“Joel Swintowski”: Who is He? What Is He Promoting?
The other day FFFF received this rather odd comment on the blog:
“Thanks for risking your lives so that my family and I can enjoy OURS!”
– Joel Swintowski
There were links to a website here that sported an official-looking letter from Fullerton’s police officer’s union president, Barry Coffman asking for money. There was the quote from Mr. Swintowski, clearly implying that he supports the Fullerton police union.
I got to wondering who this Joel Swintowski person might be. I never heard of him. So last night I contacted our FFFF investigative team of people-finders and guess what they came up with? There’s no such registered voter in Fullerton or in all of Orange County with any such name.
But, as they say on TV infomercials: Wait! There’s more! I also found a host of identical websites for police unions across California with the same quote from this “Joel Swintowski” guy. Clearly this operation is a money gathering scheme organized by some entity and then sold to police unions throughout the state like this one in Menlo Park, probably with a hefty cut taken from proceeds collected from unsuspecting suckers.
Now back to Fullerton. Coffman says it’s a “donation” that he’s begging. The request for money states: “Your contribution to us today will help provide outreach and strengthen relations by and between the FPOA and several local worthy groups and charities.”
Now we know the FPOA spends tens of thousands of dollars trying to get right-thinking people elected to the Fullerton City Council. And by right-thinking, I mean “public safety” union stooges who will raise their pensions and lower their retirement age. Do any of these “contributions” find their way into political activity? Could be. They are not tax deductible – the kind of deduction you get making a contribution directly to a real charity, eliminating the pistol-packin’ middleman.
So who might some of these “worthy” recipients be? Any guesses?
Could they include the campaigns of the same two guys, Bankhead and McKinley, who are getting prepared to raise your water rates 91% so they can use a portion of that money to support their own plush $McMillion retirement plans?
Maybe it’s time for an IRS audit of this solicitation for alms. Maybe the State AG needs to be called in, again. You know, just to make sure it’s legit.
And in the meantime maybe it’s time for FPOA to find a real Fullerton resident for its self-promotional testimonials.
I don’t know anything about such things, but is it legal for them to use the State seal in their advertisement?
The whole thing looks like a scam.
This is good stuff!
Are they going to raffle off the Brooklyn Bridge?
This makes zero sense. Why would anybody be so dumb as to make a contribution to charity through the cops and get no deduction? For what, a decal?
My guess is they are preying on the old and feeble minded.
You mean a Fullerton Chamber of Commerce member?
Outright fraudulent!
This is 100% legit. it makes perfect sense to let the local police choose your charity for you. They are the ones the public trusts. So what if it is not tax deductible? Who cares? You get to show your support for the fine men and women who wear the Blue protecting YOU! I would be proud to have that decal on my car window or on my door. If I need the police that will sure let them know I back the badge!
Joel Swintowski talks for all of us.
Wow you are mindless sheep. I don’t know why someone’s job makes them more able to pick a charity. I wouldn’t even give money to my CPA and have Him chose for me and I really trust him.
The name Swintowski even sounds like he is going to rip you off
and yet he is none of us
A quick people search on whitepages.com found only one Swintowski listed nationwide, an M. Swintowski from Massapequa NY.
Alec Baldwin is from Massapequa (well, all of the Baldwins are).. Draw your own conclusions.
fuck the police, and fuck joel swintowski
Off topic: Did you guys see this? Fullerton Police beat the shit out of a retired Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy’s son, who is now fighting for his life.
WATCH THE VIDEO!
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8235871
“excessive force” used in a crowd of drunkin others, sad.
You’re arguing with a five year old comment LOL. Not bad for Pomona PD! LOL
“It’s horrific. I’ve never — in my Army career, in my law enforcement career — I have never seen a person look so bad.”
Thomas’s family must decide whether to remove him from life support.
OC Reg article: http://epaper.ocregister.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=T3JhbmdlLzIwMTEvMDcvMDcjQXIwMjIwOA%3D%3D&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-ocr
It is time to expose this behavior for what it is. A puposeful misleading of the citizens. Give the Police Union money and get a sticker for your car that says the cops should go easy on you if pulled over is what they ought to put in the letter.
My question is who audits these books? Although we all know the police union members would never steal from the public or each other (see prior posts on this site) isnt it just good practice to have an independent audit when the public is solicited?
What type of organization is this? If it is not charitable, and it appears to not be by the lack of deduction for the donation, then are they filing proper tax returns? Is this all profit to the agency? Are their “deductions” actually deductible?
Would someone at FFFF please file a complaint with the IRS to have this fairly and properly vetted please?
On a separate but related comment, leave it to the ethical pillars of Fullerton to make up a guy for the purposes of taking our money. Think about how pathetic this really is. There was no registered voting citizen in all of Fullerton (let alone Orange County) that would offer a lame quote? They had to actually make up a person to come up with the epic line “Thanks for risking your lives so that my family and I can enjoy OURS!”.
Barry Coffman has relegated his organization to puch line status with this.
“Are their “deductions” actually deductible?”
“.. are they filing proper tax returns?”
Answer: NO ! The deductions are not legally deductible. But the suckers don’t know that.
This is deliberatly misleading and probably illegal; it should be stopped.
These people target businesses specially minority and practically threaten to get donations.
I wonder how many of the downtown bars and night clubs donate into Swintowsli’s FPOA slush fund and what kind of protection that buys.
Thanks to nice guys like Florentine, Popoff and other DTF businesses, we’ve already reached $27,000 in donations.