Another Chi No-No: Using a Non-profit to Promote a Political Candidacy
Tomorrow the Roland Chi campaign is inviting supporters to an event hosted by his non-profit. Unfortunately for Chi, using a 501(c)3 non-profit organization to promote a political candidacy is illegal according to federal tax law.
Here is is in the IRS’s own words: “All 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Violations of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”
If Chi is using his non-profit to pump up his campaign, he could indeed have another run-in with the law. Read this press release and decide for yourself if Roland Chi’s tax-exempt status should be called into question by the IRS:
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NON-PROFIT FOUNDER ROLAND CHI TO AWARD SCHOLARSHIPS TO FULLERTON STUDENTS*Former Fullerton Mayor Buck Catlin and School Board Member Minard Duncan are attending the Fullerton Museum event this Saturday
FULLERTON – Roland Chi, City Council Candidate and Founder of The Sustainable Foundation of Orange County (SFOC), will award $1,500 in scholarship grants this Saturday, October 9, 2010, to the winners of the non-profit’s scholarship program. Chi will be joined by special guest community leaders, former Fullerton Mayor Buck Catlin and School Board Trustee Member Minard Duncan at the Fullerton Museum Center, located at 301 North Pomona Avenue in Fullerton. The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public, offering a free continental breakfast for guests in attendance. For further information and to view the event invitation, please visit www.rolandchi.com/events.
SFOC is a 501(c)3, non-profit organization dedicated to community development and supporting public service minded youth. SFOC Scholarships are available each year during the academic spring semester, inviting all southern California high school seniors to apply. Application and scholarship information can be found at www.scf-oc.org.
The Scholarship Review Committee evaluates candidates by their leadership and involvement in community activities, academic achievement, difficulty of coursework, letters of recommendation, and statement of purpose articulating the student’s future goals.
“We received many qualified applications, and it was very encouraging to see so many young students who had such high ambitions and passion to serve the community. The recipients of these awards all overcame unique hardships, achieved high scholastic marks, and showed exceptional promise for future success in public sector.”
This year, Michelle Cho, a Sunny Hills High School Valedictorian, will be awarded the highest scholarship of $1000. Cho is attending University of California Los Angeles and majoring in Anthropology. A scholarship of $500 will also be awarded to Fullerton High School graduate Ana Coria, who is attending University of California Riverside.
Candidate Chi, on behalf of SFOC, would like to thank all scholarship applicants and the Fullerton community for their support. For further information about Fullerton City Council candidate Roland Chi’s platform, additional endorsements, and upcoming events please visit www.rolandchi.com.
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This kid can’t catch a break. Say goodnight, chichi.
You guys are desperate!
…says the guy who had to endorse a would-be criminal health violator.
Desperate and you know it
That’s what great about our system, the voters will decide if your blogger friends are worthy and not you and your clubhouse friends.
Collectively, cops have no ethics. If the really believed in law n’ order they couldn’t support that character. But they did. So what’s that tell you?
We are hero and we deserve.
JoAnne please answer the following based on your ethics. Are you saying that anyone who supports Chi has no ethics? Should people only support those that your little club endorses? Didn’t Shawn Nelson throw his endorsement for Roland Chi? Does that make Nelson a person with no ethics?
Oh, I’ll tackle that one: anyone who supports Chi has no ethics; or is ignorant of the dude’s history of flouting the law.
The fact that the cops knowingly support a law-breaker who actually hurt people doesn’t surprise me at all.
After all, they are heroes and deserve it!
That’s so sweet that you answered (kinda) for little JoAnne. I think I’ll just sit back and let the Fullerton voters decide who gets the council seats.
You are a moron and drink kool-aid
Scratch that. They have a code of ethics – and it’s always situational.
We are hero and deserve!
You are a moron and drinks kool-aid
I am hero and deserve.
Chi is a mess with so much junk in his past. I don’t think the da will be okay with just a swab this time. I wonder if anyone filed a complaint yet…
If Chi was my friend, I’d tell him to try again in 4 years, after he’s had a chance to put his criminal past well behind him, spend a little more time living in Fullerton, developing a political philosophy and figuring out how to not be a union stooge.
Unfortunately, he seems intent on getting his ass kicked. Alright.
Poor GED Gilligan. Whatsa matter boy? No more free burgers and beers from Heroes got you in a cranky mood?
But you are HERO and deserve!
JoAnne please answer the following based on your ethics. Are you saying that anyone who supports Chi has no ethics? Should people only support those that your little club endorses? Didn’t Shawn Nelson throw his endorsement for Roland Chi? Does that make Nelson a person with no ethics?
JoAnne any reply to these questions besides “you are hero and deserve”
Okay. You are not hero and do not deserve.
Again same gibberish from JoAnne.
So, did he promote his candidacy at the event?
I don’t know, I wasn’t invited. Maybe “Candidate Chi, on behalf of SFOC” can answer that.
Travis,
I sure you’ve been places that you’ve never been invited to. Why would you let a simple invitation stop you? Maybe the slumlord can hire Bill Hunt to do your spying for you. Whatever happened to Bill. I hear he’s still out trying to get gang bangers off. What a nice guy. Doesn’t Tony hire them to care for his properties?
Bleed, I thought you said I hate cops. Why are we talking about Bill Hunt?
Travis,
Bill Hunt isn’t a cop. He’s a whore who will do or say whatever it takes to make a buck. Sounds like a wanna-be politician.
So what’s your point?
Chi and all his tax dodging, cash business supporters should keep their politics in Garbage Grove. We don’t need their kind wasting our money- the redevelopment Agency can do it on their own with help from numb-sculls like Bankhead and Dr. Hee-haw.
Bleed the Freak, your statement about Bill Hunt being a “whore” (very last week and sooo Jerry Brownish!) doesn’t that refer to the above topic at hand? Isn’t Roland Chi doing the exact same thing you accuse Bill Hunt of doing?
Dude can’t even obey the law in his business practices, why on earth would you support him regardless of political perspective? He’s obviously out for his own agenda.
Someone please get me the contact # for this P.I private idiot (investigator) who’s been taking pictures & background checking! was he working for money or is it SEAT !!!
Wow, there are many ways of grabbing city council seat but this is pathetic !!!