At Monday's mayoral debate, incumbent Heather Fargo charged challenger Kevin Johnson with three items related to an ongoing federal investigation of Hood Corps, which received national AmeriCorps funding for tutoring and improvements in Oak Park. She accused Johnson of improperly requiring Hood Corps volunteers to go to church, run marathons and campaign for a slate of Sacramento City Unified school board candidates. Yet the Inspector General's report dropped the allegations about church and marathons. Fargo should, too.
The political activities allegation remains under investigation. And legitimate questions on that still remain: Did Hood Corps volunteers engage in political activities during regular work hours (funded by federal AmeriCorps grant money) or on their own time? Were the volunteers required or pressured to participate in political activities or did they voluntarily offer their services? If they were required to participate, who ordered that?
It would have been better all around if the feds cleared this up long before the election. As things stand, it's all speculation. It seems that voters will have to make their judgments based on other things.
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