From: WEWoodsMPH Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 17:16:25 EST Subject: Call for Help, Advice and Experts Aloha Folks, This is a very necessary alert to request special talents out there. I have included the latest press releaseon this investigation as a reminder of some of the issues we are reviewing, investigating, and filing formal complaints. We are now in such a forward position and have identified such probable extensive complex legal and crminal issues that we need to call on experts out there for advice and information on how to be most successful. We particularly need specifics on filing complaints with FEC, Treasury Department, Justice Department, IRS and other federal agency processes. The who, where, special help or consultation, advocacy groups that could assist or lend legal help, etc. I sincerely believe if we pose a problem for everyone to see, there will be someone out there that will have the solution(s) needed. We just need to communicate. do good William E. Woods, MPH 3-10-98 News/media Alert - For Immediate Release Contact: William E. Woods, MPH (808) 537-2000 Campaign Commission First Review of Illegal Foreign Money Contribution to Political Action Committee More Complaints filed - and more to be filed alleging criminal violations and fraud Kauai Mayor personally approved transportation for Kauai Finance Director to Attend the Covey - Save Traditional Marriage-98 political action fundraiser. The State Campaign Spending Commission will hear my presentation at 3:00 PM on the first two complaints filed against the Save Traditional Marriage-98 and the Australian Consulate General for illegal foreign contributions to the political action committee. Location: Conference 204, Leiopapa A. Kamehameha Bldg., 235 S. Beretania. This first meeting is on just the first two formal complaints facts and request for investigation and remedies. Since their filing, two additional complaints have been filed and more will have been filed by the meeting time. Yesterday (3-9-98) Martin Rice a Gay activist from Kauai and myself had a meeting with Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, Wallace G. Rezentes, Sr. - Kauai Administrative Assistant to the Mayor, Wallace G. Rezentes, Jr. - Kauai Finance Department Director, Hartwell Blake - Kauai County Attorney and the mayor's secretary, Millie (?) . The following letter was presented to the Mayor and her colleagues present as a formal acknowledgment of an illegal contribution by the County of Kauai to the political action committee as listed in the Save Traditional Marriage -98 campaign spending report. It was learned at this meeting Wallace G. Rezentes, Jr., Kauai's Finance Director authorized himself to attend the fundraiser and issued the check himself. His secretary questioned his issuing the check for this fundraiser, but Mr. Rezentes, Jr. overrode her concerns. Mr. Rezentes Jr. stated he was not aware that it was a political fundraiser stating that the solicitation was from a Hawaii's Future Today and nowhere on the solicitation was there any mention this was for a political action purpose. I (William E. Woods) told the group that issuing a check to Save Traditional Marriage 98 should have been an additional red flag that something was not right. Importantly, because the County of Kauai has been experiencing a financial crunch, Mayor Kusaka issued an order that all transportation requests by City personnel must be personally approved by her. The transportation request for the Finance Director to attend and participate in the fundraiser was personally approved by the Mayor. Woods and Rice made a formal request of all documents related to the contribution, travel, personnel time, per diem and transmittal of the solicitation instrument. The letter according to Kauai County Attorney Hartwell Blake constituted a formal complaint to the administration and County that he would be responding to. He further indicated that the letter from Woods and Rice constituted a formal complaint to the Kauai County Ethics Commission of which would be transmitted to the commission via his subordinate attorney who is assigned to them. Following the meeting in the Mayor's office Woods and Rice met shortly with Kauai County Prosecuting Attorney Michael K. Soong in the process to pursue criminal investigation into the contribution or what is looking more and more like fraud and misrepresentations by the soliciting organization. It should be noted that all the solicitations and the hosting and conducting of the fundraising activity was done by Hawaii's Future Today which has earlier been identified as a non-political action group. This group used its extensive financial resources and staffing in support of a political action cause while not be identified as a political action organization and in total non-compliance with campaign spending guidelines limiting contributions. They have received contributions of as much as $29,000 from a single donor when a political action committee is limited to $1,000 maximum. For additional information, interviews, etc. please contact Bill Woods at (808) From MPetrelis@aol.com Sun Mar 15 14:12:04 1998 Received: from imo20.mx.aol.com (imo20.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.42]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA04158 for ; Sun, 15 Mar 1998 14:11:46 -0800 (PST) Received: from MPetrelis@aol.com by imo20.mx.aol.com (IMOv13.ems) id 2OLCa04959; Sun, 15 Mar 1998 17:05:17 -0500 (EST) From: M Petrelis Message-ID: <5d61c016.350c509f@aol.com> Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 17:05:17 EST To: ElZpeedy@aol.com, HervDoc@aol.com, fkuhr@baywindows.com, Pvarnell@aol.com, EdBoyce@aol.com, GHunt1234@aol.com, AStolfi977@aol.com, PATSYLYNCH@aol.com, BobRoehr@aol.com, DMixner@aol.com, QUIRK@aol.com, Salinasguy@aol.com, keelung@itsa.ucsf.edu, sftroubl@hooked.net, Stimmo@aol.com, POZMag@aol.com, mary@planetout.com, TimDono@aol.com, SICILY44@aol.com, JIMEIGO@aol.com, race@bannon.com, lgny@nycnet.com, AIDSACT@critpath.org, Carl_Goodman_at_COR2@mercer.com, Andyhumm@aol.com, Annnorth@aol.com, scorpio@minn.net, gfarns@juno.com, liz@black-rose.com, sklower@cs.berkeley.edu, lthdad13@sirius.com, EroNat@aol.com, MarcusJW@internetmci.com, SFMANBOY@aol.com, rcarrazza@sprintmail.com, wdtrumbo@bechtel.com, torch3@sirius.com, gsr@netcom.com, SWaltonDQ@aol.com, andy_williams@quickmail.ucsf.edu, ralphbuchalter@mindspring.com, cruisemaster@cruisingforsex.com, SCARLTR@aol.com, blackb@queernet.org, VOTEYES57@aol.com, rebis@sirius.com, logcabin@cais.com, RevMel@aol.com, joed@rabbit.com, RAARONS@aol.com, submit@qrd.org, lid@nycnet.com, queerlaw@abacus.oxy.edu, FrntPage@aol.com, Qaction@aol.com, Eurotop@aol.com, PROJTOCSIN@aol.com, TraceyR@aol.com, jph@halcyon.com, Southvoice@aol.com, DMFrance@aol.com, CheapTV@aol.com, DanFons@aol.com, r-mohr@uiuc.edu, don@washblade.com, cam@washblade.com, Hwymanspr@aol.com, MPetrelis@aol.com, Tonyguy@aol.com, Henryruhe@aol.com, wockner@concentric.net, Wullbrandt@aol.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: FL Sun-Sentinel: AIDS agencies get better deal w/o Pallotta Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 16-bit for Windows sub 58 (Florida) Sun-Sentinel, March 12, 1998 AIDS agencies will get better deal New partnership vows to raise ride's benefits By Robin Benedick, Staff Writer If you donated $1 to the Florida AIDS Ride last year, only a nickel went to agencies that help people with the deadly disease. In 1996, a little more of your dollar went to the cause - a whopping 18 cents. Aghast at those figures, a consortium of AIDS agencies dumped the promoter of the rides and formed a new partnership for this November's 275-mile trek from the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area to Orlando. The group promises that this year at least 55 cents to 60 cents of every dollar will go to AIDS agencies. "We've come up with a relationship that isn't so one-sided," said Dean Trantalis, director of development for CenterOne Inc., the lead agency coordinating the ride. Organizers are almost giddy with enthusiasm about their predictions for the Nov. 6-8 ride. Their new partnership with Clear Results Marketing is set up to benefit the agencies more than the last two rides with a different promoter did. The deal provides few upfront guarantees to the marketing company, earmarks a half-million dollars for advertising to attract more riders and donations, requires less seed money from agencies, slashes the ride's expenses and gives AIDS agencies a cut of profits before all bills are paid. That's better than the arrangement the consortium had in 1996 and 1997 with Dan Pallotta, a California promoter who produces AIDS rides around the country. His administrative costs and the ride's expenses ate up virtually all of $1.52 million raised, with AIDS agencies getting only $272,000. Last year, the agencies fared even worse, getting $80,000 of $1.5 million raised. "It's been an embarrassment for us," said Jerry Weissner, president of Miami- based Action for AIDS, which gives grants to organizations that serve people with AIDS. "People expect when they give money that it's going to the cause. That's not what has happened here." Weissner and other consortium members believe they have devised a model pact with Clear Results Marketing that other AIDS rides around the nation could copy. "These rides have become a very expensive way to raise money," said Wayne Turner, spokesman for ACT-UP Washington, D.C., and AIDS activist group critical of the fund-raising bike rides. "What Florida is going to do is exactly what we have been advocating." Voluntary standards for charities recommend that no more than 50 cents of each dollar be spent on fund-raising and administrative costs; however, no laws require that. Rides in California, Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, New York and the Washington, D.C.-area are produced by Pallotta. He is the official AIDS Ride promoter because his company owns the AIDS Ride name. South Florida organizers changed this year's event to the Red Ribbon Ride. Ray Steinman, director of events for Clear Results Marketing, said the company hopes to cover its expenses producing the event. "We're taking a risk on this event," Steinman said. "We think it's a worthwhile cause, and if it works out for us financially, we'll do it again next year." Clear Results Marketing is a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, which owns radio and television stations, including WIOD (610-AM), WZTA (94.9-FM), and WLVE (93.9-FM). Besides Action for AIDS, other AIDS agencies that will benefit from the ride are CRI of South Florida, Comprehensive AIDS program of Palm Beach County, AIDS Resource Alliance in Orlando, Tampa AIDS Network and Action for AIDS in Miami. Those agencies participated last year. The Poverello Center of Wilton Manors participated in 1996, but bowed out of last year's ride because of the low return. It is not participating in this year's ride. "There wasn't a second thought about us standing behind this," said Jennifer Simon, director of development and community awareness at the Comprehensive AIDS Program of Palm Beach County. "This has been like buying a bad car. You get a lemon, but you don't stop driving. You get another car. We're trying to learn from the mistakes and go to a better dealership this time," Simon said. Organizers hope to attract 1,000 or more riders and sign up a major corporate sponsor. Only 685 riders participated last year. Each rider is required to raise a minimum of $1,250. Organizers also are lining up the location in Broward or Miami-Dade counties where riders would depart, and talking to Orlando theme parks about hosting a closing ceremony at the finish line. For more information on the ride, call 305-770-2630.