We are making excellent progress creating the new Community Council, which will apply for 501c4 status once it is incorporated. At our meeting on April 18, we voted to approve the Articles of Incorporation, with the new name of Vashon-Maury Community Council.

The proposed bylaws and standing rules have been reviewed by the board, and were opened up for viewing and comment by the community in early April.  A motion to accept them was made at the April meeting, and an advisory vote will take place at the May 16 meeting.

The process of starting up a new 501c4 Community Council while still running our existing organization means that we are now splitting both our board meetings and our community meetings into two meetings, held on the same evening. The first part of each meeting is run as always, with David Vogel chairing the meetings, and the presentations and votes related to the existing Community Council  (the Vashon-Maury Island Community Council).

When we are discussing and voting on startup issues related to the new organization, Diane Emerson takes over and runs that meeting. The interim board has chosen Diane as the interim president of the new organization, until elections take place in the fall.

Once we are far enough along with setting up the new community council, we will be discussing the dissolution of the existing Community Council. Please contact Diane Emerson if you have any questions about this process, why we are doing it, and where we are in the process. dianeemerson@yahoo.com

At our February 21 community council meeting, attendees voted unanimously for the existing board of directors to form an interim board to pursue the formation of a new community council. The new community council will apply for nonprofit 501C4 status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

According to the IRS, a 501c4 is “an organization…operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, if it is primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the people of the community. An organization embraced within this section is one which is operated primarily for the purpose of bringing about civic betterments and social improvements.”

Those present at the February meeting were in total agreement that this seemed more in line with what the community wanted to do with their Council. Community members thought that the power to do some lobbying on non-partisan issues that affect the Island — which would be extremely restricted as a 501c3 — would empower the Council to make more tangible changes in the lives of islanders.

For more information on this effort and the transition, please contact Diane Emerson at dianeemerson@yahoo.com

In recent meetings, there has been discussion about whether a 501c4 designation is actually what we need to have, rather than 501c3. After looking more deeply into it, it appears that this is indeed the case, and we will be voting on this important topic at the February meeting. Here is the definition of a 501c4: sounds like us!

An organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare if it is primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the people of the community. An organization embraced within this section is one which is operated primarily for the purpose of bringing about civic betterments and social improvements.

Here is the motion we will be voting on at the February meeting:

It has been moved and seconded that we begin the process to create a new community council with 501c4 status, and that the current board of directors act as the interim board of the new council, until elections are held for a new board in October of this year.

If you have questions about this issue, please contact board vice president Diane Emerson at diane@vmicc.net