As public service to the community, The Leslie Brodie Report
publishes* a complaint filed with the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS")
against Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency DBA Voice of
OC, below:
Internal Revenue Service
Exempt Organizations Unit
1100 Commerce St.
Dallas, TX 75242-1198


Re: A referral for noncompliance with tax laws against exempt
organization "Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency" (dba
"Voice of OC"):
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT:


In lieu of using IRS Form 13909 (Tax-Exempt Organization Referral
Form), please consider this communication a formal complaint (referral)
against an Orange County, California not-for-profit entity known as
"Orange County Nonprofit Investigative News Agency," which operates an
online publication under the name "Voice of OC" (located at www.voiceofoc.org).
On September 1, 2011, Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency and Voice of OC (collectively, "Voice of OC") were duly served with a request for production of IRS
Form 990, Form 990 Schedule A, and Form 1023. (See Exhibit 1.) To
date, this request to produce Voice of OC's tax returns has been
ignored, despite the clear mandate by the Internal Revenue Service to
fully comply with such requests within 30 days. As such, reluctantly,
the undersigned makes this referral.
INTRODUCTION OF ACTORS:


1. Mr. Joe Dunn in his role as the creator of online publication
"Voice of OC" – Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency.
2. Mr. Joe Dunn in his role as Trustee of the UCI Foundation (an
entity which obtained funds from a separate charitable entity known as
CaliforniaALL (FEIN Number 51-0656213).
3. Mr. Joe Dunn in his role as Executive Director of the State Bar
of California – an entity which also controls and maintains a foundation
known as the California Bar Foundation. The California Bar Foundation
very quietly transferred close to $780,000 to CaliforniaALL.
4. Mr. Joe Dunn in his role as a politician and business partner of
Martha Escutia, who was involved in matters relating to utility
companies operating in California.
5. Ms. Gwen Moore – a former Assembly member in the California
legislature. Ms. Moore has "clout" over the CPUC and utility companies.
Ms. Moore presently serves as a member of the State Bar of California
Board of Governors; she has previously been the subject of an FBI sting operation.
6. Mr. Geoffrey Brown – a former commissioner with the CPUC and
former board member of the California Bar Foundation. During his tenure
as a board member of the California Bar Foundation, a hush-hush
transfer of $780,000 was made to CaliforniaALL. Subsequent to this
transfer, Mr. Brown abruptly quit his position as board member.
7. Mr. Thomas Girardi of Los Angeles-based law firm Girardi &
Keese. Mr. Girardi helped Joe Dunn to establish the Voice of OC, and
was a member of its board of directors. Recently, he abruptly quit that
position. Mr. Girardi is a well-known donor to the Democratic Party
and, in particular, to California Senator Barbara Boxer.
8. Mr. Howard Miller of Los Angeles-based law firm Girardi &
Keese. Mr. Miller was a member of both the State Bar of California
Board of Governors and the California Bar Foundation board of directors
when the "hush-hush" transfer of $780,000 from California Bar Foundation
to CaliforniaALL took place.
9. Mr. James Brosnahan of Morrison & Foerster – Mr. Brosnahan
represents utility companies. He – along with Thomas Girardi – helped
Mr. Joe Dunn create the Voice of OC, the subject of this complaint.
Like Mr. Girardi, Mr. Brosnahan also served as member of Voice of OC's
board of directors, and recently also abruptly quit his position.
10. Ms. Susan Mac Cormac of Morrison & Foerster – Ms. Mac Cormac was part of the legal team that created the legal entity known as CaliforniaALL.


11. Mr. Victor Miramontes – a resident of San Antonio, TX and
business partner of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. Mr. Miramontes
was the chairman of CaliforniaALL.
12. Ms. Ruthe Catolico Ashley – a former employee of McGeorge
School of Law who later served as a "Diversity Officer" at CalPERS. Ms.
Ashley also served as member of the State Bar of California Board of
Governors, and came up with the idea to create CaliforniaALL during a meeting with Sarah Redfield and Peter Arth, Jr.
(the assistant to CPUC President Michael Peevey). After CaliforniaALL
came into existence, Ms. Ashley, after a simulated search, was selected
to serve as CaliforniaALL's executive director.
13. Ms. Sarah Redfield – a visiting professor at McGeorge School of
Law and a member of the State Bar of California Committee. Ms.
Redfield was chosen to serve as the "interim executive director" for
CaliforniaALL, and later also allegedly served as a consultant to
CaliforniaALL. For her services, Ms. [url=http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2011/02/21/californiaall-part-2-concerns-mount-over-interim-executive-director-sarah-e-redfield-gwen-moore-10652852/]Redfield was paid for the year of 2008 close to $160,000 as an "independent contractor.[/url]"
Even though CaliforniaALL was housed pro bono at the law offices of
DLA Piper in Sacramento, there is an entry on CaliforniaALL's tax return
for close to $16,000 for "occupancy."
14. Ms. Judy Johnson – the former Executive Director of the State Bar of California. For the past 8 years, she has been secretly serving as the president of an entity with a misleading name
("California Consumer Protection Foundation"). This entity absorbed
close to $30 million in class action cy pres awards, as well as fines
and settlements imposed by the CPUC on utility companies. This entity
forwarded those funds to mostly questionable ACORN-like entities. On
its website, CCPF claims that it has available information on all
grantees going back 10 years. Not so. The information is scattered and
extremely difficult to ascertain. In fact, a whole year is missing
(2002). During that year, incidentally, CCPF awarded funds to the real
ACORN as well as to Eric Moore of Educate LA, who is presumably related
to Gwen Moore. Ms. Johnson used her position as executive director of
the State Bar of California (which is supposed to supervise and
discipline lawyers) as "clout" to obtain cy pres awards from the
settlement of class actions prosecuted and defended by countless law
firms.
15. Mr. Jeffrey Bleich of Munger Tolles & Olson – presently the
U.S. ambassador to Australia and a close friend of President Barack
Obama. Mr. Bleich served as member of the BOG when CaliforniaALL was
conceived. He is mentioned only in reference because Verizon
Communications (which heavily contributed to CaliforniaALL) is a client
of Munger Tules & Olson.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND:


In approximately 2007, Ruthe Catolico Ashley -- an attorney from
Sacramento and a member of the State Bar of California Board of
Governors -- was employed by CalPERS as a "Diversity Officer." Prior to
her employment with CalPERS, Ms. Ashley was employed as a diversity
officer at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. While at McGeorge, Ms.
Ashley met diversity expert Sarah Redfield.
In April 2007, Ashley, along with Sarah Redfield, met Peter Arth at a restaurant in San Francisco.
During that meeting the idea to create CaliforniaALL was conceived.
Eventually, CalPERS, CPUC, and the State Bar of California endorsed in
principle the creation of CaliforniaALL – a Section 501(c)(3) entity
that would raise funds to be used to support a more diverse workforce in
California.
Papers were filed with both state and federal agencies to allow
CaliforniaALL to operate as a tax exempt entity. Victor Miramontes
listed himself as Chairman of the Board, and Sarah E. Redfield served as
CaliforniaAll's interim-executive director for a period of 6 months.
Serving as CaliforniaALL's legal counsel was Susan Mac Cormac of Morrison & Foerster.
California Attorney General RCT reflects that [url=http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2011/02/27/californiaall-part-3-the-money-chase-10703770/]CaliforniaALL obtained its "Charity” status on March 14, 2008 (FEIN Number 510656213)[/url].
The address for CaliforniaALL is listed as 400 Capitol Mall, Suite
2400, Sacramento, California. This is actually the address of DLA
Piper, where CaliforniaALL resided pro bono.
In June 2008, after a
"nationwide search" and aided by a pro bono head-hunting firm in its
search for a permanent CEO, CaliforniaALL, not surprisingly, hired
Ruthe Catolico Ashley as its chief executive officer.
Also not surprisingly, Ruthe Catolico Ashley abruptly exited CaliforniaALL in September 2009 – the same month Joe Dunn launched his non-profit online publication "Voice of OC."


CaliforniaALL was abruptly dissolved in June 2010.


CaliforniaALL's [url=http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2011/02/21/californiaall-part-2-concerns-mount-over-interim-executive-director-sarah-e-redfield-gwen-moore-10652852/]990 returns for 2008 list Sarah Redfield of Orono, Maine as an "independent contractor."[/url]
Her job description is listed as "Program Director." and she was paid
$157,763. It is unknown to the undersigned whether Redfield paid
self-employment taxes or any other applicable state income taxes, either
in California or Maine. (Incidentally, Redfield falsely states on her
resume that she was part of a "curriculum committee" with SAL-UCI, an
entity associated with UCI and the UCI Foundation where CaliforniaALL
forwarded funds. In addition, Redfield [url=http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2011/03/15/californiaall-part-8-unh-law-professor-sarah-e-redfield-in-the-make-belief-launching-of-sal-10828936/]falsely stated that she "launched" SAL-UCI[/url], an entity that was already in existence from 2005.)
In its brief existence from 2008 to 2010, CaliforniaALL collected
close to $2 million from utility companies (AT&T, PG&E, Verizon,
Sempra), including a sub rosa "hush-hush" contribution of $769,247 from
the State Bar of California Foundation.
To date, data collected by the undersigned shows that CaliforniaALL
(which was supposed to forward most of those funds) transferred between
$300,000 to $400,000 to the UCI Foundation (where Joe Dunn serves as trustee), spent an unknown amount to honor Gwen Moore at a lavish dinner held at a luxury hotel in Sacramento,
paid for other incidental expenses such as salaries, and subsequent to
moving out from the offices of DLA Piper to a more modest location ,
paid for a UPS Store mail box slot in Citrus Heights. (Later,
CaliforniaALL relocated its base to the loft of one Larrisa Parecki in
Sacramento.)
Between 2001 and 2007, Geoffrey Brown served as a Commissioner with
the CPUC. From 2006 to 2009, Brown served as a director of the State
Bar of California Foundation. In 2008, California Bar Foundation
quietly transferred $769,247.00 to CaliforniaALL. CaliforniaALL never
acknowledged receipt of the $769,247.00 from the Cal Bar Foundation in
any of its publications, although it did acknowledge the transfer on its
IRS tax returns. Likewise, California Bar Foundation never
acknowledged the largest grant it ever bestowed in its newsroom, the
California Bar Journal, or similar publications; it did, however,
recognize the transfer on its IRS returns, and in a 2 by 2 inch blurb in
its annual report.
Several months ago, the undersigned asked the State Bar of California Board of Governors to examine
the suspicious circumstances surrounding CaliforniaALL (i.e. the hush
hush transfer, etc.). While simply presenting facts similar to the
above, Geoffrey Brown immediately, as though bitten by a snake, threatened to file legal action against the undersigned
even though the communication with the BOG was absolutely privileged
and justified, and only made mention of Brown in passing.
The undersigned has met Brown casually once or twice, and was
highly impressed with his modest and genteel nature. A group
conversation transpired and Brown immediately, without even being asked,
volunteered to help and assist. This however, can and will not serve
to bar the mentioning of his name as part of the overall description of
events (such as in this communication). Such tactics would be unfair to
the other individuals and the proper administration of justice.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the undersigned possesses not even
a scintilla of evidence that demonstrating that Brown somehow pocketed
any money unlawfully or engaged in any other unlawful activities, other
than the convenient circumstances described above.
Due to unsettling circumstances involving the State Bar of
California (such as the highly secretive control of CCPF by Judy
Johnson, the refusal of the State Bar of California to disclose amounts
it transfers to Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles-based entity, the amounts it
obtains from "voluntary contributions," and, in particular,
circumstances surrounding CaliforniaALL, Joe Dunn, and the Voice of OC),
the undersigned asked Voice of OC to produce its tax returns for the
past 3 years.
Specifically, the following circumstances surrounding Voice of OC have caused concerns:


1. Senator Martha Escutia, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy,
Utilities and Communications (EU&C) also participated in meetings
with the CPUC concerning diversity. She is a founding member of The
Senators (Ret.) firm, LLP, as is Joe Dunn.
2. The fact that some individuals and entities involved in the
creation of CaliforniaALL and the subsequent transfer of $769,247.00
from the Cal Bar Foundation to CaliforniaALL, were also involved in
assisting Joe Dunn with the creation of "Voice of OC" to wit – on one
hand Morrison & Foerster's Susan Mac Cormac as legal counsel for
CaliforniaALL; Girardi & Keese's Howard Miller in his capacity as
BOD member of Cal Bar Foundation, as well as BOG members who voted to
endorse CaliforniaALL and consider it to have been a partner of the
State Bar of California. On the other hand Morrison &Foerster's
James Brosnahan and Girardi & Keese's Thomas Girardi as part of
helping Joe Dunn with the establishment of Voice of OC.
3. CaliforniaALL was to transfer funds forward. It did so by
awarding approximately $300,000 in grants to the UCI Foundation, where
Joe Dunn serves as trustee and chair of the Audit Committee. It appears
that CaliforniaALL preselected UCI Foundation, making a prior simulated
request for proposal (RFP) by Sarah Redfield that led to the grant – a
sham process.
4. In September 2009, Ruthe Ashley abruptly exited CaliforniaALL.
That same month, Joe Dunn publicly launched his online publication,
"Voice of OC." (as though Ashley's mission had been completed).
5. The recent abrupt departure of Thomas Girardi and James
Brosnahan from 'Voice of OC" (as though they were fleeing the scene with
guilty consciences).
As such, several months ago, on September 1, 2011, the Voice of OC
was duly served with a request for production of IRS Form 990, Form 990
Schedule A, and Form 1023. (See Exhibit 1 attached) Additionally, said
request was delivered to Joe Dunn.
To date, this request to produce Voice of OC's tax returns has been
ignored, despite the clear mandate by the Internal Revenue Service to
fully comply with such requests. As such, reluctantly, the undersigned
filed this complaint.
As such, I urge you to investigate this matter to determine whether
Voice of OC who ignored the request to produce said tax returns
violated IRS rules and regulations. I ask that you impose appropriate
sanctions against any and all involved, if supported by the results of
your investigation.
I look forward to your response. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.


*Links and photos inserted by The Leslie Brodie Report.