I know this subject has been diaried already, but I have a unique perspective to bring to the subject. Politico has an article put out on Sunday morning about Clinton's finances. Apparently, they've been failing to pay people around the country, and businesses are starting to notice. What upset me the most is the special mention of event production companies.
I work for an IATSE shop, and we work frequently on event production all around the country. My company has been involved specifically with the Democratic Convention since '92. I have an Illinois event that's been on the backburner for a year now, because it's hard to get Mayor Daley, Senator Durbin, and Senator Obama in the same room together (along with myriad other local politicians).
I remember several years ago, the AFL-CIO had a meeting at Chicago's Navy Pier. We set everything up for the event, and all of the Chicago politicians (including Senator Obama) came backstage and made sure to shake everybody's hands. It was a union event, after all.
That's why I can't believe what the Clinton campaign is doing to the many union and non-union small businesses that have been doing services for them across the country. Us stagehands are a very political group, and if you piss us off we will talk about it.
A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Her campaign, say representatives of the two companies, has stopped returning phone calls and e-mails seeking payment of outstanding invoices. One even got no response from a certified letter.
We are a tight-nit community... and we will share our experiences with everybody we know.
The current recession we are in has been hitting us hard. Business is slow, and we're feeling the pinch. What the Clinton campaign is doing is pinching us even further.
She owed Iowa’s Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees $3,500 for catering and venue costs, New Hampshire’s Winnacunnet Cooperative School District $4,400 in event costs, Qwest $24,000 for phone service, various branches of the Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee $15,000 for food, beverages and catering, and $7,700 to Ohio and Massachusetts branches of the theatrical stage employees’ union, for equipment costs.
The Clinton campaign paid the company $16,500 to set up a stage, press riser, sound system and backdrops at a Youngstown high school last month for a raucous union rally, where an aggressive Clinton stump speech drew thunderous applause. But the Clinton campaign has yet to pay Forty Two for two other February events, and the employee said the campaign has stopped returning phone calls, e-mails and didn’t respond to a certified letter.
"We worked very hard to put together these events on a moment’s notice and do absolutely everything to a ‘t’ to make it look perfect on television for her and for her campaign," said the employee. "Sen. Clinton talks about helping working families, people in unions and small businesses. But when it comes down to actually doing something that shows that she can back up her words with action, she fails."
What happens when you stiff the people who are working to make you look good? This happens:
Both Phillips and the Forty Two employee said they voted for Clinton in Ohio’s March 4 primary, which she won handily, but regret their votes and are reluctant to work for her campaign again.