person:david rosenberg (dave rosenberg)

  • Commission on Judicial Performance
    455 Golden Gate Ave.
    San Francisco, CA 94102

    RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST YOLO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES DAVID ROSENBERG AND DAVID REED

    To whom it may concern:

    In lieu of using a form complaint, this communication serves as an official judicial misconduct complaint against Yolo County Superior Court judges David Rosenberg and David Reed for violations of Canons of Judicial Ethics due to their (and their respective spouses, Lea Rosenberg and Sheryl Cambron) involvement with an entity known as Davis Odd Fellows, which discriminates on the basis of religion in violation of Canon(2)(C).

    GENERAL BACKGROUND:

    Yolo County Superior Court judge David Rosenberg (AKA Dave Rosenberg) and his wife Lea Rosenberg are heavily involved in an entity known as “Yolo Lodge 169 Independent Order Odd Fellows and Davis Rebekah Lodge” ( which also advertises itself as Davis Odd Fellow / David Rebekah Lodge/ and other related entities).

    The operation owns various pieces of real estate which are leased to various business establishments in the City of Davis, California. As will be shown in future complaints, there is more than meets the eye here, as overall transactions involving Davis Odd Fellows appear to involve suspicious and secretive financial transactions, racketeering, income tax fraud, and related acts of misconduct.

    Over the years, both the Rosenbergs (David and Lea) and Judge Reed and his wife (Cheryl Cambron - an attorney employed by Yolo County) have been extensively involved in this organization. At various times, Rosenberg/Reed/Cambron served as president and vice-president interchangeably.

    Presently, Dave Rosenberg is also the membership committee chairman (see: http://davislodge.org/how-to-join ).

    Anyone who is interested in becoming a member must be sponsored by another member and must be “loyal to his or her country and believes in a Supreme Being, the creator and preserver of the Universe, is eligible for membership.” (See http://davislodge.org/how-to-join )

    Additionally, the Odd Fellows Valediction reads as follows: “I AM AN ODD FELLOW: I believe in the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man.” (See: http://davislodge.org/odd-fellows-valediction)

    MISCONDUCT:

    As mentioned above, both Judge Rosenberg and Judge Reed are judges of the Yolo County Superior Court and both are members and directors of Davis Odd Fellows. As such they must adhere to the canons of judicial ethics.

    Canon 2(C) reads: “A judge shall not hold membership in any organization that practices invidious
    discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. This canon does not apply to membership in a religious organization or an official military organization of the United States.”

    The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) in general, and the Davis Odd Fellows in particular, are not “religious organization” per se (ie, churches). Rather they are considered a fraternity. (See: http://www.ioof.org )

    Davis Odd Fellows describes itself as follows:

    "The Davis Odd Fellows Lodge was chartered in 1870 and currently has over 200 members, making it one of the largest Odd Fellows Lodges in the nation. The Odd Fellows Lodge is a fraternal order, dedicated to community projects of all kinds. The Davis Odd Fellows put on Taste of Davis, Breakfast with Santa, Breakfast with the Bunny among other community events and projects. The Lodge also hosted the “DogtoberFest” which raised funds to purchase a new K-9 for the Davis Police Department, and set a Guinness World Record for the longest single line of bicycles which raising over $15,000 for the Davis Schools during the “World’s Greatest Bicycle Parade.”

    In that David Odd Fellows owns real estate which it rents to the highest bidder, it qualifies as a “business establishment” which must comply with statutory and constructional bodies of California law protecting the civil rights of its citizens.

    In view of the foregoing, both Odd Fellows members Judge Rosenberg and Judge Reed should be disciplined for their involvement in the organizations, as it is clear that Davis Odd Fellows is not a “religious organization.” The improper involvement is particularly heightened for Judge Rosenberg, the membership committee chairman, who via his position requires that all new members believe in a “Supreme Being” and the “Fatherhood of God.”

    Thank you for you time and attention to this matter.

  • Copy of IRS complain against exempt organizations 1) Davis Odd Fellows; 2) Soroptimist International of Davis; and 3) Davis Rebekah Lodge

    May 22, 2013

    Internal Revenue Service
    Exempt Organizations Unit
    1100 Commerce St.
    Dallas, TX 75242-1198

    Re: A referral against exempt organizations 1) Davis Odd Fellows; 2) Soroptimist International of Davis; and 3) Davis Rebekah Lodge

    In lieu of using the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Referral Form, please consider this communication a formal complaint (referral) against Yolo County, California not-for-profit entities known as 1) the Independent Order of Odd Fellows — Davis Odd Fellows Lodge #169 ("Davis Odd Fellows"); 2) Soroptimist International of Davis; and 3) Davis Rebekah Lodge.

    On April 4 , 2013, the Davis Odd Fellows, Soroptimist International of Davis, and Davis Rebekah Lodge were duly served with a request for production of the three latest IRS Form 990, Form 990 Schedule A, as well as Form 1023.

    Said requests were emailed to Mrs. Lea Rosenberg (wife of David Rosenberg aka Dave Rosenberg), and included a proviso by which the undersigned offered to pay for reasonable costs for any copying and mailing costs incurred in relation to this request.

    To date, no responses have been received by me to this request to produce the tax returns, despite the clear mandate by the Internal Revenue Service to fully comply with such requests within 30 days.

    As such, reluctantly, the undersigned makes this referral based on grave concerns dealing with suspicious circumstances surrounding Davis Odd Fellows’ board of directors (see http://davislodge.org/odd-fellows-hall-board ), President – Dave Rosenberg ,Vice President – Dave Reed, Treasurer – Barb Geisler, Secretary – Lea Rosenberg, as well as other non-profit entities controlled by Lea and David Rosenberg to wit, Soroptimist International of Davis, Davis Rebekah Lodge, Davis Sunrise Rotary Club , and the newly form non-profit entity Davis Odd Fellows Charities, Inc./Orphan Scholarship Fund.

    More specifically, the concern relates to the fact that in recent years almost all the non profits entities controlled by Lea and Dave Rosenberg began to almost exclusively raise funds for “foster youth” and/or “emancipated foster youth” in Yolo County.

    For example, Davis Odd Fellows held an event to benefit foster youth known as “Breakfast with Santa”. Soroptimist International of Davis held an event to benefit foster youth known as “Texas Hold ’Em”. Davis Rebekah Lodge held an event to benefit foster youth known as “Crab Feed.”

    As mentioned above, In addition to “Breakfast with Santa”, Davis Odd Fellows recently launched an ad hoc non-profit to benefit foster youth known as Davis Odd Fellows Charities, Inc./Orphan Scholarship Fund.

    While certainly the cause of supporting orphans and foster youth is worthy of praise, grave concerns exist that under the auspices of helping foster youth, money is instead actually laundered and being used for improper purposes, including , but not limited, to bribing or attempting to gain the favor of the ex-foreperson of Yolo County’s Grand Jury (Barbara Sommer) who, coincidentally, also heads a non-profit entity designated to house “foster youth” and/or “emancipated foster youth” known as Progress Ranch.

    Additional facts that raise suspicions are that both Dave Rosenberg and Dave Reed are judges of Yolo County Superior Court; Dave Rosenberg is a close confederate of an attorney (Howard Dickstein) who represents an Indian Casino located in Yolo County (Cache Creek Casino); Cache Creek Casino also recently developed an unexplained desire to benefit “foster youth” through a huge donation to benefit “foster youth”; and that in recent years Yolo County’s Grand Jury (headed by Barbara Sommer of Progress Ranch) was investigating Cache Creek Casino.

    As such, I urge you to investigate this matter and impose appropriate sanctions against any and all involved, if supported by the results of your investigation.

    I look forward to your response. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.