Threat of lawsuit from James Baker of Cytel Group / Urban Shield

Threat of lawsuit from James Baker of Cytel Group / Urban Shield

By Lynda Carson - September 22, 2014

Oakland - Early morning September 21, 2014, after reporting several stories about the Cytel Group, LLC, including the fact that it is not a legal entity nor is it a registered limited liability company in the State of California or elsewhere, I became aware of several threatening emails from James Baker of the Cytel Group, Inc. James Baker and his wife Anne Marie Baker have been awarded a contract with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office that was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, to promote Urban Shield locally, across the nation, and abroad, involving Cytel Group, LLC.

After discovering that the name Cytel Group, LLC involving James Baker and his wife Anne Marie Baker was repeatedly mentioned in several contracts with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office during the past three years, and that Cytel Group, LLC is listed on a 2014 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) website, I reported that the Cytel Group, LLC is not listed as a legal entity or corporation in the State of California, or elsewhere. I also reported that the Cytel Group, Inc. is listed as a registered corporation by the Secretary of State, in California.

But what got my attention were the contracts awarded during the past three years, and the UASI website in 2014 that listed the Cytel Group, LLC, despite the fact that it was not a legal entity.

As a result of my reports about the contracts involving Cytel Group, LLC, James Baker, Anne Marie Baker, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Urban Areas Security Initiative, and Urban Shield, in a September 21, 2014 email, James Baker said: "I cannot imagine how anyone with any level of education or intelligence, especially a reporter, could not see by now that the Cytel Group, "LLC" written in the License Agreement was a minor error on the part of the County legal department and will be simply corrected upon my return."

According to James Baker he is out of the country at the moment, and he has not offered any documentation or proof from the County legal department to back up his claims that the contracts signed by his wife that repeatedly mentions the name Cytel Group, LLC on them, was in fact a minor error that can simply be corrected. Nor has anyone from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors contacted me to back up James Baker's claims that this is a minor error on the part of the County legal department. Additionally, James Baker did not say why his wife Anne Marie Baker signed any contracts with the Sheriff's Office that mentions Cytel Group, LLC on the documents.

For my efforts to report on the situation involving the Cytel Group, LLC, James Baker and his wife Anne Marie Baker, including the contracts with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office involving Urban Shield during the past three years, in addition to mentioning that Cytel Group, LLC is listed on a 2014 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) website, James Baker has sent me a number of emails claiming that I have slandered him, his wife, and the Cytel Group, and that he is going to sue me and any affiliates.

In part a September 21, 2014 email from James Bakers states: "Finally, your attempt at Slander and defaming my reputation did not end with the articles written, but with emails to many local and regional government executives who are in the position to grant or deny future business to Cytel Group, Inc.  I cannot even begin to imagine the direct financial injury that will be suffered by Cytel Group, Inc. as a result of your unethical behavior in this manner.  As a result, I have directed my Attorney to begin the process of a full defamation lawsuit against you, as well as the affiliate news organizations who have been running your slanderous reports."

"After the first report, I would have been satisfied with an article that fairly reported the facts of the matter and retracted your initial accusation of corruption on the part of Alameda County, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and Cytel Group.  Even though this is still a demand, I believe a lawsuit cannot be avoided at this point.  I have requested in each of my prior three emails that you provide your contact telephone number and mailing address so my Attorney may properly contact you.  I have also requested the names and contact information of the news affiliates who have been running these articles so that they may also be listed in the lawsuit.  As of this time I have yet to receive this information.  I once again request you provide the aforementioned information.  Most of the time, honest and hard working people are too busy to spend the valuable time and money necessary to fight injustices such as this.  I have decided your actions cannot be ignored."  

"I would prefer to conduct future communications with you on a more private bases, but will not allow you to continue to push out lies and slander without properly responding."

As I stated above, James Baker failed to mention why his wife Anne Marie Baker signed some contracts involving the Sheriff's Office and Urban Shield that were approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that repeatedly mentioned the name Cytel Group, LLC on them. Instead he chooses to blame the County legal department for this situation, and repeatedly claims that I tried to slander him for reporting on the situation, as he continues to threaten to sue me.

In reply to his threats against me I replied to James Baker in a September 21, 2014 email: Dear Mr. Baker, until early this morning September 21, 2014 I was not aware of receiving any emails from you which is well after I have written my articles involving Cytel Group, LLC. Had I known that you sent me an email days ago, it would have been my pleasure to quote your accusations against me.

I am having problems with my Yahoo email account, and hope for the best. With that said, I stand by my articles about Cytel Group, LLC, a non entity in the State of California, and am not going to retract anything I wrote about involving the numerous contracts / dealings involving Cytel Group, LLC, yourself, your wife, the Sheriff's Office,
Alameda County, UASI, or Urban Shield.

Please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section of the articles if that is your choice. I have not slandered you or the Cytel Group, LLC, and have dutifully and factually reported that the Cytel Group, LLC is not registered as a legal entity in the State of California.

Corruption in the Urban Areas Security Initiative Training Services?

According to a December 30, 2011, public records document, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office requested that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors vote to approve a proposal to award $2,300,000 in contracts for the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Training Services.

The Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) is connected to the Urban Shield militarized training events taking place in Oakland since 2007, when Urban Shield was turned into a money making venture after the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to authorize the Alameda County Sheriff's Office to accept cash sponsorship funds from individuals and corporations to support the militarized training events Urban Shield provided.

Additionally, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to allow James Lester Baker and the Cytel Group, LLC to promote all Urban Shield events locally, across the country, and abroad. However, the Cytel Group, LLC is not registered with the Secretary of State in California as a legal entity, or limited liability corporation.

After sending an email to James Baker that was cc'd to Alameda County Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern asking how is it possible for the Cytel Group, LLC to have a contract with the Sheriff's Office in regards to Urban Shield considering that the Cytel Group, LLC is not registered as a legal entity with the Secretary of State in California, a reply came back from Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern.

On September 15, 2014, Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern responded to my email request, and said: "Lynda, I see that you cc'd me on this email, so I will cc James Baker as well. I do not believe that you are accurate in many of the accusations in the email.  I think I should respond to you because Mr. Baker may be out of the country for an extended period."

"It is my understanding that that Cytel Group, Inc. was registered in the Stat of California in August 2010, and still in good standing.  This group was established nearly eight months prior to the license agreement with Alameda County.  I communicate with Mr. Baker on a regulars basis and he has commented on the work he does to maintain all required documents up to date, and that the group does in fact pay their required taxes."

"We have had many conversations about his group making the effort to expand the Urban Shield program to other major areas in the country.  He and his group have worked in Boston, Texas, and the District of Columbia.  In doing so, those areas also required that his group produce the required documents related to the business."

"He also has provided me with a copy of his article of Incorporation stamped by the State of California." GJA

Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern failed to respond to my questions about the Cytel Group, LLC, and instead he focused on Cytel Group, Inc. which is a different entity registered with the Secretary of State in California. Cytel Group, Inc. is founded by a former assistant Sheriff of Alameda County named James Lester Baker, and his wife Anne Marie Baker who used to be a technician for the Sheriff's Office. James Baker did not respond to my request for information regarding the contract with Cytel Group, LLC and the Sheriff's Office regarding Urban Shield.

After further research into some of the contracts with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office involving a proposal to award $2,300,000 in contracts for the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Training Services (an entity connected to Urban Shield) that was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, it became apparent that corruption is rampant involving millions of dollars in federal funding being used for the so-called war on terror in Alameda County.

The $2,300,000 being awarded by the Sheriff/County Board of Supervisors comes from the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) program that allocates $500.4 million in federal dollars to enhance regional preparedness in major metropolitan areas throughout the country. The UASI program directly supports expanding regional collaboration and is meant to assist participants in their creation of regional systems for prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Additionally, in correspondence with the 9/11 Act, states are required to ensure that at least 25 percent of appropriated funding is dedicated to terrorism prevention planning, organization, training, exercise, and equipment.

On December 30, 2011, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office requested the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent to execute the fully negotiated contracts for Master Contract No. 900926, with the following pool of vendors, to provide Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) training services for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) at an estimated total pool amount of $2,300,000.

Contracts were awarded to the following:

1) AlphaTRAC, Inc. (Brian Martinez, Controller), Westminster, CO, Procurement Contract #7187 ;

2) Citygate Associates LLC (David C. DeRoos, President), Folsom, CA,ˇ Procurement Contract #7188;

3) Cytel Group LLC (James L. Baker), Castro Valley, CA, Procurement Contract #7189;

4) Fulcrum Concepts LLC (Thomas Di Tomasso, Vice President), Yorktown, VA, Procurement Contract #7190;

5) Incident Management Training Consortium, LLC (IMTC) (Geoffrey Wilfor~ Proj ect Manager), Oakhurst, CA, Procurement Contract #7191 ;

6) Northern California Rescue Training (NCRT) (Anthony Smerdel, Principal), San Francisco, CA, Procurement Contract #7192;

7) Plan A Solutions, Inc. (Vol Ranger, President), Ben Lomond, CA, Procurement Contract #7193;

8) Public Safety Training lnstitute (Mike E1erick, Executive Director), Auburn, CA, Procurement Contract #7194;

9) RDX, Inc. (Ernest Lorelli, President and CEO), Henderson, NY, Procurement Contract #7195;

10) RW Jones and Associates Emergency Response Training (Randall W. Jones, Owner), Riverbank, CA, Procurement Contract #7196;

11) Sabre Group LLC (Francis P Bowman, CEO), Chico, CA, Procurement Contract #7197;

12) Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) (David Honeycutt, Operations Contracts Manager), Oakland, CA, Procurement Contract #7198;

13) Security Solutions International (SSI) (Henry Morgenstern, President), Miami, FL, Procurement Contract #7199;

14) Tetra Tech EM, Inc. (George Whitney, Program Manager), Oakland, CA,ˇ Procurement Contract #7200;

15) Willdan Homeland Solutions (Jim Bailey, President and CEO), Dublin, CA, Procurement Contact #7201;

According to public records, the term of this contract shall be for three years beginning approximately February 1, 2012 and ending on approximately January 31,2015, and by mutual agreement allows for options to renew for up to two additional one-year terms.

After doing further research, it became clear that out of the 15 corporations awarded contracts to provide Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) training services for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office at an estimated total pool amount of $2,300,000, at least ten of the entities/corporations were not listed or registered as corporations, or legal entities allowed to do business in the State of California according to public records with the Secretary of State, or their status as corporations were not listed as being active.

Additionally, search results revealed that RDX, Inc. is not registered as a corporation or legal entity with the Secretary of State in New York, or in California.

RW Jones and Associates Emergency Response Training is not registered as a corporation or a legal entity with the Secretary of State in California.

Public Safety Training lnstitute is listed as a 501c3 charity nonprofit organization with the Internal Revenue Service, but the founder never bothered to incorporate Public Safety Training lnstitute in the State of California, and it is not registered with the Secretary of State in California, as a legal entity or corporation.

SECURITY SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC. is registered as a corporation in the State of Florida, and their status is active, however there is no listing with the Secretary of State in California that says they are allowed to do business in the State of California.

Cytel Group, LLC is not registered as a limited liability corporation in California, and is not a legal entity in the State of California, despite the fact that Cytel Group, LLC has a contract with the Sheriff's Office to promote Urban Shield events locally, across the nation, and abroad.

Fulcrum Concepts LLC, is registered as a limited liability corporation in the State of Virginia and their status is active, however they are not registered with the Secretary of State in California, as a corporation or legal entity that is allowed to do business in California.

AlphaTrac, Inc. is a corporation registered in Colorado and they are in good standing, however they are not registered with the Secretary of State in California, as a corporation or legal entity that is allowed to do business in California.

Tetra Tech EM, Inc. is registered in the State of Delaware, but their status is listed as "surrender", and this corporation is not registered with the Secretary of State in California as a corporation or legal entity that is allowed to do business in California.

Science Applications International Corporation was not even registered as a corporation until 5/1/2013, however the contract award was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on January 24, 2012, meaning that they did not incorporate as a corporation until well after they were awarded the contract. They were incorporated in Delaware, and they are not registered as a corporation or a legal entity allowed to do business in the State of California.

The Sabre Group, LLC is registered with the Secretary of State in California, but their status as a corporation is cancelled.

Plan A Solutions, Inc. is registered with the Secretary of State in California, but their status is dissolved.

The contract award requested by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office on December 30, 2011, was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on January 24, 2012, for a proposal to award $2,300,000 in contracts for Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) Training Services to the above mentioned corporations, including the corporations whose status is currently cancelled, dissolved, or surrendered, and may not be legal entities allowed to do business in the State of California.

The term of the contracts that were awarded to the above named corporations shall be for three years beginning approximately on February 1, 2012, and shall end on approximately January 31, 2015, and by mutual agreement allows for options to renew for up to two additional one year terms.

The recent Urban Shield events in Oakland and the Bay Area took place from September 5, through September 8. It included the largest SWAT training exercise in the world, with 35 SWAT Teams competing. It was a series of militarized war games conducted in a continuous 48 hour exercise hosted by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, with the support of more than 200 local, state, federal, international and private sector partners. Additional support came from the Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), and Urban Shield was promoted by the Cytel Group.

In the wake of the nation being horrified by rampant police shootings/killings and the militarization of the police, including the recent militarized police actions in Ferguson, and the notorious police actions that have been taking place in New Mexico, Oakland, and cities all across the nation, in addition to the recent protests against the Urban Shield war games and convention in Oakland recently, on Friday, September 5, 2014, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan announced that Urban Shield will not be back in Oakland next year.

In an announcement, Urban Shield is no longer welcome in Oakland, according to Mayor Jean Quan. According to Mayor Quan, the City Administrator's Office will be asking their agent not to pursue another contract with Urban Shield to have their conference in Oakland.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

Information on Cytel Group. LLC

Click on link below to search the records for the Cytel Group, LLC to verify that it does not exist as a California liability limited company in California.

Business Search / California

http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/

Then see the following information and links below...

>>>>>
>>>>>
January 24, 2012 - Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved contracts involving Cytel Group, LLC.

http://tinyurl.com/qf6p8rf

http://www.acgov.org/gsa/purchasing/bidContent_ftp/rfpDocs/MO900926.pdf

>>>>>
>>>>>

A) Click on link below for the contract to privatize Urban Shield in which the contract is being granted to the Cytel Group, LLC, a California limited liability company. The problem with this contract is that the Cytel Group, LLC does not exist in the state of California.

According to the public records of Secretary of State in California, the Cytel Group, LLC does not exist.

http://tinyurl.com/k6hk8md

LICENSE AGREEMENT

THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT is entered into this Ist day of May, 2011, between the CountyofAlameda,State ofCalifornia,alegal SllbdivisionoftheState ofCalifornia,through the Alameda County Sheriff's Office ("Licensor"), and Cytel Group, LLC., a California limited IiabiIity corporation ("Licensee").

>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>

B) According to public records, on June 7, 2011 the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to approve an agreement between the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Cytel Group, LLC. The problem with this contract agreement between the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Cytel Group, LLC that was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is that the Cytel Group, LLC does not exit and is not a legal company in the State of California.

Alameda County Board of Supervisors / Urban Shield contract June 7, 2011

Click on link below...

http://tinyurl.com/lycf4mf


30. Sheriff – Approve the following recommendations:

A. Authorize the Sheriff to enter into an agreement with Cytel Group, LLC (Principal: Anne M. Baker; Location: Castro Valley) for the development of individual disaster training exercises and/or programs similar to Alameda County’s “Urban Shield”;

B. Authorize the Sheriff to receive a license fee of $10,000 from Cytel Group, LLC as payment for the first year of their use of the Urban Shield marks and materials and for each additional year a fee of one percent of the gross revenues collected by licensee or its affiliates for every individual exercise and/or program conducted by the Cytel Group, LLC; and

C. Authorize the Sheriff to deposit all fees collected from this agreement into the approved “Urban Shield” cash fund for the purpose of offsetting costs associated with future Urban Shield exercises

– CAO Recommends: Approve
Attachment 30 - 51234 Approved as recommended FILE 27346

>>>>>
>>>>>

C) Bay Area UASI Guidance Manual - 2014

Click on link below...

http://tinyurl.com/n5olvsm

Once again James L. Baker is using the Cytel Group, LLC to make a bid for use of it's services with the Bay Area UASI. The problem with this, is that the Cytel Group, LLC does not exist in the State of California, as a California limited liability company.

>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>