Infamous New Orleans ACORN HQ SOLD!

Anyone in the market for a creepy former funeral home whose major claim to fame is miraculously housing over 200 organizations?  Word is, you’re out of luck.

Apparently an offer has been accepted for ACORN’s long-time headquarters on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans, on the edge of the 9th Ward.  SEIU 100, which Rathke founded, was also headquartered in that building.

I visited that location in late July to see it for myself, as a colleague and I were in town to attend a Wade Rathke book signing that evening.  Because of our straight-forward questions and unedited answers, Wade Rathke called us “Infiltrators.”

Upon seeing the building for sale (which he had seen in b-roll video footage before), we check out the listing on the website of French Quarter Realty.  Other information can be found at Realtor.com, which basically a massive nation-wide Multiple Listing Service.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN Headquarters, acorn scandal, ACORN tax liens, Elysian Fields
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 5:37 pm in ACORN, Big Labor, Uncategorized | 1399852 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/10/12/infamous-new-orleans-acorn-hq-sold/Infamous+New+Orleans+ACORN+HQ+SOLD%212009-10-13+00%3A37%3A15Kyle+Olson

ACORN: Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?

Photo taken today by Big Government contributor Kevin Kane at ACORN Headquarters in the Big Easy:

This picture is worth at least a thousand words.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN Headquarters, acorn scandal, Elysian Fields, Kevin Kane
Posted Oct 3rd 2009 at 3:45 pm in ACORN | 12014100 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/03/acorn-do-you-know-what-it-means-to-miss-new-orleans/ACORN%3A+Do+You+Know+What+it+Means+to+Miss+New+Orleans%3F+2009-10-03+22%3A45%3A31Publius

Questions About ACORN’s NOLA Contracts

From the Pelican Institute’s investigative reporter, Steve Beatty:

Despite landing $625,000 worth of work with the city of New Orleans to develop or repair housing for poor people, an offshoot of the activist group ACORN appears to have done nothing to fulfill the contract, no longer has the specified office in New Orleans and no longer employs the director who signed the contracts.

Acorn Housing Corp. has received no city money in connection with the two contracts, city spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett told WDSU-TV recently. Neither Quiett nor her representatives responded to requests from The Pelican Institute to address other questions about the contracts, one of which expired Aug. 31.

Those questions include:

• How did Acorn Housing get the contracts, through competitive bid or otherwise?
• Why did no one with the city monitor the contract to ensure the city got what it expected?
• Is the money still available to help low-income residents of New Orleans?
• Do city officials expect the current contract, which expires Jan. 31, to provide any services?
• Will Acorn Housing continue to be included on the city’s list of designated non-profit Community Housing Development Organizations?  

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN Housing, Canal Street, Ceeon Quiett, Community Housing Development Organization
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 8:15 am in ACORN, Politics, State Politics | 1137833 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kkane/2009/10/02/questions-about-acorns-nola-contracts/Questions+About+ACORN%27s+NOLA+Contracts+2009-10-02+15%3A15%3A51Kevin+Kane