ACORN office tries to regain its footing

Small outlet caught up in undercover video sting

By Eleanor Yang Su
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. September 27, 2009

NATIONAL CITY — San Diego's bare-bones ACORN office was in full damage-control mode last week, fulfilling dozens of interview requests, reaching out to concerned volunteers and staging a media event to get the word out about how the group helps people.

The tiny office in National City has been spun topsy-turvy by the national scandal over an undercover video showing an ACORN employee giving border-crossing advice to a pair posing as a pimp and prostitute trying to set up a ring of underage call girls.

That prompted local Republican leaders to call for investigations into the office's voter-registration drive from a year ago, which resulted in thousands of problematic forms being thrown out.

“It's been overwhelming,â€