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Neighbor News

Mayor Ras Baraka illegal voter activity!

Baraka churches engage in "political campaign activity "Risks Tax-Exempt Status."

My neighbor shared a post with me on my facebook page she reported what I have already seen. The Mayor using the NHA to fish in a goldfish bowl for votes. Intimidating seniors to vote for him and his slate with threats to their housing. He is using the churches in the city for his political campaign in violation of the IRS tax laws and rules of campaign finance. Moreover, the churches Risks their Tax-Exempt Status. "In return for its favored tax-status, a charitable nonprofit promises the federal government that it will not engage in “political campaign activity” and if it does, IRS regulations mandate that the charitable nonprofit will lose its tax-exempt status." (www.councilofnonprofits.org) Additionally, he is using our tax paid municipal vehicles for campaign purposes a direct Federal violation. My posted the following: "Yesterday morning the Mayor claimed victory when a judge dismissed a complaint “alleging Mayor Ras J. Baraka had improperly spent city taxpayer money to pay for expenses that should have been paid by the mayor’s campaign; however, he was sanctioned by the judge for his abuse of power and ordered to perform an audit in order to explain how he arrived at a $200 reimbursement fee to the Newark Police Department for police officers escorting in a deejay from New York City FOR A CAMPAIGN EVENT, further ordering he is forbidden for one (1) year to use police officers as escorts for “private” purposes.
Obviously, the Mayor didn’t take the sanction very seriously. Remember the flyer attached going around, “A Night of Prayer and Praise Supporting Mayor Ras J. Baraka.” New Hope Baptist Church hosting. Yesterday afternoon someone mentioned municipal buses transporting seniors to Baraka's campaign event. I called the church and asked for the time and the woman advised that it started at 7pm, but couldn’t provide any other details, because the church was “just providing the food.” When I arrived, I turned on to the block behind three municipal buses (bus numbers and plates provided). At the entrance there were Baraka supporters in their campaign gear and posters. The woman at the table said I needed a ticket, $25.00, and I told her I just wanted to peak in, an elder I know was here. When I walked into the sanctuary, the woman on the video you hear was discussing the election to walls lined with identifiable Baraka supporters, our seniors and members of the church, but the strange part was the program (pictured below) I was given stated, “The New Hope Baptist Church celebrates Pastor Joe A. Carter God’s Chosen Vessel” and the Mayor WAS NOT ON THE PROGRAM.
My daughter and I walked outside where municipal vehicles pulling up (see plate numbers below) and I said to the Baraka worker stationed at the door, “I thought this was a fundraiser for the Mayor and he’s not on the program.” He said it is and the Mayor would be speaking in 15 minutes. I was so angry. You see again, the Mayor used our municipal buses to tote our seniors to his campaign event and the reason the program doesn’t have his name listed and there were two distinctly different flyers is because I CAN’T BELIEVE IT IS LEGAL FOR A CHURCH TO HOLD A POLITICAL FUNDRAISER, THE 501C3 ENTITY IT IS.
You see they were able have members under the disguise of the 25 year Anniversary and Celebration of God's Chosen Vesel and the Mayor was not on that program, because he couldn't be. The tax payer pays the cost for the municipal transportation and they quasi promote his candidacy.
This Mayor is being investigated for misappropriation of campaign funds in 2014; hid and lied about lead contamination in our water; turned our police department into a car service; harassed and intimidated; lead the most corrupt administration in the history of Newark; lied about crime; lied about filth; lied about unemployment; and promoted his success on projects created and worked through past administration. And the only reason he has been able to do so, is because community leadership like Joe Carter, Joe D at the County, the current Council, and the establishment he staunchly vowed to never "capitulate" to are complicit in their silence and for the capitalizing financially on the backs of Black and Brown People." The video in question is posted to my facebook.

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