Councilman Under Fire For Calling His Group A "Non-Profit"
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Questions abound over an anti-gun group founded by Councilman Kenyatta Johnson which was described for years as a non-profit.
Johnson now admits he never actually applied for non-profit status.
This past week the website "AxisPhilly" reported that Councilman Kenyatta Johnson's group "Peace Not Guns" had been described for years as a 501(c) non-profit agency but it never in fact applied for federal certification as a non-profit.
Johnson says that failure was his own oversight, and that he "never had the opportunity" to apply for non-profit designation.
But Johnson, who represents portions of South and Southwest Philadelphia, insists that no money ever passed through the group:
"No money was actually donated to the actual organization. Uh, let me do this... because we're going through all the old paperwork, right? There is no accounts, because we stopped this back in 2008. The account has been closed in 2008."
The councilman said any donations went through a separate group, the "Barrett Educational Center":
"We would work with other umbrella organizations, as the fiduciary organization for the 'Peace Not Guns' program."
The councilman now says he may decide to finally seek non-profit status for the group, and that he has requested audits of the group's books.
The "Peace Not Guns" website that described the group as a non-profit was taken down after the AxisPhilly report first appeared last week.