Friday, July 27, 2007
News AJC: Atlanta councilman's non-nonprofit
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 4:21 PM
There's a great story on the front page of the print edition of today's AJC about Atlanta City Councilman H. Lamar Willis and his eponymous charitable foundation.
Did councilman misrepresent charity?
Published on: 07/27/07
For the past five years, Atlanta City Councilman H. Lamar Willis has solicited donors for a foundation he says he created to give scholarships to Atlanta students. The H. Lamar Willis Foundation has told major corporations — which have contributed tens of thousands of dollars — that donations are tax-deductible because it is a federally approved nonprofit.
But it's not, and it never has been.
The implied possible "why":
Willis, an attorney, has refused to provide The Atlanta Journal-Constitution with a list of donors or recipients of the money. Of the donors mentioned on the foundation Web site, many are companies doing business at the airport, which Willis helps oversee as a member of the City Council's transportation committee. Companies include Coca-Cola, Comcast, AirTran, Target and Turner Construction, among others.
Ha!
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
This is a form of ethics violation and a misuese of power. How are you going to set up a foundation and is not registered with the IRS and the state as a non profit. This is the same guy that wants to run for mayor or city council president. This a misuse of power by H. Lamar Willis on all fronts. Second, his foundation looks more like a political organization rather than a non profit. He also set up something called politicalcocktails.com here in Atlanta.
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You could say I have benefited politically, I suppose, but I can't tell you how much," Willis said in the July 16 interview. This is the reason why "real" non profits in Atlanta can't receive any support from Corporate Atlanta. This is an ethics violation and he is committing fraud...so what's the hold up?
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