Caylin Frank's appointment was also an insult to the 14 other candidates who filled out applications, and gave presentations before the council that night. None of their efforts mattered, because, by all appearances, the council had chosen Frank long before the evening's charade began.
I was not surprised Caylin Frank was chosen because I had heard rumors that Mayor Steve Vaus had found someone to appoint to the council. But I wasn't the only one who got a heads up. County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar seemed to know all about it, too.
On June 10th, Caylin Frank and Steve Vaus attended an event for Kristin Gaspar at Second Chance Beer Company. In a video from the event that was posted on County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar's facebook page, Mrs. Gaspar can be heard introducing Steve Vaus, and then introducing Caylin Frank:
"… Caylin's going to be a fantastic councilmember. I want you to get to know her and help support her. This is her baby over here. So you can imagine, I can really relate to her. "
Maybe Gaspar can relate to Frank because both of them are mothers of young children. Or maybe it is because they are both from Encinitas. Frank's mother, Christy Guerin, was once mayor of Encinitas. Christy Guerin resigned that position to work for Brian Bilbray. Her daughter, Caylin, got an intern job with Bilbray for a while too. Kristin Gaspar also served on the Encinitas council. She was elected in 2014. Two years later, she ran for, and won an election for county supervisor. That is a super fast climb up the ladder for a political newbie. Maybe that is also how she relates to Caylin Frank. With Caylin's appointment to the Poway Council as a steppingstone, she, too, may have plans of moving up to a higher office, especially with the help of political insiders.
Caylin Frank has one solid Poway connection- Steve Vaus. Vaus and Frank were facebook friends before she was selected to be the interim councilperson, representing Powegians she did not know. Frank worked (and still works) as an aide to county supervisor Bill Horn. So Caylin Frank, Kristin Gaspar and Steve Vaus would have spent time together at Sandag meetings in addition to hobnobbing at campaign events for each other.
Vaus and Gaspar are also campaign donation buddies. Vaus donated $350 to Gaspar's 2016 supervisorial campaign and Gaspar has already kicked in $100 for Vaus re-election. Vaus started collecting donations in January, long before the nomination period began. Gaspar also spent $2500 of her 2016 campaign dollars on Vaus' so-called "charity fundraiser", Carols by Candlelight. The code on the expenditure form is "MTG" which means "meetings and appearances". By all appearances, it seems as if Gaspar used campaign funds to buy tickets to Vaus' gala production, Carols by Candlelight.
Carols by Candlelight is billed as a charity production put on by Steve Vaus. The website says that the net proceeds from Carols by Candlelight go to Rady Children's hospital. But how much of Gaspar's $2500 donation ended up in Steve Vaus' pocket, and how much actually went to the charity is not public information.
Back when Vaus was running for council in 2009, I wrote about his 'for profit" business, Carols by Candlelight. Vaus had sent me emails and hit me up to "be an angel" and donate to the production of Carols by Candlelight. He was asking for thousands of dollars in donations back then, without disclosing how much money from the event went into his pocket, and how much went to the charity.
So, here we are, 9 years later. Vaus is still asking for thousands of dollars in donations: $15,000 to be a title sponsor; $10,000 to underwrite the band costs; $5,000 to underwrite travel costs of the performers; $2,500 for plates of food for the performers; $,1500 for stage decorations and $1,000 to underwrite raffle expenses. Vaus seems to be really raking in the donations now, compared to the lean years before he was on the Poway council. Some of the 2017 donors, who could benefit from pleasing the mayor, include Edco, Toyota of Poway, and SDG&E. There is also a donation from a company owned by Paul Gaspar, Kristin Gaspar's husband. Those Gaspars sure do like to give money to Steve Vaus.
There is something else on the Carols by Candlelight page which caught my eye. Vaus now claims he is a nonprofit company with a nonprofit number. In the lower right hand corner of the Carols by Candlelight page, it says "Qualified 501(c)(3) Taxpayer Identification number 26-1722021. 4Community Solutions-dba Carols by Candlelight 18402 W Bernardo Drive San Diego, CA 92127. But that nonprofit number is not for Vaus' company, Steve Vaus Productions, the company he names on his statement of economic interest forms filed with the City of Poway. The nonprofit number Vaus is using belongs to a charity located in Rancho Bernardo called 4 Community Solutions.
4 Community Solutions was formerly called RB United and was set up to help fire victims.
4 Community Solution's website no longer seems to load. But before it went down I took screen shots of some of the pages. I have also downloaded the groups 990 IRS forms. Carols by Candlelight appears to be the biggest chunk of money on those 990 forms. But nowhere on those forms is there information that all nonprofits have to disclose- how much of the money went to the charity and how much went for salaries and expenses and whatever else Vaus spent it on.
It is also uncertain how much money is collected by sale of tickets and from donations that people do not request a tax deduction for. Note that on Carols by Candlelight's webpage, all of the live donation links are directed to Steve Vaus, not 4 Community Solutions, the non profit, whose number Vaus has displayed and claimed is doing business as Carols by Candlelight.
Clicking on this donate button
Notice that the donation goes to Steve Vaus Productions, not 4 Community Solutions.
I looked up Steve Vaus Productions in guidestar. It is not listed as a nonprofit.
Steve Vaus Productions is no longer listed in the state of California corporation database, although, I do believe it was incorporated in California at one time. So maybe it is incorporated in another state. Or maybe not.
I have contacted some of the purported officers from 4 Community Solutions, as I am trying to find out more about how this nonprofit has allowed Vaus to conceal how much money goes to the charity and how much money goes into his pocket. They first person I contacted told me he had never heard of 4 Community Solutions or Carols by Candlelight. And yet this man who is an investment advisor was listed as the chief officer on 4 Community Solutions website before it quit loading and on fairly recent tax returns. I am still in the process of contacting other officers whose names are listed on the tax forms. So far, I am not getting any responses. But I will keep you posted when I do hear from them.
Note: Caylin Frank has claimed that Kristin Gaspar was referring to Caylin's applying to run in November election, not her upcoming appointment in the video, but I'm not buying her story.
Update (Sept 19, 2018): Apparently Kristin Gaspar spent another $2500 of her campaign donations on Carols by Candlelight tickets on 2 occasions. This form covers expenditures in early 2016. That brings her total spending on Carols by Candlelight to $5000.
Update 2 (Sept 19, 2018) The Carols by Candlelight page and the 4 Community Solutions webpages have both been changed since this blog was posted. Carols by Candlelight no longer has the "click to donate" button, instead all donation links open an email addressed to Steve Vaus. The language about 4 Community Solutions has changed slightly on Carols by Candlelight:
Vaus is still implying that 4 Community Solutions and Carols by Candlelight are the same thing. In fact, Carols by Candlelight does not have a nonprofit number. It is not a registered nonprofit.
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