Posted on 09/22/2004 10:51:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - The chairman of the U.S. commission overseeing post-Florida election reforms said Wednesday that he will launch an investigation into reports that consultants hired with federal money by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley spent part of their time attending political events.
In his first public comments on the unfolding controversy, Election Assistance Commission Chairman DeForest Blake Soaries Jr. said he has concerns about reports in the Mercury News and other newspapers that consultants hired to do voter outreach work went to fund-raisers for Democrats, including presidential candidate John Kerry.
``I cannot imagine any circumstances under which partisan political activity supported by HAVA funds is appropriate,'' said Soaries.
Shelley has come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of reports that he used at least $500,000 in federal Help America Vote Act funds, better known as HAVA, to hire political aides and Democratic allies. The initiative, created in the wake of the 2000 presidential election failures, is designed to boost voter outreach and participation.
Reports prepared by some of the consultants and released by Shelley's office in response to Public Records Act requests show that some of them spent time attending events with little or no apparent connection to voter outreach, including Democratic fund-raisers, reggae concerts and NBA basketball events.
The son of a prominent Democratic Los Angeles County supervisor attended a San Francisco fund-raiser for the California Democratic Party and a Bastille Day celebration at which he presented a resolution to the French consul general.
A second consultant joined Shelley at a fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry at the home of a major California developer, and represented the Democratic secretary of state at a meeting of the California delegation to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Shelley has not commented publicly on the revelations, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Read my by-line...
Need I say more?
And you wonder why California has budget issues.
Maybe California needs to investigate some of its conservancies/commissions and land preservation programs while we are at it,, being as large developers and landed folks aren't doing too bad , it would appear, no matter who is in power these days.
Maybe we can see then who is really being served by some of the moves made in the "public's interest"... but actually revolve around special interests being granted their wishes and with high public office holders in lock step with them. I wonder why?
kaaa-chinnngg
"$500,000 in federal Help America Vote Act funds"
Is there anyone in this forum who would not identify the root of the problem as "federal...funds" ?
Would it be okay if, from now on, we not spend taxpayer dollars to prod, beg, bribe, and otherwise coerce non-thinking lazy sh*ts off their couches to go vote? Really. I'm ok with insisting upon enough personal accountability that voters would have to remember when November [CENSORED] is coming up...
Furthermore, I have to suspect that the ostensibly random people who would vote IF AND ONLY IF they're prodded by this stupid act would be Democratic in majority.
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