Sept. 17, 2009The Honorable Bill Ritter Colorado State Capitol Denver, CO 80203
Dear Gov. Ritter,
Many Coloradans no doubt were shocked and disgusted by recent news reports that the national "community-organizing" group ACORN had attempted to aid and abet underage prostitution when approached by undercover operatives at several ACORN offices around the country. The videos of the encounters, aired on a national news network, graphically illustrated the corruption that seems to infest ACORN -- long a recipient of federal funds and an organizer of voter-registration drives
It came as no surprise that the U>S. Senate voted overwhelmingly this week to block the Obama administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development from disbursing any more grants to ACORN, and at least one federal lawmaker is now calling for a Justice Department investigation.
Governor, I trust that you share my concern that ACORN employees may be helping propagate and cover up yet other criminal activities while receiving taxpayer funding. I am calling on your administration to help assure Colorado taxpayers that none of their tax dollars are funding such activities. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has taken similar steps in Minnesota. While at least one media account quoted an ACORN representative in our state as saying his chapter receives no federal or state funding, the entire organization's credibility is obviously in doubt at this point. Considering how ACORN -- formally known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- functions as a network, the ACORN rep in question might not even know where all ACORN-affiliated groups in our state get their funding.
That is why I am asking you to verify for the public which if any of your Cabinet agencies may have disbursed public funds to any ACORN-related entities. In the wake of the appalling revelations about ACORN, Coloradans deserve to know if their own state government has been tarnished by this scandal.
Sincerely,
Sen. Dave Schultheis