Michael McCray is the National Spokesman for ACORN 8.
The ACORN 8, LLC (www.acorn8.com) consists of national, state and local board members, presidents or chairs. As such, we are leaders in our communities and within ACORN who are struggling to reform the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now following the discovery of a multi-million dollar embezzlement.
Who We Are – The ACORN 8 are members and leaders within ACORN. The ACORN 8 consists of national, state and local board members, presidents or chairs. We are typically loyal Democrats and we don’t understand why Democratic leaders have not rallied to help us. But regardless of political party affiliation, we all share a passion for helping the underserved and disenfranchised through direct community action.
What We Believe – ACORN is not living up to its original mission; and that is to give meaningful voice and empower low and moderate income members of society. ACORN has been corrupted from its original purpose by senior management and an organizational structure that exploits the low and moderate income membership ACORN was founded to serve.
Voter fraud, voter registration fraud, unpaid taxes, unfair labor practices, etc, while tantalizing are not the problem, but merely symptoms of ACORN’s corrupt leadership. The real problem with ACORN is its governance – and the lack of transparency and accountability of that leadership.
What We Are Not – The ACORN 8 are NOT trying to Destroy ACORN. We are members and leaders of ACORN and are only attempting to reform the association and return it to its original mission and purpose.
We are NOT disgruntled ACORN employees or GOP / Republican operatives. Thus, we do not have a partisan axe to grind or a political agenda to support.
What We Want – The ACORN 8 demands an immediate suspension of all federal, state and local funding of ACORN until after an independent audit and Congressional hearings on ACORN and its related entities. And all members BOYCOTT ACORN until after a forensic examination of ACORN and its related entities.
What Makes the ACORN 8 Different – Historically, ACRON dismisses most of its detractors by utilizing three basic arguments;
1) the attackers are GOP partisans and have a political agenda.
2) the attackers are disgruntled employees with an axe to grind
3) the attackers are disenchanted members and have no knowledge or information.
However, the ACORN 8 complaints are not so easily dismissed. As leaders and board members, we are loyal members, are knowledgeable and we have fiduciary duties and responsibilities to our membership. And we have legal standing, to enforce our rights and pursue ACORN in courts of law and in the court of public opinion.
Michael McCray
Louisiana Attorney General’s Office tells ACORN – Show Me The Money (the books and the corporate records)
by Michael McCrayFor decades the Crescent City has played host to one of the most feared and revered political organizations in America, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Today, the Louisiana Attorney General’s office executed a search warrant on ACORN’s National Headquarters at its Canal Street address.
“We’re looking for corporate records and financial documents” states Investigator Scott Bailey; which are essentially the same things the ACORN 8 sought nearly 18 months ago. “We also wanted ACORN real estate records” states Marcel Reid, President of ACORN 8.
“We sent letters to the entire ACORN Board of Directors nearly a year ago, stating that it was either provide this information through the ACORN 8’s Writ of Mandamus (request for books and records) or we were going to go to the Police” continues Reid.
“It could not have happened at a better time” states Michael McCray, National Spokesman for the ACORN 8. “We believe that ACORN is trying to flee this jurisdiction. Since Louisiana seems to be the only government agency that is seriously investigating ACORN.”
“If ACORN hopes to survive then the know nothing, see nothing, do nothing board of directors must by replaced by individuals with the strength and capabilities to fulfill their fiduciary obligations and the courage to reign in corruption within ACORN’s senior management ranks” continues Reid.
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ACORN Layoffs are Taxpayer Rip-offs
by Michael McCrayAllegations of continuing corruption continue to mount against the embattled Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). In the wake of tremendous negative publicity, much of which was featured here at Big Government, and adverse House and Senate votes ACORN has begun laying off dozens of low-level workers and staff across the country.
However, under conditions of strict anonymity, ACORN organizers and staff have complained to the ACORN 8 (www.acorn8.com) that senior management has ordered them to continue to work for ACORN as “volunteers” but for them to apply for unemployment insurance.
In order to legally collect unemployment insurance compensation, the applicant must attest that they are ready, willing and able to work elsewhere to qualify for benefits. This is unemployment insurance fraud. And fraudulently applying for unemployment insurance compensation is a crime.
When these allegations were first brought to the attention of the ACORN 8, we initially thought no way. This is unbelievable, no one in their right mind would ever agree to do this. But we kept hearing these same allegations, over and over again, from different people in different parts of the country. And this is ACORN – these are the same of workers who registered Mickey Mouse to vote and offered tax advice to a pimp and prostitute.
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Fraud, Embezzlement, and Cover-Ups: A Brief History of ACORN
by Michael McCrayIn the wake of a series of embarrassing hidden-camera exposes and mounting congressional pressure to cut off its federal funding, Bertha Lewis, CEO of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now announced that ACORN will seek independent review. However, the ACORN review which followed the million dollar Rathke embezzlement was merely a smokescreen; eight former ACORN board members previously sought a complete forensic examination of ACORN and its related entities followed by an independent audit from a Big Four accounting firm.
Lewis noted that ACORN’s advisory council would assist her in choosing an outside auditor, former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger. The ACORN advisory council includes John Podesta, head of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank; Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union; and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.
“As a result of the indefensible action of a handful of our employees,” Lewis said in a statement, “I am, in consultation with ACORN’s Executive Committee, immediately ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review.” Mind you, these are the same senior staff and executive committee members who concealed and covered up a million dollar embezzlement, but who themselves were never terminated.
Besides, ACORN already had its chance to do the right thing following the Rathke embezzlement when the board of directors appointed an interim management committee to investigate this fraud and reorganize ACORN. So what happened the last time that ACORN claimed to put in place its own internal management committee? (more…)
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Is ACORN DOA?: Blame The Board!
by Michael McCrayA pimp, prostitute, underage human trafficking and now a self-professed murderer; what could be next for the embattled Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now?!?
Margaret Williams, Maryland ACORN board member and Sonja Merchant-Jones, Baltimore ACORN President both reported that the low level ACORN employees caught on tape in the Baltimore office were immediately terminated for behaving unprofessionally; but yet, senior staff members who assisted and concealed a million dollar Rathke embezzlement remain employed.
The ACORN 8 commends these board members’s decisive action, but find it extremely ironic since the board of directors do not actually control ACORN employees. According to ACORN’s by-laws that authority is exclusively exercised by the “Chief Organizer,” formerly Wade Rathke and now Bertha Lewis. This fundamental disconnect between an actual functioning board of directors and senior management is the true problem and real scandal within ACORN. It causes low-income members and staff to become mere pawns of senior management.
Ultimately, ACORN’s low-income workers are simply trying to meet and fulfill unreasonable membership quotas set by senior staff. This undue management pressure results in fraudulent voter registrations, tax assistance for “pimps and prostitutes” or worse. Poor governance and lack of accountability are the real problems. Voter fraud or rather voter registration fraud are just symptoms of a far greater problem. And that is the lack of meaningful control and accountability by the membership. So don’t fault poor workers – blame the board!
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