YONKERS, NY – November 1, 2014 – The Hudson River Community Association of Northwest Yonkers, Inc. (HRCA) sent an email blast to those on its membership list to advise of the Get Out the Vote Rally (GOTV) rally that was held at Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ 66 Main Street Campaign Headquarters.
HRCA, pronounced HARKA, in their email blast wrote, “Although HRCA doesn’t endorse any particular candidate, this is for information only.”
The flyer herein was embedded into the email blast noted:
GOTV Rally for the Democratic Senate Candidates of Westchester.
The Internal Revenue Service has clearly designated that 501 (c) (3) organization , in order to abide and conform to the tax-exempt Internal Revenue Code, “may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”
Further still, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) advise
“Section 501(c)(3) organizations are restricted in how much political and legislative (lobbying) activities they may conduct. For a detailed discussion, see Political and Lobbying Activities.
The attendees at the GOTV rally in Yonkers were:
NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
NYS Comptroller Tom Dinapoli
US Representative Eliot Engel
US Representative Nita Lowey
Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senator George Latimer,
Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, and
Senate Candidate Justin Wagner
Yonkers Tribune has learned that some, though not all the attendees were aware of the email blast.
It behooves Yonkers Inspector General Brendan McGrath to engage in investigating this breach of “conduct unbecoming”. Perhaps HRCA should hearken to its Section 501(c)(3) organization constraints to maintain future benefits.
