No reason to avoid ACORN forum in Everett, officials say

EVERETT — Actors playing a pimp and a prostitute haven’t frightened away some local officials from an economic forum that the community organizing group ACORN plans to host tonight.

Snohomish County officials received invitations to the event at Everett’s Labor Temple months ago. It was only this month that a secretly taped video appearing to show ACORN workers on the East Coast helping a pimp and a prostitute apply for government benefits ignited a national firestorm.

Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, said he thinks the controversy has been blown out of proportion. While the trouble did cause him to question ACORN’s credibility, Sells said it wouldn’t prevent him from appearing at the forum as scheduled.

“When groups ask you to speak, you generally go and talk to people,” he said. “That’s part of the job.”

The group’s Everett office originally invited six state and county policymakers to the forum. At least half of them probably won’t make it because of scheduling conflicts. They said Wednesday that the ACORN controversy had nothing to do with it.

Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, said he is attending another economic forum in Olympia.

“Am I avoiding them because of the recent hubbub? No,” Dunshee said. “They had a couple of bad acorns. That’s no reason to throw out the whole acorn barrel. They do good work with poor people and the right doesn’t like them because of that.”

Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, said he is speaking at Harvard University, and told the event’s organizers he couldn’t attend. McCoy said he approves of the work he has seen from local ACORN staff.

“I’ve got a lot of respect folks at the Everett office,” he said. “They try to help people the best they can.”

Snohomish County Council Chairman Mike Cooper, who is battling cancer, said medical treatment is likely to keep him away.

“I think it’s a pretty credible event,” he said. “These people who are going to be there are constituents, they aren’t just necessarily members of this group.”

Snohomish County PUD Commissioner Dave Aldrich plans to attend despite a call from a woman angry that he was going. The important thing, Aldrich said, is helping families pay their bills.

“I have to consider what ACORN has been trying to do, and what it has been successful in doing,” he said. “My appearance is not meant to be an endorsement of ACORN by any means. I’m attending to explain what the PUD can do for customers.”

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Lynnwood, who also was invited, could not be reached.

The provocative video, available on YouTube, was released by an activist filmmaker and has caused outrage in some circles.

It led the U.S. Senate on Monday to vote 83-7 to cut off Department of Housing and Urban Development funding to the organization. The Census Bureau also dropped ACORN as a national unpaid partner helping promote the 2010 Census. ACORN also drew negative attention during last year’s presidential campaign because of charges of voter-registration fraud.

All of that obscures the good work the group does, according to an ACORN volunteer from south King County.

“That’s so irrelevant with what’s happening with the economic forum in Everett,” Patty Ludwig said. “There are so many who are affected by that, compared to the few who are affected by this smoke-and-mirror show.”

ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also has offices in Burien and Tacoma. The state-level organization reports having helped nearly 400 households handle foreclosures and 600 people get food stamps.

Tonight’s forum is being sponsored by IBEW Local 191 electrical workers union.



If you go

ACORN of Everett plans to host a panel of elected leaders to talk about the economic crisis at 7 tonight at the Labor Temple at 2812 Lombard Ave., Everett. The public is invited.

At 6 p.m., ACORN staff members plan to screen and enroll people for food stamps, and help with home foreclosures and government benefits.



Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.