The answer to this is “yes,” they can. But just because they can does not mean that they do. Most do not. And we reaffirm that Stronger Together Community does not. 

No, they are not. A 501(c)(4) is simply the IRS name for a social welfare organization. From some of the discussion on social media you may think 501(c)(4)s are created solely for the purpose of obscuring political influence. This perspective is not correct. 501(c)(4)s include well known organizations like AARP, NRA, Faith and Freedom Coalition, and the Sierra Club. They also include some very obscure and definitely apolitical groups like NASPA (North American Scrabble Players Association) and Ancient Coin Collectors Guild.

A portion of a 501(c)(4)’s budget may be used for political matters but, by law, political influence cannot be their primary function. Many, like the scrabble players, will spend nothing on political influence.

Candidates, elected officials and organizations which are fundamentally political, are required to report campaign donors and expenditures.  But, just as you or I don’t report who we donate to, a 501(c)(4), because it is not fundamentally a political entity, doesn't report when it makes a donation. However, any political person or group who receives their support must disclose it.

No.

Absolutely NONE.

This is no surprise because we haven’t spent 501(c)(4) funds on candidates or campaigns. But we say, “Go ahead, show everyone the proof.  Who did we give money to? How much? When?”

Knowing that some people weren’t going to be reassured by our statements, we also showed that Stronger Together Community has very little money (about $3,000). The claims that we are pouring money into campaigns make no sense when there is hardly any money to pour in.

Stronger Together got started because of Prop 2. Mayor Young along with council members LaNae Millet, David Spencer, and Terry Peterson decided that Orem should form its own school district. Stronger Together came together to inform residents about the misinformation being used to promote district split and oppose the proposal. We properly organized a political issues committee (PIC). Parents, teachers, and ultimately 72% of the voters in Orem rejected the plan and, particularly, the way the mayor and his supporters tried to force it through.

Stronger Together brought together people who cared deeply about our schools and our community. By law, PICs are dissolved after the ballot issue is settled. However, many of these people wanted to continue to work together to do two things. (1) Elect leaders who would better represent Orem and (2) contribute in other ways to help our schools. Our goal was to establish something that would be on-going. We understood that we needed new entities to accomplish the two purposes. We created Stronger Orem, a PAC, to legally back candidates. And, after some research, learned that we should create a social welfare organization, a 501(c)(4), through which we could work to support schools. 

The founding members of Stronger Together Community had a number of ideas such as organizing service projects, encouraging partnerships, or sponsoring grants. However, we had weddings, job changes, illness, vacations, and so on. And because elections have fixed timelines, our energies have gone into Stronger Orem PAC. In our full response, you see that Stronger Orem has its own funding and all our donors and expenditures are reported and are available on the Lt Governor’s disclosure website.  

So far, Stronger Together Community has undertaken just one project - we helped fund a survey measuring public opinion regarding the ASD split. The MGT public opinion assessment done for ASD was criticized as not being scientific and not providing city-by-city results. We felt that a quality survey could assist more productive conversations (something that was lacking in Prop 2) and would meet the social welfare criteria for a 501(c)(4).

Yes, a small amount opposing the formation of new districts in the west and north. Stronger Together Community donated $500 in startup money and less than $100 of in-kind services to each of the PICS formed to oppose the creation of new west and north area school districts. That is the full extent of Stronger Together Community political funding. Stronger Together Community has never given anything to any candidate and nothing in Orem.

Unfortunately, some groups and candidates use baseless accusations and scare tactics as their campaign strategy. If you can’t discredit the opposition candidates, then attack those who support the candidates. Paint Stronger Together as a group who is hiding where their money comes from and then insinuate that their candidates are receiving “large sums” of money from “unknown” and “outside” sources. It appears that it doesn’t matter to them if their message is true as long as it works.

This was precisely the tactic used to discredit Jim Evans and get Dave Young elected. Their accusations were not true but they worked.

We trust that voters are paying more attention and are not as ready to buy into narratives that, although may sound alarming, have no basis in fact and make no sense. 

Yes, we certainly believe that it does.

Dave Young spent over $100,000 of his own money when he ran in 2021.  We expect he will spend more this time. It is fine that he was willing to largely fund his own campaign, but that is an astounding amount for an Orem municipal election. Just a few years ago, a mayoral race cost less than $20,000. Does that much money influence the outcome? He believes it does. 

Todd Pedersen has put at least $370,000 into local races during the past few years as reported in these disclosure documents. In 2022 he contributed $160,000 to back Prop 2. In 2023, he gave $160,000 to Crystal Muhlestein and PACs that supported her. In 2024, he donated another $50,000 to groups supporting the ASD split. This is totally his prerogative and is completely legal, but many voters are uncomfortable that one person would attempt to exert such overwhelming influence on the outcome of our elections. 

Voters will see a clear contrast with the funding for Karen McCandless, Quinn Mecham, Doyle Mortimer and Angela Moulton. These candidates will spend some of their own money (in some instances upwards of $20K). They will receive further support from other donors and from Stronger Orem PAC. Unlike these other PACs (e.g."Keep Orem Safe Prosperous and Kind PAC" or "Truth and Fact Matter PAC"), Stronger Orem is supported by a large number of individual donors.