"It raises the question of whether this is a good government practice and whether such practices contribute to the 'pay-to-play' culture among city agencies. Get all the latest & greatest posts delivered straight to your inbox, Audit Finds $3.5 Million In Anonymous Donations to SF Parks Alliance, Calls Out 'Potential Conflicts of Interest', Ferris wheel was extended another four years, Parks Alliance Pushes Back On Accusations, Tells Supervisor Chan to Kiss Richmond Playground Goodbye [SFist], Big-Money SF Tech Groups Hoping To Steer Friendlier Policy Toward Big Money and Tech, Board of Appeals Weighs In on Saga of Vacant, Apparently Unclaimed Mission District Lot, Tells Supes to Act, SF Supes Overturn Their Own Ban On Doing Business With States With Discriminatory Laws. But the board says more transparency is necessary to ensure another type of green money isn't changing hands improperly. I think that is a critical piece of information, dont you think, for us to obtain? said Chan. investigation into public corruption has led to a new round of subpoenas. Now it looks like the feds are following up on this pattern and trying to see if there are more examples of city vendors possibly disguising bribes that benefited city employees as charitable gifts. The Parks Alliance wrote a letter to Chan earlier this year threatening to pull $2 million in funding for a Richmond District playground in response to her statements about their alleged wrongdoing. In an aerial view, the SkyStar Wheel in the Music Concourse carries riders at Golden Gate Park on June 14, 2021, in San Francisco. The BLAs Director of Policy Analysis Fred Brousseau told the Committee that the Parks Alliance has had a relationship with Rec. Thank you to Mr. Pendergast for this article. The San Francisco Parks Alliance has declined several interview requests from NBC Bay Area but said in a statement it was cooperating with investigators. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Wednesday announced that his office issued eight new subpoenas as part of the corruption investigation in the wake of the criminal charges filed . A memorandum of understanding between the city and the Parks Alliance lays down some requirements for how they operate, and was retooled to strengthen some reporting requirements in 2020 in the wake of the citywide corruption scandal, but the Budget and Legislative Analyst still recommended it be strengthened. and Park Department.. elsewhere. Stay up to date! By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. In a statement to NBC Bay Area, the Alliance played up how willing they are to accept any new ethics rules, while not acknowledging any potential for wrongdoing. Community gardens in San Francisco For 40 community gardens run by the city, the city's park department has developed detailed guidelines for the size of plots, waste removal and organization structure. For a Richmond neighborhood playground, for instance, the $3 million budget was completely opaque, said Fred Brousseau, from the Budget and Legislative Analyst's office. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Although the wheel was eventually able to open in the fall at limited capacity, a surge in cases halted operations after just five weeks. All rights reserved, Union Lawsuit Alleges Retaliation for Whistleblowing in SF City Hall Corruption Probe, Former San Francisco Public Works Head Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charge. The organizations employees havent been charged with any crimes, and the recent report found no evidence of wrongdoing, although the report author said the purpose wasnt to investigate corruption but the processes in place to minimize its possibility. and Park, the expenses and transactions with those subaccounts dating back five fiscal years and identifying the funding sources for the subaccounts. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Spokesperson Tamara Aparton pointed out the department was the only one to complete a memorandum of understanding with an outside organization as mandated by the mayor last year. Are we now setting ourselves up for a two-tier system for those who can pay to play, literally, and for those who cannot afford access to our public space? Chan asked. When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck? A report issued just this month from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst, an arm of the city tasked with researching questions posed by the Board of Supervisors, took a look at the Parks Alliance's financial relationship with SF Rec and Parks. The probe stems from federal criminal charges . The net encircling former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru has now ensnared more entities in The City's ever-growing corruption scandal. "What we found is that the [memorandum of understanding] had a high-level preliminary budget but no detail as to what the costs were going to be for the design contractor, for example, that was being paid for by the Parks Alliance," he told the supervisors at Thursday's hearing. 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Just who has influence in renovating parks, and where, is a chief concern, said Supervisor Connie Chan, the lawmaker who requested the subpoena during a hearing of the board's Government Audit and Oversight Committee. Often these organizations are called "friends" organizations, like Friends of the Library, or Friends of City Planning. and Park Department as well and I also have yet to receive that information.. This isn't the first time the Parks Alliance has found itself under the microscope. Nuru would solicit those funds from contractors whose city contracts Nuru oversaw. This corruption is part and parcel of the sell off of Golden Gate Park. Supervisor Matt Haney also plans to introduce legislation next week that will go further than the mayor's order, explicitly banning department heads from asking any person or party doing business with their department for donations, among other changes. The motion to issue the subpoena was passed by the Committee unanimously. It was Chan who called for the city supervisors budget analysts audit amid lingering questions about the Alliances management of the $1 million account that federal prosecutors said served as a slush fund for Public Works director Mohammed Nuru. and Park to see if they actually have subaccounts with Parks Alliance or not, Chan said. All rights reserved. City officials studied the nonprofit last year after it came to light that former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, now charged with fraud, funneled donations from would-be city contractors into an account at the organization that he used to pay for staff perks. the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Clean City Coalition. She ordered a budget analysts office audit into the organization, which NBC Bay Area reports found $3.5 million in anonymous donations to the group, which is not proof of wrongdoing, but raises questions about potential conflicts of interest, according to the audit. Get all the latest & greatest posts delivered straight to your inbox, Ongoing FBI Corruption Probe Hits Three More SF City Departments With Subpoenas, charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in early June, re-arrested and the complaint against him and Bovis made public, Feds Charge Three More People Linked to Mohammed Nuru and City Hall Corruption Probe, Big-Money SF Tech Groups Hoping To Steer Friendlier Policy Toward Big Money and Tech, Board of Appeals Weighs In on Saga of Vacant, Apparently Unclaimed Mission District Lot, Tells Supes to Act, SF Supes Overturn Their Own Ban On Doing Business With States With Discriminatory Laws. When they're working as they're supposed to, these "friends of" organizations may help put on an outdoor movie night for the public or help build park trails. The San Francisco Parks Alliance has threatened to pull just over $2 million in funding for a playground in the city's Richmond District if the district's supervisor, Connie Chan, doesn . To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. Big shift in weather is headed to California. Musical Helps Lafayette Bounce Back After COVID, Richmond Review Crossword Puzzle #12, May, 2023, (Spiral): Solution, Richmond Review Crossword Puzzle #12, May, 2023 (Spiral), Designer, Builder Creates Comfortable Works of Public Art, https://richmondsf.salsalabs.org/froghop2023/index.html. The nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance is being scrutinized again in the wake of the citys corruption investigation, and a supervisor whos criticized the group in the past now wants to look more closely at its operations. While City Administrator Naomi Kelly has not yet been named in any of the subpoenas, her husband, SF Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, has, per the Chronicle. Thats great, said Chan. Now after nearly a year, the wheel is scheduled to be removed at the end of March, but a proposal seeking to extend the wheel's stay for four more years in order to help SkyStar "offset financial hardship" has yet to be decided by the city's Historic Preservation Commission. The audit found the alliance took in $44 million overall, $3.5 million of which was donated anonymously, so about 8% of the money they rake in is donated anonymously. This is just confirming all of the suspicions that Ive had for a number of years.. Now supervisors are looking to find out if there any other similar schemes. The idea is to avoid arrangements like the one Nuru and other Public Works employees had with the nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance and Recology, the trash-hauling giant that holds a monopoly on garbage collection in San Francisco. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors issued a subpoena Thursday to obtain financial records between a parks-supporting nonprofit, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. And, wouldn't you know it, 88 percent of the money comes from just two sources: $131,948 from Recology and $721,250 from the San Francisco Clean City Coalition, a nonprofit. No problem, Chan said. is the city's financial engine and it is sputtering. That's a standard practice governments use to ensure they get the best deal. The ongoing federal investigation into corruption at San Francisco City Hall has reached into the City Administrator's Office, the Planning Department and the Department of Public Health,. We are committed to working with the City so that we can continue to improve our parks and public spaces. Peskin worries that the Crab Fest event could allow for an end run around city ethics rules that otherwise restrict direct contributions to city officials by firms doing business with the city. . needs these 5 sites to thrive so the city can recover. Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay. "Certainly, some of these groups are operating above board. And yet there is lack of equity, lack of access for those who cannot pay. It concluded, Adequate controls against the possibility of corruption and financial transparency were found lacking in our review of key agreements between the two organizations from recent years.. The audit has confirmed a very problematic relationship between the San Francisco Parks Alliance and city departments, said city Supervisor Connie Chan about the findings of the review, particularly with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.. The audit has confirmed a very problematic relationship between the San Francisco Parks Alliance and city departments, Chan told NBC Bay Area, particularly with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.. Financial transaction records between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and the non-profit San Francisco Parks Alliance are now the focus of a subpoena, after a unanimous vote by the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. 2023 FOX Television Stations, High Stakes: Sports Betting in California, American children missing in Mexico: State Department 'aware of reports of 2 missing US citizens', TikTok CEO to tell Congress video-sharing app is safe, urge against ban, Man survives shark attack off Hawaiis Big Island, officials say, Woman lucky to be alive after 2 trees fall on her Oakland home, America's first-ever tornado forecast issued 75 years ago at Oklahoma's Tinker Air Force Base. A visibly mentally ill suspect, who just a month earlier had been jailed for a terrifying incident in which he entered the home of a disabled woman, was arrested again in August following another highly disturbing incident outside a school. Contractors and building permit holders made donations to the Public Works subaccounts at the SF Parks Alliance, Sobrepena explained. Haney argued this also showed a clear need for his ballot measure Proposition B in San Francisco, which would create an oversight body for Public Works, and place some of its street maintenance duties with a new Department of Sanitation and Streets. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Call (415) 706-6428 for information about advertising online and in the printed versions of the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. Although last week the Recreation and Park Commission approved the contract with SkyStar to continue operating the Ferris wheel at the park for four more years, the Historic Preservation Commission has the final say around whether the wheel will stay up. Before that, she freelanced with a focus on the Yemeni diaspora while studying at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. And what about the Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park? At the same time, the non-profit reaped $11.9 million in city payments. The Parks Alliance has not been accused of or found to be involved in any wrongdoing as part of the investigation into the government corruption, said its Board Chair Liz Farrell. "Like everyone, we were outraged to learn of the public corruption in our local government, Becher said, in a statement. Do you know when can we expect that information?. City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued subpoenas investigating those same city contractors in February, in connection with the ongoing corruption scandal that first ensnared Nuru, but has only grown in the following months. "Instead of going directly to our city's general fund, the revenue generated from SkyStar is going to a non-profit that is still under FBI and public corruption investigations," said Chan, whose supervisorial district includes Golden Gate Park. Nuru and others would direct staff to pay for goods and services for staff appreciation, volunteer programs, merchandise, community support and events from specific vendors, "circumventing city purchasing controls," the report found. Supervisor Chan was bullied by the Parks Alliance for calling for an audit of this corrupt agency which is privatizing Golden Gate Park. She previously covered immigration and local news for the Albany Times Union and the Alabama state legislature for the Associated Press. The report criticized the park department for picking a vendor for the wheel without a competitive process and giving the Parks Alliance a cut of ticket sales to help cover the cost of the celebration, which totaled more than $1 million. The sell off of Golden Gate Park by privatizers is a danger to the future of the public park according to those who have been fighting to protect the park. The SF Parks Alliance is a Friends of-type outside nonprofit that raises money or provides philanthropic services on park-related matters, donating money back to the city's Parks and Public Works departments for various projects. During this same period, these entities donated $966,000 to the Public Works subaccounts at the Parks Alliance, she elaborated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDZ81rocak0, https://48hills.org/2021/03/more-parks-privatization-the-horses-of-golden-gate-park/, https://48hills.org/2021/06/walton-calls-out-breed-for-her-attacks-on-the-board-of-supes/?fbclid=IwAR1fqYoEFKiLQR8oErNMlVic0SUey_THzGSkPAptYeA35jG-pqiBreqavDk, https://48hills.org/2021/06/supes-clash-with-parks-director-over-role-in-private-organizations-threats/?fbclid=IwAR0GYRhvV1WhjAvyzFEk1EHZZ9vJKLLCTiXUTQKdEOWAjnE7glS9RFKq74E, https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/opposition-forces-postponement-of-vote-on-skystar-wheel/, https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/SF-supervisor-subpoenas-parks-nonprofit-in-wake-16635626.php. But the memo said the regulations on selecting contractors may not be fully in the best interests of the City, since many people who work on projects donate their services. Chan is exploring every legislative tool possible to implement recommendations. The Parks Alliance is a major philanthropic backer for the parks and other city departments. Supervisor Chan has a point about potential conflicts of interest. and Park since 2003, starting with the Conservatory of Flowers. Parks Alliance spokesperson Juliana Bunim said in a statement Thursday that the group appreciates all ongoing efforts to strengthen transparency and collaboration between nonprofit organizations and the city of San Francisco.. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not We did collect a lot of information from all the departments, including Rec. Other agreements lack prohibitions against conflicts of interest. Drew Becher, CEO of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, expressed shock at the city's findings. San Francisco's Parks Alliance and Recreation and Park Department are both facing scrutiny from District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan about their use of donations, after subpoenaed records were made public in an NBC Bay Area news report. As a result, city leaders have inspected departments relationships with philanthropic organizations. The Department of Public Health has been dragged into this apparently in connection with a facility that was built at 2401 Ingalls Street, just north of Candlestick Point, by Kong's construction-waste management firm SFR Recovery.

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