The sleazy and corrupt conservatives David and Charles Koch, with buckets of cash to spread around to further their profits and agendas, are behind an the Freedom Partners advocacy group based in Virginia. According to a recent Washington Post probe of that group, it has a voluntary commitment to transparency:
James Davis, a spokesman for Freedom Partners [...] said the group has been upfront about its spending and made its tax return available online as soon as it was filed in September.
I didn't believe this but when I checked the Freedom Partners' site, sure enough, there on their About Us page was a link to their latest IRS 990.
Compare that transparency, regardless of the political differences between that group and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center whose executive director Lorri Jean has adamantly refused for years my entreaties for her to get with the voluntary sunshine agenda. Not only does she not share any IRS 990s on her site, her Financials page omits info about how the tax filings is available upon request and on GuideStar.
Just because the center's IRS 990s are at that site does not absolve them of posting the filings on the center's site, just like the Freedom Partners do. Says a lot about Jean's transparency policy that a Koch brothers funded group is more accountable than the LA gay community center.
Since GuideStar has not posted the 2012 tax filing for the center, and knowing that nonprofits must make their IRS 990s available to the public upon request the day they file with the tax agency, I sent a request to Jean and she complied with federal disclosure law. The 2012 filing was emailed to me. If you want a copy, please request it today from the center's finance director Mark Beaty: mbeaty@lagaycenter.org.
The filing shows that Jean's salary is now at $388,000, her deputy Darryl Cumming pay is at $246,000 and other deputies's are receiving compensation well north of $150,000.
Speaking of money and the center, Jean's been pimping for Stoli vodka since the summer when she trashed activists boycotting the Russian vodka and its parent company SPI Group and the SPI North America firm. At the time, many suspected Jean was kicking activist butt and kissing Stoli's butt in hope of getting a nice fat donation from the vodka manufacturer.
This week, the unholy alliance of SPI North America announced on the Advocate's website, where it was disclosed Stoli is an advertiser of Here Media which owns the gay news site, that Jean's center has accepted a $300,000 donation.
The money is to be used to mentor LGBT leaders under the guidance of the center's executives, and it's damn frightening to think Stoli's blood money is flowing to Jean who now has the resources to mold others in her ways of pimping for rotten corporations. Such is how too many components and executives of Gay Inc operate.
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