Backgrounder on the Davis Smear Campaign Against Arnold Schwarzenegger

* Employed Jodie Evans of CodePink, when he was chief of staff to Jerry Brown.
* Appointed Helen Greico, also of CodePink, to a state task force.
* Received $2.5 million in contributions to the No on Recall campaign from the union employer of Gail Escobar.

Arianna Huffington:
* Received a $2,000 campaign contribution from Collette Brooks' ad firm this year.
* Received a $2,325 non-monetary campaign contribution from Collette Brooks for web design.
* Counts Jodie Evans of CodePink as a campaign adviser, according to a Pasadena Weekly Report.
* Counts Jodie Evans also as a Shadow Convention organizer.

"In departing the race, Huffington said she would withhold endorsing anyone for now, but would work to prevent a Republican takeover with a week to go
until the Oct. 7 election."

"I'm pulling out. I'm going to concentrate every ounce of time and energy over the next week working to defeat the recall because I realize now that
is the only way to defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger."
-------The Associated Press, 9/30/2003

* Colette Brooks' firm Brooks Grauman Inc donated $2,000 to Huffington's campaign on August 17, 2003 (Source Arianna Huffington's campaign finance report 1/1/2003 through 8/23/2003, Form 460, Schedule A, page 369).

* On August 23, 2003 Big Imagination made a $2,325 non-monetary contribution to Huffington's campaign for web design. (Source: Arianna Huffington campaign finance report 1/1/2003 through 8/23/2003, Form 460, Schedule C, page 454). ------According to the Los Angeles Times (10/4/03):

* "Brooks said she related the story this year to Jodie Evans, a co-founder of the woman's peace group Code Pink, after Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy in August."

* According to the Pasadena Weekly, Evans is "one of Arianna's best friends" and "an advisor to Arianna's campaign."

* According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group, Evans was an organizer of Huffington's 2000 Shadow Convention.

* According to an article published on Change Links, a progressive news website, Evans commented during the Shadow Convention about Huffington's political transformation and their friendship saying, "She's changed. She's been changed by her friends, and I'm proud to have been one for 20 years."

* From 1973 to 1982, Jodie Evans served in administrative capacities in all of Jerry Brown's campaigns and in his staff and cabinet as Director of Administration. In 1990, Jodie was very active in the Big Green campaign. In 1991, she came back together with her friend Jerry Brown to run his campaign for President that was based on political reform and a $100 contribution limit. Following the campaign, she produced the radio program 'We the People with Jerry Brown', a daily liberal talk show (Source: www.badbabes.org website).

* At the direction of Gray Davis, Krajewski destroyed 3000 index cards with the names of people who wrote to Governor Brown who were thought to be potential donors. The destruction of the index cards prevented a subsequent FPPC investigation from moving forward. Krajewski also gave contradictory testimony to the FPPC on how the cards came to her possession. The FPPC later referred the destruction of the index cards to Attorney General John Van De Kamp. (Source: Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1981)

Helen Greico, also of CodePink, was appointed by Davis to the Governor's Task Force on Diversity and Outreach.

Gail Escobar - Representative of Union represented by Richie Ross and actively opposed to recall

* Gail Escobar is a highly visible member of the organizing committee of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, Local 814 chapter in Los Angeles, which has spent $2.5 million to defeat the recall. Escobar recently disrupted a Schwarzenegger rally with allegations against Arnold in the 1970's. The Union is also a client of Cruz Bustamante consultant Richie Ross. (Sources: San Francisco Chronicle October 4, 2003; Secretary of State Lobbying reports, Ross Communications)

Here is their blurb on the front of their web site, www.codepink4peace.org:

"CODEPINK is not an organization but a phenomenon: a sensibility reflecting feminist analysis and a campy playfulness." The Nation, March 3, 2003 CODEPINK has led the way to stop Schwarzenegger, in the last few days the polls are showing the effect, it is a 2 point spread now. Join us today around the state, or call firends and relatives and alert them. We took the opportunity to give Rumsfeld a well deserved Pink Slip. CODEPINK was among 200 Palestinian and international women Israeli border police tear gassed...more info . CODEPINKDC recently disrupted Rumsfeld at the National Press Club. Check out CODEPINK in the NEWS for media coverage of the event. September 4th in eight cities we continued our push to free the airwaves from the FCC give away. In July, CODEPINK returned to Iraq to set up The International Occupation Watch Center. Read the real stories in letters from the road and reports from IOWC.

I see they are considered a non-profit organization. I think it is time for an investigation of non-profits.

""CODEPINK is not an organization but a phenomenon: a sensibility reflecting feminist analysis and a campy playfulness." The Nation, March 3, 2003 CODEPINK has led the way to stop Schwarzenegger, in the last few days the polls are showing the effect, it is a 2 point spread now. Join us today around the state, or call firends and relatives and alert them. We took the opportunity to give Rumsfeld a well deserved Pink Slip. CODEPINK was among 200 Palestinian and international women Israeli border police tear gassed...more info . CODEPINKDC recently disrupted Rumsfeld at the National Press Club. Check out CODEPINK in the NEWS for media coverage of the event. September 4th in eight cities we continued our push to free the airwaves from the FCC give away. In July, CODEPINK returned to Iraq to set up The International Occupation Watch Center. Read the real stories in letters from the road and reports from IOWC."

Hmmmm...maybe there are times for the legimate use of those WMD's that Iraq never developed!?!

http://216.239.41.104/search?q=cache:Yz9mJb4z6_cJ:www.smmirror.com/volume4/issue24/sierra_club_asks.asp+%22Colette+Brooks%22photo&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Sierra Club Asks Ford To Support New Law
James Allardice
Mirror staff writer

Kicking off a campaign against the Ford Motor Company, the Sierra Club held a press conference outside Santa Monica Ford on Monday, November 25, urging the car company to support the state’s global warming law.
The organizaton is targeting Ford because it has threatened to sue the state to overturn the recently passed law, which was sponsored by State Assemblymember Fran Pavely.
The law, which Governor Gray Davis signed in July, grants the California Air Resources Board power to set “maximum” but “economically feasible” emissions standards for gases, including carbon dioxide. The standards will be in place by 2005 and mandated in cars by 2009.
The automobile industry fought the legislation, arguing it would limit consumers’ choice – most likely by forcing makers to move from SUVs to smaller and more fuel-efficient cars -- and would raise car prices.
“We’re proud that Santa Monica’s Assemblymember Fran Pavley sponsored the Global Warming Bill, which auto manufacturers chose to oppose with full page newspaper ads from TV used car salesman Cal Worthington and his dog Smog,” Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown said Monday. “With electrics, hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, we can have cars without smog.”
As part of the campaign, the Sierra Club is encouraging consumers to ask auto dealers for the “Freedom Option Package,” a set of low emission components that can be added to most cars. According to the Sierra Club, adding those components would allow Ford’s vehicles to average 40 miles per gallon and significantly reduce pollution.
“American consumers are demanding more options,” said Santa Monica resident Robert Gottlieb, a professor and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College.
“They understand that they can make a real savings by driving cars and SUVs that get more miles to the gallon. If American automakers want to keep pace with fast-moving foreign competition, they’ll start providing these options.”
Gottlieb called the fascination with SUVs a form of insecurity and at some level the automobile manufacturers have to assume some responsibility.
McKeown said, “American automakers have the know-how to improve the fuel economy of their cars and trucks. It’s good for consumers, the environment, the economy, and its good for America.”
The Sierra Club’s Kate Jackson said, “The bottom line is these dealers have a great market share opportunity. Santa Monica Ford has a great business opportunity to take a step forward. I hope Ford will become a business leader on this front.”
McKeown added Santa Monica has made a concerted effort to use alternative-fuel vehicles, citing the CNG-fueled Big Blue Buses, the electric Tide Shuttle and a “fleet of new hybrids for staff use.
“Santa Monica is committed to being a sustainable city, changing the Southern California ‘commute and pollute’ lifestyle,” McKeown said. “Eliminating the ‘commute’ will take wise land use over time, but we already have the low-emission vehicle technology to cut the ‘pollute.’”
McKeown said more consumers would buy hybrid vehicles if they were more readily available. “These are now proven technologies, and consumers will buy alternative vehicles for personal use if only they’re given that choice,” he said.
Also speaking at Monday’s press conference was Colette Brooks, owner of the Big Imagination Group, a Culver City-based advertising agency. She recently bought a fleet of hybrid cars for her company.
“We never had a fleet of cars, and wouldn’t have had a fleet of cars, if not for the hybrid option,” Brooks said. “If you make the products available, we’ll buy them.”
Under a 1967 federal law, California is the only state that can set its own tougher regulations for emissions. The loophole exists because of long-standing concerns about the extreme levels of smog in Southern California.

More directly linking an Arnold accuser to a Gray Davis contributor. MAJOR STINK SHADY CONNECTION HERE!

http://www.npicenter.com/index.asp?action=NBViewDoc&DocumentID=3225

Date: 9/6/2002

For More Information Contact:
Colette Brooks
Big Imagination Group
Telephone: 310-204-6100 ext. 12

More Headlines for:

Big Imagination Group

Hybrid Transportation Powers Big Transformation

Something BIG happened on the way to the gas station…or rather, passing it by. In support of healthy living and sustainable practices, L.A.- based Big Imagination Group wanted to get their old gas-guzzlers off the road. So they purchased a fleet of gas/electric hybrid vehicles, expecting basic transportation. What they got was transformation.
Inspired by the ingenious technology that propels their hybrid vehicles, BIG is using its fleet to raise eco-consciousness among commuters and attract new business in the process.

BIG knew that the Toyota Prius hybrid was earth-friendly, a pleasure to drive, yet never needs to be plugged in! Moreover, it knew its hybrid fleet would reduce the group’s annual fuel consumption by over 3,000 gallons a year. But that was just the beginning.

BIG’s founder and Chief Imagination Officer, Colette Brooks, discovered that the hybrid was a perfect metaphor for BIG. “Just like our Prius hybrids, we’re innovative, efficient, eco-conscious, and responsive,” Brooks notes. “We use nimbler, more evolved solutions to get clients where they want to go. In fact, we now call our creative process, Hybrid Thinking. Hybrid Thinking fuses the concepts of imagination, efficiency and sustainability to help businesses maximize their brand potential.”

In an effort to leverage the natural relationship between BIG and the hybrid, the Imagination Group is applying the fruits of its transformation to a new client – itself .

The first elements of this transformation hit the streets this week. Designed to inspire like-minded consumers and potential clients, BIG wrapped its fleet of hybrids with compelling messages that pose the question, “So What Drives You?” These mobile brand satellites, driven by BIG ambassadors, direct rubber-neckers to www.bigLA.com, which is prominently featured on the cars.

Once at the site, visitors can experience a new web community that describes the benefits of Hybrid Thinking and stimulates progressive companies to tap into The Power of ImaginationTM, BIG’s new company credo. It also engages the fledgling hybrid vehicle community and explores other great “Big Ideas” that have changed the way we live.

BIG’s transformation is starting to pay off. Through its wrapped hybrid fleet and online initiatives, BIG is increasing its brand awareness, especially among kindred spirits. BIG recently landed two new accounts, and several current clients are excited about the prospect of incorporating similar sustainable solutions into their business practices.

Here’s how BIG is putting HYBRID THINKING to work:

ON THE STREETS

BIG’s wrapped hybrid vehicles act as mobile brand satellites, driving home the core messages of Hybrid Thinking and The Power of ImaginationTM
With personal ambassadors and repetition of exposure, BIG’s wrapped fleet leads consumers and prospects alike to the BIG site
According to the DOT, the average vehicle is seen by 750,000 people a month. And in L.A., the number is significantly higher
ON THE WEB

BIG launched a new website to engage like-minded companies seeking sustainable growth
The site is dedicated to inspired thinking and supports the hybrid vehicle community
Visit www.BigLA.com to see for yourself
IN THE AIR
By replacing its employees’ gas guzzlers with its new hybrid fleet, BIG is:

Reducing CO2 pollution by over 32 TONS a year
Reducing fuel consumption by 3,000 gallons annually
Saving its employees $4,500 a year in fuel costs
UPCOMING

A local Eco-Hollywood hybrid road rally to increase hybrid buzz and awareness
BIG will support hybrid vehicle owner clubs
BIG is developing a “BIG Idea” contest
“Wrap your ass, get free gas” puts a BIG message on other Prius owner bumpers in exchange for free gas every month
About Big Imagination Group

Born in 1987, BIG is an imagination factory that serves as a cultural compass for progressive companies. BIG specializes in creating cost effective marketing campaigns with explosive brand and sales impact. BIG’s client roster includes Shakey’s, Tenet HealthSystem, Ranch1 Restaurants and Surf City Squeeze Smoothies. Over the years, L.A. based BIG launched a variety of brands, including Paradise Tropical Teas, Zand Herbal Formulas, Pritikin Wellness Centers, Relax The Back Stores and Finlandia Furniture, to name a few.

Brooks notes, “Our current size as measured in billings is approximately $11 million. Our current size as measured in imagination is considerably larger.”

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