That is why I am calling for an investigation focusing on this agreement and SF Parks Alliance practices," she said. 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 . 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. SF Rec and Parks is a city department that manages and maintains our parks. While the Parks Alliance raises money to build park infrastructure across the city in a private-public partnership, it's usually primarily interested in one type of green planting trees, for instance. 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.. and Park Department.. 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. The report's authors came away with more questions than answers. The San Francisco Parks Alliance was subpoenaed by the City Attorney's Office last year as part of the city's corruption probe. The nonprofit could then disburse those funds to be used for city staff appreciation parties in ways that would have otherwise violated city law if done transparently or on pet projects of that department head. 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. That general fund had paid more than $5,000 in costs associated with the parks department staff retreat held in 2018 at Cavallo Point, The Lodge at the Golden Gate. As a result, city leaders have inspected departments relationships with philanthropic organizations. 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. 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. 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. "San Francisco ranks No. This isn't the first time the Parks Alliance has found itself under the microscope. $20.00 donatedin the past month. The Parks Alliance non-profit said in a statement that it has cooperated and turned over all documents sought by the citys subpoena, but Chan and Peskin are skeptical that the city has all the documents. It also isn't the first time the Parks Alliance and Supervisor Chan have clashed in public. A total of 10 subpoenas . Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. At the same time, the non-profit reaped $11.9 million in city payments. 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.. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Golden Gate Park officials and members of the Parks and Recreation commission are getting tickets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Lands End Festival as a payoff for their take-over of large parts of the Park. Separately, Chan has challenged a deal the city struck that guaranteed the alliance not the city -- proceeds from a five year deal to operate the 150th Golden Gate Park anniversary Ferris wheel. So, knowing that it actually does have a close relationship with the Rec. It was a sole-source selection, there's no competitive bidding by the department," Brousseau said. However, all of this occurred outside of the Citys established financial and procurement systems. 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. This corruption is part and parcel of the sell off of Golden Gate Park. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. SAN FRANCISCO - As a discussion by city officials around whether to keep a 150-foot tall Ferris wheel at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park continues to go in circles, two city supervisors on. Those undisclosed donations, the analysis found, raise questions about potential conflicts of interest. The analysis found that the problem of not knowing who contributed is that there is no way to determine if the contracts were being awarded ethically. 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. Supervisor Connie Chan is not done snooping into the finances of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, with an audit she ordered finding millions in anonymous donations, but no smoking gun. In this arrangement, the non-city organization serves as an intermediary between the City and the contractor or building permit applicant or holder who donates money to the organization in the hopes of influencing the Citys contractor permit approval process. The audit says those contracts need to adhere to basic city contract standards to prevent conflicts of interest. The development of the tennis courts went over $400,000 which the City has to pick up. The closure of a growing number of spaces at the park for private corporate events is pushed by Mayor London Breed and the Park director who say they don't have enough money to fund the park. It will be interesting to see what information is uncovered. I think that is a critical piece of information, dont you think, for us to obtain? said Chan. They have very similar names, but the SF Recreation and Parks Department and the SF Parks Alliance are two different entities. 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. Tagged as: Audit Committee, Richmond District, Richmond Review, SF Board of Supervisors, Sunset Beacon, Sunset District. 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. and Park Department as well and I also have yet to receive that information.. This report makes it clear that pay-to-play has been happening in our city. Chan then called on the Committee to issue a subpoena to the SF Parks Alliance for more information, including the number of subaccounts they have with Rec. "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. Supervisors delayed voting Thursday on three city agreements to accept and spend more than $7 million from the Parks Alliance until Chans questions are answered. Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay. During this same period, these entities donated $966,000 to the Public Works subaccounts at the Parks Alliance, she elaborated. 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. That corrupt slush fund really just a minor piece of the wider public corruption scandal put a dark cloud over the Golden Gate Parks SkyStar Ferris wheel, because the Parks Alliance gets and manages the proceeds from all of those $18 ferris wheel rides. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. This corruption of these officials is being covered up by the SF City Attorney and other officials. 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. The BLA (Budget and Legislative Analyst) report that you will see later today will actually validate what we thought all along; that there was a lack of adequate controls against the possibility of corruption and financial transparency between the Parks Alliance and the Rec. and Park since 2003, starting with the Conservatory of Flowers. 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. Despite the progress, the audit found there remains a lack of adequate controls on the contracts the Alliance makes to provide services for the city. has aided and abetted corruption within San Francisco government." In September 2020, in responding to the Board of Supervisors' hearing request on public corruption, the Controller's Office presented before the Government Audit and Oversight . 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The nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance directed $66,000 to entities whose figureheads were arrested by the FBI in connection with disgraced former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru's corruption scandal, a new report has found. 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. A memo from the park department sent Thursday to the report author said staff appreciate the need for transparency and already follow the city controllers guidance on accepting grants and gifts. Every year, millions of dollars flow into the San Francisco Parks Alliance. 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. The failure of any oversight of this growing waste and misuse of public funds and the privatization of the park is a growing issue. Efforts to keep the wheel up received yet another setback during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, when both supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan called on the city controller and Budget Analyst's Office to conduct an investigation into the San Francisco Parks Alliance's contract with the city's Recreation and Parks Department, which allows profits generated by vendors like SkyStar to be directed to the San Francisco Parks Alliance. "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. Meet the team of park lovers and advocates who work to ensure that all parks and public spaces in San Francisco are vibrant, welcoming, and accessible to all, from Little Hollywood to Lands End. The parks department said in a statement that its integrity and transparencyis unimpeachable., We are proud of our conduct as public servants and our adherence to all city laws and ethical guidelines. 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. Sobrepena could not give an immediate answer but said she could come back with that information. Stay in touch. City department heads will now be required to reveal when they solicit donations to nonprofits like the "friends of" organizations and for city departments to formalize their relationships with these nonprofits, which would legally require those groups to boast greater transparency. 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. She joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 2019 to report on business and has also written about wildfires, transportation and the coronavirus pandemic. Call (415) 706-6428 for information about advertising online and in the printed versions of the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) It often pays to have friends in high places. 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. While the city appreciates and wants the donations the public deserves to know where the money is coming from and whether or not someone is buying influence in our city government.. The Parks Alliance, a major non-profit dedicated to bettering the city's parks, became ensnared in the city's ongoing corruption scandal involving Public Works. Im relieved to know Supervisor Chan and others are requiring transparency from our City agencies, especially SF Rec and Park. The recent report recommended the park department establish a new conservatory agreement, report the budget for the anniversary celebration, and require the Parks Alliance to competitively select contractors and prohibit picking those who have a personal relationship or who have donated to the department or the organization. Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and accused of attempting to bribe an airport official. While the city, of course, appreciates donations, it is also our responsibility to know where the money is coming from, and most importantly, is to prevent the pay to play culture and that it is our responsibility and the reason why I called for this audit.. We have complied with every rule in the book about this and will continue to, and welcome, frankly, any increased efforts at transparency, because that helps all of us, Sarah Madland responded, representing Rec. These funds were largely spent on staff appreciation and events that benefited City employees.. 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. is a partnership between the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department and SF Parks Alliance to transform 13 of San Francisco's most timeworn playgrounds into dynamic hubs for creativity and family life. Supervisor Chan was bullied by the Parks Alliance for calling for an audit of this corrupt agency which is privatizing Golden Gate Park. Stay up to date! Previously, the board needed a majority to issue a subpoena, but since March 2020, the three-supervisor Government Audit and Oversight Committee has the power to issue its own. The report says that the network of kickbacks and benefits involved former Public Works boss Mohammed Nuru, the nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance and a range of entities benefiting from their . Alliance records also reflect more than $5,000 from the general fund paid for another park staff gathering in 2019, at a hotel in Seattle. A new audit calls for greater controls over the San Francisco Parks Alliance, the major non-profit group named by federal prosecutors last year as helping to foster the city's public. She previously covered immigration and local news for the Albany Times Union and the Alabama state legislature for the Associated Press. These sweet heart deals without any competitive bidding or public hearings is part and parcel of the corruption of City officials who run SF City Hall. These payments either went to vendors for the purchase of goods and/or services, or were payments to individuals, primarily city employees, who were reimbursed for costs they had incurred, she said. In an aerial view, the SkyStar Wheel in the Music Concourse carries riders at Golden Gate Park on June 14, 2021, in San Francisco. Nuru recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and ", While the city's Recreation and Park Commission approved a use permit in December 2019 between the Parks Alliance and SF Rec and Parks for Golden Gate Park's 150th celebration, "there wasn't a draft agreement at that time," Brousseau said, "or an agreement that we felt should have been put into place.". We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! No Parks Alliance officials have been implicated in the probe. and Park. "It's time for me to come home, time for me to be more than a weekend wife, mother and friend," said longtime Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier. It often pays to have friends in high places. No budget was presented to the commission providing the details of what would be spent before the agreement got commission approval, Brousseau said. The lack of transparency in those finances leaves the possibility of a pay-to-play culture to flourish in the shadows, the supervisors said Thursday. It was one of more than 20 firms. And what about the Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park? 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. Photo: Keith Crook. We did collect a lot of information from all the departments, including Rec. and Park.. The SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. How are the contractors who build out our green spaces chosen? But that leaves some of their methodologies in the dark, the Budget and Legislative Analyst's report found. Without more detailed oversight, the audit found, this benefit of philanthropic support risks being overshadowed by the possibility of corruption.. The recent report delved into inadequate controls in multiple areas, including an agreement to run the Conservatory of Flowers that expired in 2012 and hasnt been renewed. and Park. Other agreements lack prohibitions against conflicts of interest. Much of that spending from the subaccounts were related to staff appreciation, including department initiatives with volunteers and merchandise, generally at Public Works direction. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crab Fest had been a major affair in the city, drawing top city officials, community leaders and contractors, raising more than $100,000 annually for parks scholarships.. We are committed to working with the City so that we can continue to improve our parks and public spaces. A California man is forced to live in a country hes never known, Warriors lean into championship DNA, beat Kings behind sublime Curry, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Haney called Public Works actions "inappropriate behavior" and said the department "is clearly out of control." "These so-called 'friends' groups don't have an entirely friendly history. The probe stems from federal criminal charges . How long has it been since May started off this cold in Bay Area? "Certainly, some of these groups are operating above board. and Park to see if they actually have subaccounts with Parks Alliance or not, Chan said. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for All told, the report found that 33 out of 56 San Francisco city departments benefit from these kinds of nonprofit organizations, which between them have 588 accounts spent on city activities. As approved in 2000 by the public, $150,000 is allocated annually for a period of thirty years toward community gardens. They said while the bulk of the money raised went for scholarships, about 20% of the crab feed proceeds went for Recreation and Parks operational costs, including girls baseball leagues, World Cup soccer viewings, training retreats and worker appreciation events. "We will implement any additional common-sense policies that provide greater transparency and allow us to continue to support and improve San Franciscos parks and public spaces," the organization said in a statement. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench. The City Controller's Office and City Attorney's Office report into city ethics is the second to be released this year. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not Or email us at Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com. and Park Department, and I have identified that the subaccount practice is not appropriate and problematic, you have not asked for that information from Rec. However, it has since agreed to new restrictions on fundraising activities that require it to disclose all contributions of more than $100. 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 lack of transparency may also allow the Parks Alliance to circumvent good government practices developed by the city, the Budget and Legislative Analyst wrote, including compliance with prevailing wage requirements for contractors and competitive bidding to find lower costs. The risk here is that when city contractors or building permit applicants or holders donate to non-city organizations, it can create a pay-to-play relationship, or the appearance of one. 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. She is already co-sponsoring a measure that would prohibit city officials and employees from soliciting payments from people who could benefit from business. The Bay Area will have some live sports to look at for the first time in four months starting next Monday, July 20! That corrupt slush fund really just a minor piece of the wider public corruption scandal put a dark cloud over the Golden Gate Park's SkyStar Ferris wheel, because the Parks Alliance gets. 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. 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. The City controls the contracts and we follow the terms of the contracts, so there is a lot of information that came out that is really a City issue. wine startup leaves customers with thousands of Steph Curry adds to his Warriors legend by lighting up Kings for 50. Money was deposited into the account by Recology executives as part of a bribery scheme and was allegedly used to fund lavish parties. They have long operated in a largely unregulated behind-the-scenes capacity as power brokers controlling the purse strings to the pet projects of their donors," Peskin said. Here are five key structures that need to bounce back to help the city recover. Those city contractors include the SF Clean City Coalition, Recology, PG&E, Clark Construction, Webcor Construction and Pankow Construction. At the time, U.S. Attorney David Anderson commented on the allegations by saying, "corruption is pouring into San Francisco from around the world." . And yet there is lack of equity, lack of access for those who cannot pay. 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.. This arrangement ultimately created the opportunity for unethical steering of purchases to occur.. It's unclear what, if any, cooperation has been ongoing between Naomi Kelly and the feds but the Chronicle reveals that it was Kelly herself who called and alerted the FBI when Nuru contacted her in January to tip her off about the federal probe. So I defer to the city attorney who oversees those contracts, Farrell said. The SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Chan is exploring every legislative tool possible to implement recommendations. She said from July 2015 through January 2020, we found that Public Works paid eight contractors a total of $572 million through contract purchase orders or other voucher payments. The Parks Alliance is also a contractor that runs the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, which left a lot of opportunity for conflict of interests, the report author said Thursday in the hearing. A new report from the San Francisco City Controller's Office, in conjunction with the City Attorney's Office, skewers a system where city departments like Public Works form relationships with nonprofit organizations that raise philanthropic dollars for issues related to that department, saying it's rife with opportunity for corruption. Recent revelations have demonstrated that the opaque nature of several organizations, including the SF Parks Alliance, has aided and abetted corruption within San Francisco government." Argue all you want about how much fun the Ferris Wheel can be. 9 of the 13 playgrounds are now completed, and the last 4 will be transformed by the end 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.
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