Free Republic

Julie Lee, the Sunset District community organizer and political fundraiser who illegally funneled state grant money into a campaign account of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, was sentenced Friday to five years of probation for state crimes that included grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. Lee pleaded guilty to the state charges in July, just days after being convicted of similar federal crimes. Last month, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton sentenced Lee to a year and a day behind bars and denied a request from Lee's attorneys that she be sentenced to probation and house arrest. On Friday, San...

The San Francisco community organizer who illegally funneled state grant money into a campaign account of former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was sentenced this morning to a year and a day behind bars. In July, a federal court found Julie Lee guilty of mail fraud and witness tampering charges. Shelley resigned months after The Chronicle broke news of the money-funneling scheme that involved a $500,000 grant for a Sunset District community center that was never built. Shelley was never charged with any crimes and denied knowing about Lee's intentions. Lee made an emotional plea for leniency in court,...

San Francisco community organizer Julie Lee, whose questionable fundraising helped push former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley out of politics, has pled guilty to state criminal charges just days after a jury found her guilty on federal charges. Lee, 62, pleaded guilty to all nine counts brought against her in state court, including grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. The charges relate to an alleged scheme to funnel part of a $500,000 state grant intended for a community center into Shelley's 2002 election campaign. The community center was never built.In a statement released today, The San Francisco District Attorney's office...

The defense's case in the Sacramento trial of San Francisco political power broker Julie Lee was short and sensational Wednesday. The only witness called was Willie Brown, an icon of California politics, Assembly speaker longer than any other person and two-term mayor of San Francisco. Brown, nattily dressed as always in a gray suit and dark shirt and tie, had high praise for Lee as a grass-roots activist who shared his goal while mayor to build a community center for families and youths in the heavily Chinese American Sunset district on the city's west side. "It was something that everybody...

A San Francisco engineer testified Tuesday in Sacramento federal court that political fundraiser Julie Lee asked him to adopt fraudulent documents to satisfy auditors looking into Lee's use of state grant money. James Li described for a jury how Lee, in the summer of 2004, brought him "a bundle of documents in an envelope and asked me to review them and be prepared to answer questions from state controller auditors." Among the documents, Li told the jury, was a backdated invoice that purported to be from his firm seeking payment of $621,300 from Lee's nonprofit San Francisco Neighbors Resource Center...

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson demanded Monday that the state sue his predecessor, Democrat Kevin Shelley, to recover nearly $3 million in federal funds that were misspent or mismanaged. McPherson, in a letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, said it is "imperative that you bring legal action at once." "It is wholly unfair and unacceptable that the taxpayers of California would be required to lose funds" due to the "documented misconduct and mismanagement of Kevin Shelley." McPherson said he was reacting to a ruling Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission that requires California to repay $2.92 million in federal...

There's a final resolution to federal election assistance money given to California and, according to authorities, misspent by the office of former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. This morning, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission closed the books on the investigation into how Shelley spent some $3.8 million in funds allocated through the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The spending was part of the scandal allegations that drove Shelley from office in 2004. It included payments for activities not related to HAVA, including payments to consultants who appeared to be doing pro-Shelley political work on the federal government's dime. Secretary...

SACRAMENTO – Former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who resigned under pressure in February, misspent or failed to document more than $3.8 million in federal election money, according to a federal audit released yesterday. ~snip~ Shelley, a Democrat, denied wrongdoing but resigned after he was accused of mishandling the money, bending state hiring rules to reward allies, and accepting questionable campaign contributions.

SAN FRANCISCO - A state grand jury is investigating the activities of a fundraiser for former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and is expected to hand down an indictment within a week, it was disclosed in court Thursday. During a procedural hearing on a criminal complaint filed in April against Julie Lee by the San Francisco District Attorney's and the state attorney general's offices, Steven Gruel, Lee's defense lawyer, said a grand jury had been convened. Assistant District Attorney Davina Pujari indirectly confirmed that, telling Superior Court Judge Perker Meeks Jr. that whatever action the grand jury takes could be...

Sources say Shelley fund-raiser accused of diverting grant funds. State prosecutors charged a top volunteer fund-raiser for former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley with grand theft and other felonies on Thursday, accusing her of diverting $125,000 from a taxpayer-funded grant to Shelley's 2002 campaign fund, sources with knowledge of the case told The Chronicle. The complaint, filed under seal in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that Julie Lee, a San Francisco businesswoman, city commissioner and political power broker in the Asian community, forged documents to obtain state funds, used the money for illegal purposes and later falsified records to cover...

Through her aggressive fund raising for San Francisco politicians, Julie Lee transformed herself from grassroots activist to City Hall insider and political power broker. But that same largesse and the power it brought her have written the most bitter chapter of Lee's career, leading to the resignation from office of one of her biggest benefactors, Kevin Shelley, as California secretary of state -- and now felony charges said to have been filed against her by the state attorney general Thursday. Lee coveted insider access, say those who worked closely with her, and she quickly learned that campaign contributions opened the...

Shelley's Last Day As Secretary Of State Uneventful Friday was the last day in office for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, who has already packed up his office and left town. "Kevin Shelley was here on Tuesday. (He) called an agency-wide staff meeting. (He was) very, very cordial, very pleasant. (He) thanked the staff for all of their hard work," said Secretary of State Office spokeswoman Caren Daniels-Meade. Shelley stepped down after being investigated for misuse of government money. He made the announcement last month and was set to resign March 1. But he extended the date until Friday...

Kevin Shelley’s State-Issued PDA Stolen From Home Someone broke into outgoing Secretary of State Kevin Shelly's San Francisco home last weekend. Whoever did it bypassed valuables and decided to take only Shelley's state-issued personal digital assistant. According to San Francisco police, Shelley called authorities Sunday morning after discovering someone had apparently entered his Everson Street home during the night though an open window. Shelley told police he had left the window open, but noticed the opening had been widened when he woke up in the morning. Shelley also told police that he may have wiped-off a smudge from the windowsill...

Sacramento -- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has moved his resignation date from Tuesday to Friday, citing "administrative convenience,'' according to his resignation letter. Shelley, who was mired in ethics scandals and the subject of multiple investigations into his fund raising and his handling of federal voting act money, announced Feb. 3 that he would step down from the office effective Tuesday. Neither the secretary of state's office nor the governor's office could provide more information Friday about why the resignation date had changed.

(02-11) 10:01 PST SACRAMENTO, (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name a longtime former Santa Cruz legislator, Bruce McPherson, as California's 29th secretary of state Friday, sources told the San Jose Mercury News. McPherson, 61, who left the state Senate last year after 11 years in the Legislature, would replace Kevin Shelley, who resigned last Friday while facing numerous investigations into his conduct in office. Shelley's resignation takes effect March 1. The governor's office scheduled an 11 a.m. announcement on the appointment.

Analysis: A career flattened by a chain of blunders By Amy Chance -- Bee Political Editor Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, February 5, 2005 Secretary of State Kevin Shelley insisted to the end that he had done nothing illegal, and even his harshest critics had to concede Friday that there's no concrete evidence to contradict that yet. What he did do, however, had piled up to the point that it crushed both his ability to run his office and preserve his political career: * He created what the State Personnel Board concluded was "an abusive working environment" for his staff,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was to announce his resignation Friday amid investigations into his handling of federal election funds, questionable campaign contributions and bad behavior, a source close to Shelley told The Associated Press. Shelley, 49, was leaving his $131,250-a-year post before having to testify later this month at a Legislature audit committee hearing about his handling of millions of dollars in federal elections funds. Shelley, the son of former San Francisco Mayor and U.S. Rep. Jack Shelley, was once one of California's rising political stars. His move paves the way for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission voted Thursday to audit California's alleged misuse of federal election funds, dealing another blow to embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley. In ordering what will be the first special audit under the $3 billion Help America Vote Act, the four-member commission based its unanimous decision on the spate of troubling questions raised in a report last month by the state's chief auditor, including Shelley's alleged use of federal elections-improvement money for partisan purposes. "I don't know of any circumstances where federal funds could be used at partisan events," said Gracia Hillman, the panel's...

The State Personnel Board hammered another nail into Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's political coffin Tuesday with a devastating report declaring that he maintained "an abusive working environment ... for those employees who have to work directly with the secretary." The question is not whether Shelley's political career, which began with local office in San Francisco and included a stint in the Legislature, is toast, but only what form his departure will take, and whether he may face criminal charges as well. Shelley's fellow Democrats in the Legislature, who clearly were trying to shield him, now want him to disappear...

Secretary of State Website Gives Out False Information California’s Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, already under fire for misuse of federal tax dollars and other allegations of impropriety, finds himself accused of providing misleading and false information to the public in what some say is a blatant attempt to harm the signature gathering process of the Save Our License Initiative. “It’s quite alarming that Shelley would incorrectly list the due date for Save Our License petitions,” stated Mike Spence, President of the California Republican Assembly which is sponsoring the initiative. “As a result, we’ve had erroneous press reports which are...

SACRAMENTO -- Assemblywoman Nicole Parra on Tuesday gave beleaguered Secretary of State Kevin Shelley two more days to decide whether to testify voluntarily before her audit committee about his handling of federal election funds. At the conclusion of a committee hearing late Monday night, Parra said she would seek a subpoena if Shelley had not agreed by noon Tuesday to appear before the committee's next hearing. Tuesday afternoon, she released an exchange of letters between herself and Shelley in which the secretary of state asked for more time to consult with his attorneys before responding. "As you might imagine, your...

SACRAMENTO -- Kern County Assemblywoman Nicole Parra found herself at the center of a storm of controversy Friday over her handling of a hearing on allegations of wrongdoing by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a fellow Democrat. Republicans and even one Democrat said it looks like a partisan "whitewash" may be under way. Parra insisted that is not the case. A report by the state auditor last month found that Shelley mismanaged millions of dollars of federal voter education funds. The audit followed news reports of allegations that Shelley had used some of the money for self-promotion and partisan political...

Three months ago we said California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley should resign. The case for his departure was compelling then, and it is overwhelming today. Last week, the Bureau of State Audits released a damning report that documents not only gross mismanagement but also what could be criminal violations in Shelley's misuse of federal Help America Vote Act funds. State auditors say that because Shelley's office spent federal funds for activities not authorized under the law, the federal government may end up requiring California to repay millions of dollars. Even Shelley has acknowledged that mistakes were made, but that's...

The California Republican Assembly (CRA) has launched an online petition calling on (Democrat)Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to resign from office. “Kevin Shelley’s acceptance of illegal campaign contributions and his misuse of government funds compromise his position as the top election official in California,” said Mike Spence, President of the CRA. “He should resign in disgrace.” The online petition as well as numerous news articles about Shelley’s controversies can be viewed online at http://www.ShelleyMustResign.com.

SACRAMENTO -- U.S. Senate candidate Bill Jones on Saturday urged Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to resign after federal election officials charged he has let California fall behind in addressing new mandates. Jones, a Republican and former secretary of state, said a warning from the chairman of the nation's election oversight commission that the state could lose out on $170 million due to mismanagement was "the last straw." "He needs to look at that and recognize the crisis of confidence that's there," Jones told The Associated Press. "They're saying if you certify it or not, we don't trust you."

With all the issues confronting Kevin Shelley when he was sworn in as secretary of state nearly two years ago, his inner office was soon consumed by something hardly anyone could have predicted. Electronic equipment. Or, more to the point, his fascination and impatience with it. New documents released by Shelley's office Wednesday under the state's Public Records Act show that in less than two years in office, the San Francisco Democrat spent about $20,000 on laptop computers, cell phones and handheld e-mail devices that he was always exchanging for newer models, passing on some of the older ones to...

Jones told me that Kevin Shelley's office has run out of voter registrations cards. He didn't print enough. Shelley's office has been offering registration cards with Bill Jones' name printed on them.

More news on the Kevin Shelley abuse of HAVA Funds in California. I have been investigating the oversight of the HAVA Funds for the military absentee vote and David Drucker of the LA Daily News has stumbled upon the issue as well.

As the facts reach the surface in a story that is still being researched for full impact, I wondering what the Golden State thinks of its Sect of State denying our military the federal funding set aside to better educate, prepare and provide for their votes...the votes of those who are currently serving California in this war on terrorism, risking the ultimate sacrifice on a daily basis.

Editorial: Shelley should resign Secretary of state has eroded public trust It's time for California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to call it quits. As the state official in charge of elections, Shelley bears a particular responsibility to safeguard the public's trust in democracy. He clearly has shirked that responsibility and eroded that trust. That would be a grave problem in any circumstances. With the November elections less than six weeks away, it is intolerable. Shelley should resign immediately. If he does not resign, the Legislature should call a special session and begin impeachment proceedings. The case against Shelley has...

Shelley controversy deepens Internal reports document how election funds were spent at Democratic events. By Gary Delsohn -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, September 22, 2004 New information released by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's office Tuesday shows that consultants paid with federal election funds served as his staff at Democratic political events, including a Sacramento lunch that raised money for presidential candidate John Kerry and a fund-raiser for Assembly Democrats. "Staff activity reports" released to The Bee and other newspapers under the state's Public Records Act show that several of the consultants recorded whom Shelley met...

Score one for the fiscal conservatives, the anti-tax rebels, the government bashers who gripe about "waste, fraud and abuse." In short, the Republicans. Waste, fraud and abuse. That old bromide. Funny thing about bromides, they tend to be rooted in truth. A recently disclosed episode involving legislative pork, a passive state parks department, a San Francisco political powerbroker and Secretary of State Kevin Shelley represents a classic case of waste, fraud and abuse. It's the kind of misuse of public money that makes Republicans look rational when they lecture Democrats: We won't even think about raising taxes until you rid...

She was a grassroots activist in San Francisco's Chinese American community who transformed herself into a City Hall insider through her prowess as a political fund-raiser. An immigrant who became a multimillionaire from real estate deals on the city's west side, she contributed $274,712 to the campaigns of Mayor Willie Brown, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley and many other politicians while raising tens of thousands more to benefit the causes and candidates she favored. In response to her aggressive fund raising, critics say, the politicians provided many benefits to Julie Lee, 57, a Sunset District real estate agent and president...

Kevin Shelley, the secretary of state and the busiest guy in California when the polls close Tuesday evening, took time last week to speak to the Los Angeles League of Women Voters at its launch of a get-out-the-youth-vote drive. Under-30s are more inclined to go along with the idea of civil unions and same-sex marriages than their elders — with the possible exception of a certain waitress in Banning. Shelley and his campaign manager, Eric Jaye, both heterosexually married men, were in Banning, conferring at a coffee shop, when the waitress chattily asked where they were from. "San Francisco," they...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - California's top election official said Saturday that he was sponsoring legislation to make corporate elections fairer and give outsiders a real chance to get elected to the inner sanctums of businesses. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, whose office also registers corporations doing business in California, told an annual meeting of the state's Democrats he would soon forward a proposal to make corporate elections more like the U.S. voting system in which anyone can run. "This is the next step where we can oversee the responsibility I have in overseeing some corporate activity with also my...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley announced Friday his office would investigate allegations that city employees were forced to work for Mayor Gavin Newsom's election campaign.</p> <p>"These accusations are serious in nature," Shelley said. He said his Voter Protection and Fraud Investigation Unit would look into the charges.</p>

<p>Recall supporters were out on the sidewalks across the street from Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's office at 5 a.m. today. Counties must turn in their recall signatures by today's deadline.</p> <p>About two dozen demonstrators gathered on the day that counties are expected to report enough signatures to trigger an unprecedented recall election against Gov. Gray Davis.</p>

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley will soon be under the microscope, as his office is tasked with determining how the Gray Davis recall signatures are tallied. And perhaps in the process we’ll all see one of Shelley’s classic meltdowns. You see, the secretary has a bit of an anger management problem. Back in 1998, when Shelley was the Democratic leader in the California Assembly, his temper "terrified employees in both his Capitol and district offices," reported Robert B. Gunnison of the San Francisco Chronicle. At the time Shelley openly admitted: "I’m talking to people who are helping me with...

"To help ensure a fraud-free election, the Sec. of State has increased the statewide voter fraud investigations unit , developed a Joint Voter Fraud Task Force with the attorney general's office and published the first ever Voter Fraud Preventiion Handbook which will help every citizen understand and report election irregularities to the Secretary of State's fraud investigation unit.