stranglehold on Washington, Sacramento or your local City Hall don’t strangle your voice to be heard or your vote.

Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) kissing Southwest Airlines corporate lobbyist.

San Diegans for Healthy Neighborhoods – California Form 460

Over a week ago, Attorney General Jerry Brown got yet another reminder, this time coming from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The report “Follow the Money: ACORN, SEIU and their Political Allies” focuses public attention on AG Brown’s failed investigation of ACORN. While some of Brown’s gubernatorial challengers talk of the need for a California Governor to have a spine of steel, AG Brown has instead crumpled like an aluminum can cowardly hiding behind state bureaucrats and a wall of state agencies.

On October 1, 2009, Jerry Brown publicly announced that an investigation had been opened concerning undercover videos that were obtained by citizen journalists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles who videotaped ACORN employees at two California offices. ACORN employees were filmed providing advice regarding tax evasion, prostitution and human smuggling of underage girls. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was informed by AG Brown in a letter that he had “opened an investigation of both ACORN and the circumstances under which ACORN employees were videotaped.” Since that announcement, AG Brown has found himself at the center of a controversy surrounding the mismanagement of the investigation as well as a potential scandal due to a double standard involving one of his own state employees secretly recording conversations with reporters.

Shortly after ACORN had been alerted to the immanent investigation as a result of AG Brown’s public announcement, ACORN employees at the San Diego, CA office were caught engaging in a massive document dump on October 9, 2009. Those records were retrieved from an unsecured shared public dumpster where they had been thrown revealing sensitive personal, financial and banking information for both clients and employees in addition to revelations about the political inner workings of ACORN’s relationship with major U.S. banks and labor unions.

Just a few days later, David Lagstein, ACORN’s head organizer in San Diego, was caught on an audio tape bragging how investigators from the Attorney General’s office had visited the local ACORN office that day and that communication from the Attorney General’s office indicates, “the fault WILL BE found with the people that did the video – not ACORN.” Mr. Lagstein appears to have been speaking with greater knowledge and authority than he has led people to believe since my investigation revealed that in addition to being ACORN’s head organizer, he is also married to Clare Crawford who is a National Political Director for ACORN and who has ties to ACORN’s head office in Chicago, IL.

First Clip: Attorney’s General Office Visits ACORN

Second Clip: Fault Will Be Found With Filmmakers

On November 22, 2009 while on KFI 640 radio with Andrew Breitbart, the story broke that I had over 20,000 documents ACORN unceremoniously threw into a dumpster in advance of Attorney General Jerry Brown’s visit to the local San Diego office. The following day, in a rambling statement on a Los Angeles radio show, AG Brown spoke about ACORN’s “right to privacy” of their trash. Californians quickly saw an Attorney General shift into political “duck and cover” mode rather than show the leadership that is expected from California’s top law enforcement official.

After being granted access to the documents, photographs and recordings that I obtained, investigators from the attorney general’s office stated in a written letter dated December 7, 2009, “California Teachers Association (CTA) paid California ACORN Special Projects nearly $140,000 in April-May, 2009 to conduct what CTA reported as “voter registration,” yet, according to documents found in the ACORN trash…it is apparent that ACORN workers solicited voter support for Proposition 1B.”

My investigation clearly showed that ACORN’s support of the ballot initiative was done with resources provided by the CTA and their explicit approval that specifically solicited partisan support from Democrat voters in California. Proposition 1B was a California ballot initiative during the May 19, 2009 special election that earmarked $9.3 billion for schools and was supported by CTA. The letter further states, “Because the issues raised by Mr. Roach’s claim seems most appropriately handled by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), we are referring this matter to you.” The FPPC is a state agency consisting of two republicans and three democrats that investigate violations of California’s Political Reform Act. On December 30, 2009, Roman Porter Executive Director for the FPPC responded to the referral by the Attorney General’s office stating in a written letter, “There is no evidence of a Political Reform Act violation.”

ACORN – FPPC Ltr 12-30-09 –

In the wake of Jerry Brown alerting ACORN to an investigation that was to be conducted by his office, ACORN’s actions of dumping records into a dumpster in what appeared to be possible obstruction of justice, statements from ACORN officials that some interpret as possible collusion between ACORN and the Attorney General’s office and a referral of an investigation to another state agency in what appears to be an abdication of responsibility and the equivalent of a political passing-of-the-buck now comes new allegations that ACORN did in fact violate multiple California state and federal laws.

On February 19, 2010 Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-49) stated on nationally syndicated The Roger Hedgecock Show that documents from the San Diego office of ACORN were vital in showing a pattern of fraud, waste and abuse. The documents also showed that ACORN and the California Teachers Association were directly involved in California elections without the proper firewalls that are legally required to distinguish non-profit from political activities.

Congressman Issa also referred to the recent report “Follow the Money: ACORN, SEIU and their Political Allies” which was released by the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on February 18, 2009. The report finds, “There is no distinction between ACORN and any of its affiliates. Affiliates share staff, funds, office space, responsibilities, and common controls-there is no real separation between the parts, making it impossible to consider them as truly separate organizations.”

Documents obtained from the San Diego ACORN office included information about Citizens’ Consulting Inc which the report found is “an arm of ACORN that commingles funds from ACORN’s non-profit organizations and transfers this money to organizations to use for political purposes.” Documents that I provided to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee also showed a relationship, not only with the California Teachers Association but with the local chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The findings in the congressional report found that, “SEIU and ACORN are not only financially but also politically codependent” and that “ACORN directly runs two of the most prominent SEIU locals.” ACORN and SEIU were also found to share offices in nine cities across the United States utilizing staff and resources to advance both organizing and political goals.

Documents obtained from the San Diego ACORN office included financial records for Whitney Bank located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The congressional report that was released found that ACORN maintained nearly 700 bank accounts at Whitney Bank alone not to mention numerous bank accounts at other banks including Bank of America. It was revealed that ACORN had ownership interest in Whitney Bank. The report findings shockingly revealed that Whitney Bank inexplicably wired several million dollars to an ACORN Bank of America account in San Francisco and that money has not been accounted for.

It is astoundingly amazing that with video evidence obtained by James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, documents that show an undisputed pattern of political activism by a “non-profit” organization, millions of dollars that have been unaccounted for and a congressional investigation that has documented a pattern of criminal activity that has deprived the State of California from desperately needed tax revenues; that California Attorney General Jerry Brown has yet to show any real sign of leadership or fortitude necessary to protect the citizens of California or seriously investigate ACORN.

Instead he is hiding behind a state bureaucracy hoping that nobody will notice his lack of leadership until after the next election. It is no wonder that Democrat elite are quietly whispering in their inner circles that Attorney General Jerry Brown failed California as Governor and is once again failing to show any signs other than that of a washed up politician who is once again trying to become Governor before heading of to retirement to enjoy his family’s trust fund. Perhaps it is time to investigate those in Sacramento for their ties to this corrupt organization.

It is understandable why Wall Street would be concerned about Dubai.  Why would they be concerned about ACORN?  On October 24, 2009, Biggovernment.com revealed that the San Diego office of ACORN dumped thousands of documents into a dumpster in advance of an investigation into the organizations activities by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.  I retrieved the documents from a shared public dumpster located behind the local ACORN office.  The documents that were retrieved filled the back of my Suburban.  Much of what was retrieved was truly trash, items such as banana peels, coffee grounds and marketing materials. After sorting through the documents, though, the 20,000 documents that were retained included sensitive personal information, financial records and documents outlining the internal and political workings of ACORN.  One of the documents obtained by Biggovernment.com shows that ACORN had business relationships with 28 major financial institutions for the purpose of assisting homeowners whose mortgages were in foreclosure.

ACORN – Citibank Flyer _Redacted_ –

Citigroup was one of the 28 financial institutions with which ACORN had a business relationship.  ACORN operated a Citi Outreach program where employees of ACORN were provided personal information for Citigroup’s customers and would make contact with borrowers who fell behind on their mortgage payments.  The objective of the program was to get homeowners to contact ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC).  Testimony provided to members of two congressional committees, the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, revealed that ACORN used the Citi Outreach program, as well as a program operated on behalf of Bank of America, as a membership recruiting tool where homeowners where expected to pay monthly membership dues to ACORN prior to receiving assistance.  Testimony provided by Anita MonCrief, a former ACORN employee turned whistle-blower, sated that ACORN had quotas for membership recruitment.  Documents provided to Biggovernment.com show that regardless of whether the homeowner was assisted or not, ACORN was paid by Citigroup as long as a current phone number was obtained.  The document also shows that ACORN employees were well aware of the need to keep these documents and records private due to state and federal privacy laws.  The document reads, “People on this list have their privacy protected.  Keep the lists private.”

ACORN – Citibank Outreach _Redacted_ –

The reason Wall Street lawyers and board rooms are concerned about ACORN beyond the current political and public relations drawbacks, ACORN’s actions of throwing sensitive private information into a public dumpster containing bank customer records begs the question, is a class action lawsuit in the offing?  One document obtained by Biggovernment.com shows Citibank customers names, addresses and mortgage loan numbers were illegally disclosed, not to mention the very fact that these individuals are on this list reveals their credit worthiness since they are in a default status with regards to paying their mortgage loans.

ACORN – Citibank Customer _Redacted_ –

Wall Street certainly has enough to worry about with a weak U.S. economy and uncertainty in global financial markets.  But thanks to ACORN, there is now more to worry about.  Citibank’s cavalier treatment of its customers sensitive, personal and financial information is potentially a serious breach of state and federal law. As the depth of the San Diego ACORN office data breach becomes more clear, Citigroup and possibly more banks, will have to prepare for the inevitable onslaught of low-income homeowners lining up to take advantage of what is truly to be a cash bonanza for the poor.  Be assured that there will be many law firms willing to help “spread the wealth” to these economically disadvantaged individuals whose personal information was treated with careless disregard.

Although ACORN has denied any wrongdoing, some of the employees involved were terminated, and ACORN has publicly stated that they would fully cooperate with any investigations that followed.

Interestingly, the local head ACORN organizer in California, David Lagstein was caught on tape earlier this month speaking to an East County Democratic Club.

Mr. Lagstein stated: “…the attorney general is a political animal, but certainly every bit of the communication we have had with them has suggested that the fault will be found with the people that did the video and not the people with ACORN.”

Continuing, Mr. Lagstein stated: “…we are fully cooperating, some of the investigators visited our office this morning and I think they really understand what’s going on.”

Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.

BigGovernment.com has learned that not only did this document dump occur, but the documents in question were irresponsibly and brazenly dumped in a public dumpster, without considering laws and regulations as to how sensitive information should be treated.

I am a local licensed private investigator. I took it upon myself to keep an eye on what the local ACORN office was up to, in light of the release of the undercover videos. I retrieved these documents from the public dumpster.

Documents shared with BigGovernment.com include information exposing not only the inner workings of ACORN in California, but also personal, sensitive information belonging to employees, members and clients of ACORN. ACORN and its few remaining defenders insist that the “good” ACORN provides outweighs the transgressions exposed in the recent undercover video sting. But, ACORN’s massive dumping of these documents and the cavalier manner in which it betrayed the trust of its supporters betrays that talking point. (Unlike ACORN, we have redacted sensitive and personal information.)

SanDiegoACORNDocumentDumpScandal-100909-Document1 –

ACORN’s political agenda is also exposed, with thousands upon thousands of documents revealing the depth of the political machine that is ACORN, and its disturbing ties to not only public employee labor unions but some of the most radical leftist organizations.

The laws governing how sensitive, personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, immigration records, tax returns, etc. must be treated are very stringent, and thus it seems as if ACORN may have committed serious violations in that department alone, with thousands upon thousands of potential plaintiffs.

Included throughout this post are a couple of photos showing the dump site, as well as just a small sample of the type of documents summarily dumped by the San Diego office of ACORN. In addition the video clip, from the evening of the document dump, shows ACORN operatives clearly engaged in some kind of discussion – likely related to the activities of that evening.

Over the weeks and months ahead, BigGovernment.com will continue to release information from this shocking document dump by ACORN, slowly revealing the ugly truth of ACORN: the fact that their stated mission of helping the poor and downtrodden is just a ruse and a cover for an organization that is highly partisan and highly political, and thus rotten to the core.

SanDiegoACORNDocumentDumpScandal-100909-Document2 –

If California Attorney General Jerry Brown and United States Attorney General Eric Holder refuse to truly investigate ACORN, and if the mainstream media refuses to engage in the investigative reporting that they used to do, then it will continue to be up to citizen journalists and investigators to expose the dirty, rotten underbelly of ACORN.

SanDiegoACORNDocumentDumpScandal-100909-Document3 –