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Another Local Government Official's Charity Mess. And Why Golf?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Robert Wechsler
Once again, a local government official's attempt to use a charity to
get around campaign finance laws has blown up in his face. According to
an
article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, an Atlanta council
member was fined $25,000 by a state court for failing to register a
foundation (named after himself) and failing to maintain financial
records for it.
The decision is the result of an action brought by the Secretary of State, who oversees charities in Georgia. The foundation was not registered as a charity or nonprofit and never filed a financial report. The council member, who claimed the foundation was federally registered, solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from area businesses and individuals, for the purpose of giving scholarships.
After the Journal-Constitution broke the story in 2007, the council member promised to make the foundation's finances public, but still has not. The council member also owes back taxes for the foundation as well as for himself.
According to another J-C article, the council member, in a statement, "declared the scandal regarding the now defunct charity over. The ruling, he said, 'represents the conclusion of a legal and public odyssey that my family and I have been on for over two years.'"
He says it's over despite the fact that no financial reports have been filed, and there are taxes outstanding, as well as a current ethics commission investigation into the council member's use, with respect to the foundation, of city equipment, employees, and website (see another J-C article). Despite the fact that no one knows how the contributions were spent. And despite the fact that all those contributors who took a tax deduction did so illegally, based on the council member's misrepresentations. That sounds like tax fraud, but that's an area I know little about.
If the council member isn't supplying the information even when an election is close at hand, it's likely that the information would not be favorable to him. Saying that the scandal is over appears to be wishful thinking.
On a related note: much of this charity's funds were obtained via golf tournaments. Besides the long, isolated intimacy of the foursome, what is it about golf tournaments that cause them to be employed by so many charities closely associated with government officials? Is it just a lack of imagination? Or do these officials have a problem with teamwork? Wouldn't soccer, basketball, or football better reflect the values and ways of government? Even tennis doubles requires at least two people to get along and strategize, and there isn't even any physical contact.
Maybe it's just that, in golf, no one can be accused of dropping the ball.
Other posts on charities:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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The decision is the result of an action brought by the Secretary of State, who oversees charities in Georgia. The foundation was not registered as a charity or nonprofit and never filed a financial report. The council member, who claimed the foundation was federally registered, solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from area businesses and individuals, for the purpose of giving scholarships.
After the Journal-Constitution broke the story in 2007, the council member promised to make the foundation's finances public, but still has not. The council member also owes back taxes for the foundation as well as for himself.
According to another J-C article, the council member, in a statement, "declared the scandal regarding the now defunct charity over. The ruling, he said, 'represents the conclusion of a legal and public odyssey that my family and I have been on for over two years.'"
He says it's over despite the fact that no financial reports have been filed, and there are taxes outstanding, as well as a current ethics commission investigation into the council member's use, with respect to the foundation, of city equipment, employees, and website (see another J-C article). Despite the fact that no one knows how the contributions were spent. And despite the fact that all those contributors who took a tax deduction did so illegally, based on the council member's misrepresentations. That sounds like tax fraud, but that's an area I know little about.
If the council member isn't supplying the information even when an election is close at hand, it's likely that the information would not be favorable to him. Saying that the scandal is over appears to be wishful thinking.
On a related note: much of this charity's funds were obtained via golf tournaments. Besides the long, isolated intimacy of the foursome, what is it about golf tournaments that cause them to be employed by so many charities closely associated with government officials? Is it just a lack of imagination? Or do these officials have a problem with teamwork? Wouldn't soccer, basketball, or football better reflect the values and ways of government? Even tennis doubles requires at least two people to get along and strategize, and there isn't even any physical contact.
Maybe it's just that, in golf, no one can be accused of dropping the ball.
Other posts on charities:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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- Robert Wechsler's blog
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