The Morning Call's Josh Drobnyk, told us a few days ago about congressional candidate Sam Bennett's outrageous $110,000 salary at Properties of Merit, a nonprofit whose annual budget is just $351,000. Most of us believe she simply conned Governor Rendell into a nice $100,000 grant so that she could run for Congress full-time without worrying about a job.Now, thanks to Lehigh Valley Housewife, I've learned that all of her community "annual awards receptions" are held right before the elections. I'm sure that's just another one of those damn coincidences. These events are designed to ensure "maximum attendance at the reception." They're free, open to the public, and even have refreshments donated by area merchants.
Isn't it wonderful to see a tax exempt non-profit used to help elect Sam Bennett to congress?
Check out these dates for this year for some areas that just happen to be in Pa.'s 15th congressional district: Allentown - October 11; Coplay - October 13; Easton - November 1; and Northern Lehigh - September 15.
17 comments:
Yes, poor innocent naive Governor Ed Rendell, being conned by that veteran political operator Sam Bennett.
I'm sure he had no idea what he was doing. after all, politics down in Philly is squeaky clean...
Anon 11:26, Dude, you're right. "Conned" was a poor word. I'm certain that Rendell intended to help her run at congress.
Allegedly intended to helped her run, lol.
AJ, That's an awful big allegedly.
No doubt about that, Bernie. Either Rendell was too stupid to know what was going on (as he often is), or he did intend for all to happen.
Both allegations are possible.
Why can't I find a job like her's?
gort, 2:38 am, Want a job like Sam Bennett? Get a sex change (if you are a guy), buy some awful, slutty clothes, put them on with a blond fright wig, sashay your tush and flaunt your bazongas at every politician (male or female) you can, drink and get stoned with all of the boy toys (straight or gay) around you and then proclaim yourself a savior of your community and the next best thing since sliced bread. Then, if people give you a hard time about the money you con out of a fat slob of a Governor, have your hangers on and syncophants accuse anybody who doesn't let you get your way of beating up on their little princess. See? A formula for success.
In the Morning Call comments section, one readers wrote that the bulk of the $351K budget was in the form of in-kind gifts, which meant that Sam pretty much got all of the cash. Nice.
Also, another reader questioned the validity of the program itself: POM is supposed to reward people who keep their properties well-maintained, thus inspiring others to do the same.
While it may be true that a well-kept home triggers the rest of the neighborhood to follow suit, is the receipt of a rake/plaque intregral for that motivation? In other words, wouldn't the home itself inspire others? Does the rest of the neighborhood ignore the home until they see the plaque and rake and declare inspiration only then?
I heard that Bennett is being investigated by the Attorney General and that the funding for her program has been cut off. Can anybody verify? I hope it is true. This kind of scam needs to be brought out in the open. Think the Morning Call will continue to investigate their little darling? I wonder.
Anon 8:17, I don't know if that rumor is true.
LVHW tells us many of the contributions are "in kind." If that grant is frozen, it might actually be freezing Bennett's salary. if that had happened, I think there would be a lor of public bellyaching from Bennett.
Bernie, Agreed. Unless she isn't saying anything because she is afraid of more negative public exposure. Bad ink doesn't help when you are raising money for Congress and trying to convince the Washington DC poobahs that you are invincible.
it was earlier mentioned here that the Republican candidate for Easton Mayor is on the POM Board or associated with it in some way. Did we find that to be true? I understand the Dem Congressional candidate wannabe spent a lot of time with him at Easton's Heritage Day and it was at the Main St. booth where he spent most of the day. I don't live in Easton but I own a business in downtown and this just make me angry with them and the people running the Main Street program. Doesn't Sammy know Easton, Panto will win and another Dem Mayor won't be supporting her. As for Main Street, they lost a lot of credibility in my eyes.
Bernie, Just to be clear: I do not have direct information that the rest of POM's budget was in-kind grants. I read that in the Morning Call comments section.
I would try to verify it, but I can't get current information on POM from Guidestar's website.
How do these grants work, do they get all the money right away or are there monthly dibursements?
The mess surrounding Bennett is like a snowball rolling down a hill, it just keeps geting bigger, then one day splat, it hits a wall. Hopefully for the Democrats of the 15th, splat will be soon enough to get a real candidate to run.
Thanks for the clarification, LVHW. Unfortunately, I'll have more about Bennett real soon.
I'm a little confused - how would an event this September or November help anyone in an election 16 months from now? If, in fact, it would at all.
Anon 5:33, It's not what happens this year that matters. It's what happens next year. And these are always scheduled right around the elections.
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