PCOC is not ACORN but Similar

Now that the Pennsylvania Communities Organizing for Change (PCOC) is starting to make some public appearances at rallies around town members are beginning to speak to reporters about the group. PCOC Volunteer Coordinator Mary Ellen Hayden says PCOC is not a continuation of the Pennsylvania arm of ACORN (Association for Community Organizations Reform Now) as some have been reporting but many former members of ACORN are now members of PCOC. Hayden describes the new organization as an organizing group for low and moderate-income communities made up of volunteers from those same communities. She says the group already has 501 (c) (3) and 501 (c) (4) status for its different efforts. She says PCOC had been talking to the 7,000 AORN members in Pennsylvania asking them if they wanted to stay with ACORN or join the new organization. She says now that ACORN in PA has been dissolved those conversations are bit different. She says they have recruited about 2,000 members so far. She says, “There is still a lot of work to do.” For now, PCOC has offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and Hayden says as they move forward members hope to drum up support in other Pennsylvania communities and form more chapters in the future. ACORN officials at the national office in Chicago say the organization is not dead but some state chapters are dissolving after a slew of bad press made it hard to hold onto members and find new funding.
Last May the Allegheny County District Attorney charged seven local ACORN members with election law violations. One has pleaded guilty, one has had charged dismissed and the remainder are awaiting trial.

State Rep. says No to ACORN

A Pennsylvania State Representative is looking to cut off all state money from the activist group ACORN. Rep. Stephen Barrar of Delaware County has tagged every state fiscal code bill with an amendment that would prohibit the state from directly sending money to ACORN and it would prevent lawmakers from using their Community Economic Development Fund grants, or WAMS, to support the organization. Barrar says he has been working on this issue for years and has had a resolution pending since June that would call on the PA Attorney General’s office to investigate the practices of the group. He says the house leadership has been reluctant to call the measure but he feels the recent media coverage of an ACORN worker advising a woman posing as a prostitute on how to hide income by among other things writing off clothing expenses, may give him the momentum he needs. He says lawmakers from across the state will start to feel pressure back home to stop any funding for ACORN and investigate their practices. He says he feels the only no votes will come from those who represent districts in Philadelphia. Barrar says he has been called a racist for his anti ACORN campaign but he says that is not true. He notes that several other states have launched investigations into the group and that President Barack Obama now says he favors an investigation into the groups practices.

ACLU Tries to Void PA's Voter Soliciting Statute

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on behalf of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) asking a federal judge to strike down a Pennsylvania law used to prosecute some former workers for ACORN which allegedly sued a quota system in gathering voter registrations for the November 2008 election.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala and State Attorney General Tom Corbett were named in the suit. Zappala charged 5 fired ACORN workers and 2 other people with collecting or submitting false registration forms to meet alleged quotas set by ACORN officials. Corbett was named because as Attorney General he defends challenges to state laws.
ACLU of Pennsylvania legal director Witold Walczak says the state law says a person may not solicit or accept payment or incentive to obtain voter registrations if the payment is based upon the number of registrations.
Walczak called the law "vague" and says it "prevents ACORN from using commonplace management tools like performance standards and productivity goals to manage paid employees" and that imposes "a major burden on constitutionally protected political activity."
Walczak says he has talked with Zappala who wants to look over the ACLU's arguments against this law. The D.A. has agreed not to charge either ACORN officials or the agency itself before a federal judge decides whether the statute is unconstitutional.

Seven ACORN Canvassers Charged with Voter Registration Fraud

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala today charged seven canvassers for the community group ACORN with forgery and related offenses. Zappala alleges the group functioned under a quota system in which workers were required to amass a certain number of registrations to receive pay. This type of system is prohibited by the Pennsylvania Election Code. Zappala says ACORN workers registered themselves several times, falsified information on voter registration forms, switched party affiliations multiple times, and even forged a registration for an election official to meet their quota. Those charged are:

Ashley Lucille Clarke, 21, of Pittsburgh. Clarke faces charges of forgery, solicitation of registration for pay, unsworn falsification of authorities, obstructing the administration of law or government function, interference with voter registration, and impersonating another person in a voter registration application.

Alexis M. Givner, 23, of West Mifflin is charged with forgery, solicitation, unsworn falsification, obstruction, interference and impersonation.

Mario Wyatt Grisom, 28, of Pittsburgh, with forgery, solicitation, unsworn falsification, obstruction, interference and impersonation.

Latasha Leann Kinney, 27 is charged with forgery, solicitation, unsworn falsification, obstruction, interference and impersonation.

Eric Eugene Jordan, 19, of Pittsburgh, faces charges of solicitation for pay and interference.

Eric Lee Jones, 20, of Pittsburgh, is charged with forgery, solicitation, unsworn falsification, obstruction and interference.

Bryan Williams, 22, of McKeesport, faces charges of obstruction and interference.
Two of the workers charged today were already in custody on unrelated offenses.

One of the canvassers had previously been fired by ACORN for forging registrations.
A total of 51 charges of forgery were issued and Zappala says the investigation is not over.

In the past, ACORN has denied offering compensation for signatures.

Pittsburgh Area Attorney Testifies Against ACORN

Following a hearing today by a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee, Congressman John Conyers urged the full Judiciary Committee to investigate alleged voter fraud by the activist group ACORN. Mt. Lebanon attorney Heather Heidelbaugh testified before the subcommittee today as vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association. Heidelbaugh called on the subcommittee to investigate and audit ACORN's Project Vote, which has a $28 million budget itself, to determine whether it should be allowed to maintain its tax exempt status because of apparent misappropriation of charitable contributions.
Heidelbaugh says ACORN does provide information to citizens about issues "that we care about" but "there is a dark side to ACORN." Heidelbaugh told the panel that 60% of the voter registration cards that are submitted by ACORN are fraudulent and the organization has done nothing systematically to hire better workers or provide better training. Heidelbaugh says the illegitimate registration cards are "not an amateurish attempt to register voters" but rather a "nationwide scheme to fraudulently register voters." Heidelbaugh called on the subcommittee to have ACORN and its affiliated entities audited and all government funds to the organization halted until taxpayer dollars to ACORN are properly accounted for.

Cortes says GOP Voter Fraud Claims are Bunk

Pennsylvania's top election official is refuting state Republican Party claims of voter registration fraud. Last week the Pennsylvania G-O-P filed a lawsuit against the state and community activist group ACORN over voter registration policies. But Secretary of State Pedro Cortes says charges leveled at the state are baseless and that he is "outraged" at the suit. He says, "The remedies that the plaintiffs are seeking are things that the department has already been doing for years.” He says the party's request that his department tell counties to check identification for first-time voters is also bogus because it is already required under state law. Cortes adds he is confidant Pennsylvania's election results will be accurate and fair.

Allegheny County Sheriff to Attend ACORN Forum

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is holding a public forum tomorrow at the Teamster's Hall in Lawrenceville. Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen will be there. ACORN officials will ask the sheriff to place a six-month moratorium on foreclosures. However, Mullen says that it's more important to bring lenders and borrowers back to the bargaining table and re-negotiate mortgages. The Sheriff's office has already taken several measures to lower foreclosure rates, including creating a website and a foreclosure hotline. Mullen says it's still a problem, but the number of foreclosures in the Pittsburgh area has declined each year since 2006.

PA Atty. Gen gets bad foreclosure grade.

ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has released a report card of all 51 US attorneys general on how well they are combating the home foreclosure crisis. PA A.G. Tom Corbett earned an “F.” The report card was based on performance in 9 categories including advocating for individuals, fighting for legislative reforms and launching outreach efforts. Out of 25 possible points Tom Corbett received 4. ACORN Financial Justice Center Director Austin King says if he had Corbett’s ear he would ask him to use his bully pulpit to intervene on behalf of those facing foreclosure. He says the PA A.G. did get points for signing a letter to preserve state’s rights to deal with predatory lenders and he has filed suit against scam artists looking to take advantage of home owners about to be foreclosed on by their lenders. King says while on average Democrats did better than Republicans the strongest correlation to grade was how hard hit the state was by the foreclosure crises. He says there were no bad grades in the 5 states hit hardest but the Attorneys General in the state where the foreclosure crises has not been extreme have done little to help.