Contributor supporting Lynnwood government change was foundation not Rotary Club

Published 3:34 pm Friday, November 11, 2011

One of the contributors to the group supporting a change in Lynnwood’s form of government was a foundation that runs apartments for low-income seniors, not the Lynnwood Rotary Club as I reported Tuesday.

The contributor was the Rotary Club of Lynnwood Service Foundation, a non-profit corporation organized with the sole purpose of operating the Lynnwood Rotary Apartments.

Rotary clubs and other service clubs typically organize separate legal entities for projects like the apartments in Lynnwood.

The clubs themselves don’t contribute to political campaigns.

The Rotary Club Service Foundation contributed to the “People for a better Lynnwood” effort to adopt a council-manager form of government after the city’s new utility and excise taxes cost the Lynnwood Rotary Apartments more than $16,000. The tax increase meant that each resident got an $11 per month rent increase.

A foundation representative said Wednesday that the foundation had decided that the City’s financial problems demonstrate a need for what a foundation representative called “stable, professional government.”

The proposition to change the form of government was trailing by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin in returns reported Wednesday.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com