Who is in the
business to “render educational services”?
The trustees of “Lodi CARES” are.
Jaime Ciofalo just
created four education consulting businesses in the last 10 months,
capitalizing on his public employment by the Lodi Board of Education. He even does them during school days.
Joe Licata has been the
contact person for Ciofalo’s workshops and the
payments for them. He does that through
his employment at the Lodi Boys and Girls club.
Jaime Ciofalo and
Joe Licata have taken a lot from the Lodi
taxpayers. It would have been nice for
them to donate their “educational services” to students in need. They already had the businesses
established. Nothing was preventing them
from donating their services. They chose
a different route.
After the creation of all their new consulting businesses, a new “nonprofit” was registered at Joe Licata’s home address.
This will allow Ciofalo and
Licata to render their services, and get compensated for their services,
while using other people’s donations.
And they can brag about themselves while doing it.
If you think I am being overly cynical, just look at
one example: Joe
Licata’s consulting fees (Lodi Drug Alliance).
The Lodi Mayor and Council have been paying Joe Licata thousands of dollars in consulting fees
from Lodi Drug Alliance grant money. Jaime Ciofalo is on the Lodi Drug Alliance.
Councilwoman Patty Licata has been unable to explain
(in over a year) what those consulting fees are for. Nobody else has been able
to explain either.
Here are a few concerns I have
with this new nonprofit:
1) Donations
are already being directed away from the Lodi Boys and Girls Club and to "Lodi
CARES". Why would people employed by the club look to take donations away from the club?
I hope this is not another attempt to give Joe Licata & the Lodi politicians more authority
to spend and allocate donations as they please without real transparency. I hope this not another attempt to create
more smoke and mirrors to conceal how Lodi politicians/public employees are being
compensated from these “nonprofits”.
2) The incorporation
of "Lodi CARES" states: “No substantial
part of the activities of the corporation shall be the
carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation,
and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the
publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of
or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
The problem is all three trustees have been overly
political in Lodi politics.
Everything Joe Licata does
is political.
Ciofalo used to spend every
election day in Lodi driving people to voting booths on behalf of the Machine
Politicians (how he got his jobs).
Link to Certificate of Incorporation of Lodi CARES:
