Barack Worked For ACORN, Promises to Do So Again

Despite Barack Obama’s insistence that he had nothing to do with ACORN, insisting that his work with Illinois Project Vote was independent, but documentary evidence suggests otherwise. Here is what Barack’s Fight the Smears site states:

Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN

Discredited Republican voter-suppression guru Ken Blackwell is attacking Barack Obama with naked lies about his supposed connection to ACORN.

• Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
• Fact: ACORN never hired Obama as a trainer, organizer, or any type of employee.
• Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.

Before showing you that this is not a true statement, let’s hear from Barack’s own mouth his promise–I REPEAT, HIS PROMISE–to let ACORN help shape his administration’s agenda even before he is inaugurated.

In light of Barack’s early association with ACORN, this promise makes sense. To explore whether or no Illinois Project Vote was “independent” I did a search of corporate records. Well, lookee here.

The trail is a bit convoluted but very revealing.

First, PROJECT VOTE is a trademarked name and is registered at the address: 1024 ELYSIAN FIELDS AVE, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70117-8402.

Gee, who else shared that address? Remember the almost $800,000 that Barack’s campaign gave initially to Citizen Services Inc., but later insisted should have been listed as ACORN? Yep. The same address.

Barack’s Illinois Project Vote was incorporated as follows:

Filing Number: 55191247
Name: PROJECT VOTE FUND
Name Type: LEGAL
Business Type: NON-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION
Status: REVOKED
Foreign State of Incorporation: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Place Incorporated: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Date Incorporated: 08/16/1988
Anniversary Month: AUGUST
Terms: PERPETUAL
Additional Information: NOT REGULATED BY ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION
Purpose: CHARITABLE OR BENEVOLENT

Registered Agent
Name: DEMPSEY, MARY A
Title: REGISTERED AGENT
Registered Agent Address 54 W HUBBARD ST STE 400
CHICAGO, IL 60610-4669
As of Date: 08/16/1988

A subsequent search on the District of Columbia indicates the following:

Filing Number: 852582
Name: PROJECT VOTE FUND
Business Type: DOMESTIC BUSINESS
Status: REVOKED
Place Incorporated: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Date Incorporated: 07/15/1985

Registered Agent
Name: GLASMAN, FERNANDO B
Title: REGISTERED AGENT
Registered Agent Address 1424 16TH ST NW STE 101
WASHINGTON, DC 20036-2211

I then did a further search on the Chicago address–54 W. Hubbard Street, Suite 400. Guess who else had an office at that address but on the Second floor? Cullen J. Davis (Suite 205).

So what?

Well, guess who gave Barack his first job as a lawyer in Chicago? Cullen’s dad, Allison Davis. Want to know more about Cullen, check out Susan UnPC’s piece from earlier this year on Cullen Davis.

In some quarters Cullen Davis would be considered a slumlord. According to the Chicago Tribune report on the death of a child at a housing complex owned by Davis’ company, UPA, we learn:

UPA is run by Cullen Davis. His father, Allison, also has been an official with the firm, according to state records. Cullen Davis also declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit.

HUD inspectors reported that the conditions of the gates worsened over the last two years, records show. In 2006, the problem was judged to be of midlevel severity, with a rating of 2 on a scale of 1 to 3. The level was raised to 3 in two subsequent inspections, in April and December of last year.

Under HUD’s inspection system, housing authorities are required to immediately fix problems regarded as pressing health and safety concerns, such as exposed wiring and blocked fire exits. Inspectors found many such violations on their last visit to the Cabrini-Green Rowhouses and gave the project a score of 30 points out of a possible total of 100—a “very bad score,” Hanson said.

The condition of the gates, however, was not marked as life-threatening and thus did not require immediate repair. Hanson said HUD’s computer software, in use for about 10 years, does not allow problems with gates or fences to be designated as life-threatening.

Even though it was not required to fix the gates immediately, the CHA should have made sure they were repaired, said Eleny Ladias, director of technical services for HUD in Chicago. “It’s up to the housing authority. They’re required to follow up with those type of repairs.”

CHA officials said non-emergency items needing repair usually are “addressed by the property manager.” They declined to comment on whether the broken gates were ever fixed.

UPA got the contract to manage the rowhouses where Curtis Cooper lived at the end of 2005, taking over from a resident-run management group. Residents have been critical of the firm’s work, and some said the gates have long been in bad shape. “The gates were raggedy as hell,” said Sherri Montgomery, a lifelong resident of the rowhouses.

After the accident, UPA posted signs warning children not to play on or near the gates. “It’s too damn late,” said Clayton Wade, Curtis Cooper’s father. “The baby’s dead.”

So, let me get this straight:

Obama is working for an organization that is part of the ACORN umbrella and shares an office building with one Cullen Davis who, subsequently, with Obama’s help becomes a successful slumlord.

Yep, that is change I want to believe in.