IRS Strips Lakewood CARES of Nonprofit Status

Lakewood CARES, a community advocacy group that helped elect three City Council members, is among more than 600 nonprofits in Washington state that had their tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service.

One member of the group, former President David Anderson, claims it never was a 501(c)(3) organization. But even though the group's nonprofit status was revoked when the IRS conducted a statewide audit in May, the people involved with CARES are still working on community issues, but for other organizations.

"Lakewood CARES, by name, does not exist but the people do," Anderson said. "We by no means have gone away. We've changed names. We can accomplish far more by grassroots civic engagement than running for office."

CARES—which stands for Citizens for Accountability, Responsibility, Education and Service--helped Lakewood City Councilman Pad Finnigan get elected in 2001 and retain his seat in 2005. The group supported John Arbeeny, who defeated Andie Gernon in 2003 after losing to current Mayor Doug Richardson in 2001. Ron Cronk edged Bruce Banfield by 67 votes in 2005, giving CARES—at one point—three positions on the City Council.

The group sponsored, advocated and was heavily involved in quality-of-life issues but has seemingly disappeared into the sunset, with members relinquishing their political positions on the City Council in 2007 and 2008.

"We were being critical, whatever the issue: taxes, gambling and sign code enforcement," Anderson said. “We believed the city’s inception was a good thing, however the way they went about instituting public policy was way over the top."

CARES criticized the city's spending more than any other civic-minded group. The organization formed after a sign code incident between the city and Glen Anderson, David Anderson's father. The construction of a $13.2 million city hall in 2000 helped spurred its inception.

In 2005, CARES was successful in advocating for the initiative and referendum issue that passed with a majority vote, giving residents the right to pass or deny certain laws pertaining to Lakewood. At that time the issue was gambling.

The Lakewood CARES website says it is under construction, and the group isn’t supporting any of Lakewood’s politicians, including Paul Wagemann, whom CARES supported during his campaign for City Council in 2005. Wagemann is currently the only person on the Clover Park School District Board or City Council who faces competition.

Anderson said Lakewood CARES was an organization that cared enough to care when something was wrong.

"If the IRS says we don't find you on our books, that's besides the point," Anderson said of the recent IRS action. "The point is Lakewood CARES put on a motion of mobilization of people that regardless of title and income, we can make a difference in our community."

Anderson and others are continuing their efforts in new ways. He's now president of the Tillicum/Woodbrook Neighborhood Committee and another civic-minded group, Community Matters.

The Tillicum/Woodbrook group holds to discuss quality-of-life issues in both neighborhoods. TWNA has been working since the late 1990s to address common concerns in the community which have included crime, housing, and environmental concerns — just to name a few. This organization was formed so that the two communities could work together on common issues or address other unique concerns.

They are opposing a Point Defiance Bypass project proposed by Amtrak and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

TWNA has 800 online newsletter subscribers, and Community Matters is also online to distribute current issues the organization is concerned about. Community Matters has a 10-member board that includes Arbeeny and Wagemann.

Anderson said Lakewood Cares is raising private funds to find a lawyer to help contest the Amtrak project that could run passenger trains directly through Tillicum in the coming years.

Below are the 15 organizations that were stripped of their tax-exempt status in Lakewood. Click here for the entire list in Washington state.

Guild of Pierce County Fire

American Reiki Institute

Washington Animal Control

Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem

American Legion

National Association of Black Veterans

Men in Transition

Life of Liberty

Northwest Traffic Safety Foundation

Touching East African and Middle

Assurance Outreach Inc.

Healthy Beginnings

Refrigeration Service Engineers

Propay Services