Councilman Willis issues statement in wake of $25,000 fine

By Cameron McWhirter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

City Councilman H. Lamar Willis issued a statement today regarding the $25,000 fine a Fulton County Court judge recently imposed on him for failing to register a charity with the state. The civil ruling also prohibited Willis, a lawyer, from ever raising money for charity in Georgia again, unless he gets a special exemption.

In the statement, Willis said the court ruled there was not sufficient evidence to find he had defrauded contributors, but he admitted he broke the law by not registering the charity. He declared the scandal regarding the now defunct charity over. The ruling, he said, “represents the conclusion of a legal and public odyssey that my family and I have been on for over two years.”

He did not mention outstanding state tax liens against him, which currently total more than $44,000. Last year he and his wife had their wages garnished for more than $11,000 in additional back taxes.

Willis, who is running for a third term as an at-large councilman this November, said his intentions in running the charity were good. He stated that he gave out more than $100,000 in scholarships. However, Secretary of State Karen Handel's office, which brought the civil action against Willis, declared in a statement Monday that the foundation raised about $300,000 from local businesses and individuals.

"Mr. Willis not only broke Georgia law, but his actions represent a severe breach of ethics and the trust that contributors placed in him," she said.

Willis has never made a public accounting of any of the money. He repeatedly has refused to talk to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The fines stem from a 2007 AJC investigation into financial irregularities with the H. Lamar Willis Foundation. The newspaper found the councilman raised tens of thousands of dollars from area corporations for years while claiming his scholarship foundation was a federally approved tax-exempt organization. It wasn’t. The Internal Revenue Service said the foundation never applied for tax-exempt status and never filed mandatory annual financial reports. The IRS has taken no public action against Willis.