After being the target of false accusations last week, the Freedom Alliance did the proper thing: they published all the details that any skeptic would want to see regarding the charity. This is what one would expect from any person, or entity, that is falsely accused. They open their books because they have nothing to hide.
The same cannot be said for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO). It’s Executive Director, Bill Faith, has repeatedly denied requests for COHHIO to open its books for examination.
Yet while purporting to be an advocate for low-income citizens, the Center for Consumer Freedom has discovered that Faith’s coalition includes some organizations without phone numbers, organizations that are listed multiple times, and organizations that have confirmed they have not supported the group’s position against payday lending.
Then there’s the little problem about salaries, of which Faith receives six figures, far above the median pay of $54,000 for executive directors of non-profits. COHHIO spent less than one-third of its revenue on actual programs, far below the 65% recommended by Give.org. Doesn’t sound to me like a terribly efficient advocate for the homeless. Sounds more to me like a way to line Faith’s pockets and pursue his ulterior motive.
That motive likely lies in Faith’s link to the corrupt Center for Responsible Lending. Self-Help, the credit union behind CRL, and therefore behind Bill Faith, stands to gain by picking up customers from defunct payday lenders.
They want to suck the blood of former PDL customers by hitting them with onerous overdraft protection fees. We must ask exactly what payday loans have to do with homelessness, especially when one must have a job and a home to get a payday loan?
According to Network Solutions, the domain name for COHHIO’s website (www.end391.org) is actually owned by Connie Busch of eSpace communications, a Dublin, Ohio based consulting firm whose clients are Telhio Credit Union, e-Choice Solutions which is an online brokerage for credit unions in Ohio, and CU Ballot, an electronic voting system for credit unions.
Meanwhile, The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) made a few interesting discoveries in 2008:
While it is a non-profit corporation, COHHIO receives virtually 100% of its funding from State and Federal grants. COHHIO has received more than $4.3 million in State funding from the State of Ohio since 2000. ”It is wrong to spend our tax dollars advancing anything on the ballot, whether a candidate or a ballot issue,” said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd. “That COHHIO can’t understand that shows they are not responsible with the monies the State of Ohio and the Federal government have given to them.”
The campaign finance report for “Is 391% Too High? Vote Yes on 5 Committee” shows that the remaining donors, combined, gave an aggregate of less than $6,000 to the pro-Issue 5 campaign. The $260,000 in campaign spending by COHHIO compares to only $614,000 in direct program services to help their supposed homeless clients, as revealed by their 2006 990 income tax return.
“It is a recurring theme,” said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd. “Folks who are funded by government always think we need more government and spend our tax dollars to advance that destructive cause.” There are specific prohibitions in Ohio State law preventing the use of tax monies for political purposes. COHHIO is either openly violating the law, or thinks it can evade the prohibition because the tax funds flowed first through their non-profit coffers.”
Oh, and what do you know, Faith was also the Treasurer for the “Yes on 5” ballot initiative campaign in Ohio in 2008! Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse!
So, tell us, Mr. Faith – how much money have you earned over the years as Executive Director of COHHIO? What other money or compensation have you received from other groups?
WHEN WILL COHHIO OPEN ITS BOOKS, MR. FAITH?
And yes, I’m formally asking to see them.
And since they have nothing to hide, well, I’m sure we’ll see those books next week – just like the Freedom Alliance provided…
Won’t we?
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