ACORN Goes Fishin'

It’s always something. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher keeps getting sidetracked from his statewide campaigning to handle the pesky details of his other job: Pennsylvania’s attorney general.

First it was the “Bastard Squad” trial, which to Fisher’s relief was delayed until after the November elections. The Bastard Squad, you’ll recall, was the elite unit of criminal investigators in the A.G.’s office who were, according to them, demoted and treated rather shabbily after stumbling onto a plot to fill the coffers of a Dominican political party by selling illegal drugs on the streets of Philadelphia. The squad is suing the A.G.’s office.

But as soon as Fisher got the Bastard Squad temporarily out of the way, along came the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the nonprofit activists leading the charge against the practice of “predatory lending.” ACORN organizers say Fisher has for months been sitting on evidence of unfair and unethical lending practices by the Household Finance Corporation, and Tuesday morning about 20 ACORN members stormed the attorney general’s Center City office demanding he take action.

While the sign-carrying protesters waited near the elevators shushing each other into silence so as not to give away their intentions, one member walked up to the courtesy window of the A.G.’s office on 12th Street and asked for a standard complaint form. When given the form, the member asked for help in filling it out -- a subterfuge for getting the door open. When it opened, the protesters streamed into the offices carrying their protest signs and a rubber blow-up shark, their symbol for predatory lenders. Office workers scattered in fear and stared in stunned silence as the protesters beat on the office walls in rhythm and chanted, “One, two, three, four, ACORN’s knocking at your door! Five, six, seven, eight, Mike Fisher investigate!” and other familiar slogans, conveniently written down on yellow sheets for the benefit of those with limited protest experience.

The commotion and tumult brought John Abel, the local A.G. office attorney-in-charge, who tried desperately to reason with the protesters. Abel explained that the A.G.’s office is not only sympathetic to the plight of consumers taken advantage of by unscrupulous lending institutions, but that his office has successfully prosecuted several offenders and will continue to do so. Abel asked for calm, and said if the crowd would just agree to follow protocol, he’d try to contact Fisher in Harrisburg later. This just pissed them off more, and the protesters responded with more chants.

“Call Fisher NOW! Call Fisher NOW!” they repeated louder and louder, until Abel backed down, throwing up his hands in exasperation. Mozelle Daniels, the deputy attorney general, emerged from her office and seemed to have better luck than Abel in convincing the protesters that the A.G. feels their pain, then replaced Abel as spokesperson and peacemaker.

“I have successfully handled predatory lending cases, and if this case goes to trial I’d be the one handling it,” Daniels said. “I promise I will follow through, but I need all of you to help me with the process. I will drop everything I’m doing to handle your complaints and investigate, all I ask is that you give me a chance.”

Daniels’ impassioned plea worked, and the protesters left the office with a firm promise from Daniels that she will contact Fisher and explain the urgency of the protester’s plight, and personally come to ACORN’s offices to process the complaint forms from residents who say they’ve been victims of predatory lending. Later that afternoon, ACORN head organizer Craig Robbins explained that while they’re not satisfied, they’re willing to give Daniels the benefit of the doubt.

“Ms. Daniels has agreed to come to ACORN and talk to all the victims we can assemble, in order to get the process moving,” Robbins said. “She and Mr. Abel promise that they’ll call tomorrow with a date when we can sit down with Mike Fisher.”

Right about here is where we would normally make some smart-aleck comment as to when ACORN can expect that face-to-face with Fisher (“the 12th of Never” or “ACORN must be nuts” spring to mind). But if ACORN is willing to give the A.G. the benefit of the doubt, so is Guvwatch.

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