san francisco parks alliance corruption

san francisco parks alliance corruption

The audit tracked the money going in and out of the Alliance over a five year period. People thought that what they're donating to is a scholarship fund, she said, but the money instead allowed Parks Alliance to create a slush-fund account to allow the executive staff of the Recreation and Parks Department to use and tap into those funds for whatever it is, at their leisure.. The San Francisco Parks Alliance. DPH was tasked with signing off on the health and safety of the facility, as its permits moved through the city. 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. A bulk of the report focused on the Parks Alliance agreement to fund the Golden Gate Park 150th anniversary celebration and get some revenue from the Ferris wheel, which came under fire this spring from Chan. The city's corruption scandal investigation is ongoing. 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. 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. Often these organizations are called "friends" organizations, like Friends of the Library, or Friends of City Planning. Much of that spending from the subaccounts were related to staff appreciation, including department initiatives with volunteers and merchandise, generally at Public Works direction. The probe stems from federal. We have nothing to hide.. 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. Fighting Fentanyl: CHP, Cal Guard Get to Work in San Francisco, Oakland Teachers to Begin Strike on May 4 if Agreement With District Isn't Reached, Bride Killed and Groom Injured by Speeding DUI Driver After Wedding in South Carolina, Police Say, 25-Year-Old Makes $200/Hour Without a Bachelor's Degree: I Work Less Than 6 Hours a Day', San Jose Police Arrest 3 Suspects in Robberies Targeting AAPI Community, Malik Monk's Old Comments Motivated Warriors to Game 7 Win Vs. Kings. However, it has since agreed to new restrictions on fundraising activities that require it to disclose all contributions of more than $100. But critics say substantial sums ended up being spent elsewhere. . Supervisor Chan was bullied by the Parks Alliance for calling for an audit of this corrupt agency which is privatizing Golden Gate Park. Call (415) 706-6428 for information about advertising online and in the printed versions of the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. How long has it been since May started off this cold in Bay Area? 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. The City Attorney's Office's simultaneous investigation has already revealed a relationship between former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru and local entrepreneur Nick Bovis, in which Bovis appears to have taken donations from his charity (Lefty O'Doul's Foundation for Kids), given by city contractors, and funneled them to cover DPW holiday parties. 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. This report has validated our suspicion all along that Parks Alliance has a problematic relationship with our city departments, she said. This story has been updated to include a statement provided by the San Francisco Parks Alliance on Sept. 25. non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and 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. "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. The Controller's Office found at least one of these organizations, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, took roughly $1 million in donations from a number of city contractors which were under investigation by the City Attorney's Office for funneling money to the Public Works department for lavish parties, at the behest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who was arrested by the FBI in January on corruption charges. 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. I also wanted to say that, throughout this whole process, we are committed to being transparent. 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. Supervisor Chan has a point about potential conflicts of interest. "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 report reads. 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. The audit says those contracts need to adhere to basic city contract standards to prevent conflicts of interest. Chan is exploring every legislative tool possible to implement recommendations. 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). That was at the behest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who was arrested by the FBI in 2020 on corruption charges. That's the problem we are talking about here.". 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 Tuesday called for an investigation into the San Francisco Parks Alliance the nonprofit group that oversees the Ferris wheel's contract. Back in March, Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan said they smelled a rat with this arrangement, though they never really found the rat, so the Ferris wheel was extended another four years, with the Parks Alliance still managing the attraction. The probe stems from federal criminal charges . The Department of Building Inspection issued 218 building permits to seven of those entities. A bicyclist passes the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Your email address will not be published. They also look at the lack of transparency and the growing curruption scandal in San Francisco as more officials investigated an jails for corruption directly connected to the "non-profits" involved in privatizing City resources. However, all of this occurred outside of the Citys established financial and procurement systems. $20.00 donatedin the past month. When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck? 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. and Park has a similar practice with subaccounts involving the SF Parks Alliance. 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. They collectively donated $966,000 to the Parks Alliance into a Public Works-specific account funds Nuru was able to freely direct, and sometimes himself was paid from according to the report. Of the $720,000 that (SF) Parks Alliance paid to vendors, more than half went to just five vendors. 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. 1 in its park investments in the nation, dollars per capita," Chan said. An auditor with the City Controllers Office, Amanda Sobrepena, told the Committee that from 2015 through 2020, the SF Parks Alliance received $11.9 million from multiple city departments and serves in this role for both SF Public Works and Rec. Parks Alliance threatens to pull funding for Richmond District playground, S.F.s deal for the Golden Gate Park Ferris wheel may be investigated amid neighborhood fight, Downtown S.F. Im looking forward to the follow up. 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. wine startup leaves customers with thousands of Steph Curry adds to his Warriors legend by lighting up Kings for 50. A widening S.F. We are happy to invest in their learning and morale, which helps them deliver great services every single day, the department said in a statement. is the city's financial engine and it is sputtering. I've long had questions about the Parks Alliance and their practices Peskin said. 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. As a result, they were not subject to the same review and control that would otherwise exist to comply with the Citys accounting and procurement policies and procedures, Sobrepena said. SF supervisor subpoenas parks nonprofit in wake of report that calls for stronger controls, S.F. Although the wheel was eventually able to open in the fall at limited capacity, a surge in cases halted operations after just five weeks. 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. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. 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. The latest set of subpoenas, obtained by the Chronicle, sound both onerous in their scope and familiar in dealing with the sort of low-level corruption the feds have uncovered thus far primarily padding the pockets of some longtime city officials and contractors through sweetheart contracts and such. And yet there is lack of equity, lack of access for those who cannot pay. 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. That meant it wasnt clear who donated dollars that ended up in city coffers. "We receive so much donations and so much money to renovate and improve our parks, and we can see those results. needs these 5 sites to thrive so the city can recover. Breed's order also requires more transparency from city officers in accepting gifts. "Like everyone, we were outraged to learn of the public corruption in our local government, Becher said, in a statement. 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. 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. A Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson told the supervisors that the agency follows all codes and laws. 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. Chan said she was worried the influence of money could determine exactly who gets to have parks built in the city, and where, citing equitable access as a key priority. Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay. "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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The San Francisco city attorney's office issued subpoenas for eight companies and nonprofit organizations Wednesday as part of the ongoing government corruption scandal launched in the wake. The Historic Preservation Commission is expected to vote on whether to extend the contract through 2025 at its next meeting on March 3. 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. At the behest of Nuru, the Parks Alliance also directed $66,000 to entities whose figureheads were also arrested by the FBI in connection with Nuru's corruption scandal, permit expediter Walter Wong and Nick Bovis, the owner of Lefty O'Doul's. 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. 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 . 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,. A city controller report last year called out the connection between the Parks Alliance and the park department after discovering Nurus $1 million slush fund. Now supervisors are looking to find out if there any other similar schemes. The supervisor and the organization have clashed before. I think that is a critical piece of information, dont you think, for us to obtain? said Chan. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. Let'sPlaySF! Contractors and building permit holders made donations to the Public Works subaccounts at the SF Parks Alliance, Sobrepena explained. Other agreements lack prohibitions against conflicts of interest. Fallout from the arrest of former SF Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru on allegations leading to a federal charge of wire fraud after he was caught up in a wide criminal corruption investigation by the FBI has put the SF Parks Alliance in the spotlight after revelations that it was among the friends of type of non-profits involved in moving money around for Nurus department. Since then, multiple department heads and other figures have been embroiled in this, including Nuru's girlfriend, Sandra Zuniga, who serves as director of the Mayors Office of Neighborhood Services; and Tom Hui, the former head of the Department of Building Inspection who went on leave in March. She joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 2019 to report on business and has also written about wildfires, transportation and the coronavirus pandemic. Money was deposited into the account by Recology executives as part of a bribery scheme and was allegedly used to fund lavish parties. What are the names of their anonymous donors? The San Francisco Parks Alliance was subpoenaed by the City Attorney's Office last year as part of the city's corruption probe. 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. "This is a city of riches," she said during Thursday's committee hearing. The letter goes on to spell out that Recology can do this by making a donation to the department's "fiscal sponsor," the non-profit SF Parks Alliance. 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.. During our review period, Parks Alliance made payments totaling $978,000 to support Public Works activities and as directed by Public Works. 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. Drew Becher, CEO of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, expressed shock at the city's findings. Chan says she hopes to ask more about the cash flow for the non-profit at a hearing she will hold on Thursday. 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 move followed a city report last week that investigated the relationship between the park department and the nonprofit. but even at the lower levels it can lead to more of a culture of corruption where contractors have cozy . 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. While it's gotten a lot of love for its glowing lights at night, the contract to build it wasn't issued competitively, Brousseau said. 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 . Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and accused of attempting to bribe an airport official. Previously: Feds Charge Three More People Linked to Mohammed Nuru and City Hall Corruption Probe. 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. The lack of transparency in the deal to bring the Ferris wheel to Golden Gate Park exposed the growing corruption by the Park managers and the Mayor with private contractors. 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.. Also, notably, this is the first-ever use of a new subpoena power the board crafted for itself in 2020, in a law written by Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Haney called Public Works actions "inappropriate behavior" and said the department "is clearly out of control." Thats great, said Chan. Here are five key structures that need to bounce back to help the city recover. We are putting a stop to it, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said, in a statement. I just want you to know that I have asked for that information directly to the Rec. But the supervisors were concerned that the public simply doesn't have enough information from the Parks Alliance to verify that fact on their own. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. During a hearing Thursday, Supervisor Connie Chan with the support of two other supervisors issued a subpoena to the Parks Alliance to find out how many, if any, similar accounts the Recreation and Park Department has, and to report expenses and transactions dating back five years. The Parks Alliance is a major philanthropic backer for the parks and other city departments. 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. Following the release of the report, Mayor London Breed announced an executive order to address the recommendations in the report. 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, a major non-profit dedicated to bettering the citys parks, became ensnared in the citys ongoing corruption scandal involving Public Works. We did not dive deeper with Rec. Probe also leads to cancellation of $171,000 portable toilet contract with company tied to restaurateur Nick Bovis; more contracts are under review SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 12, 2020) City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced today that he has issued eight subpoenas as part of a joint public corruption investigation with City Controller Ben Rosenfield. Since then, the organization has eliminated anonymous donations above $100, listed all donors on its public website and upgraded its customer management tools to collect and track all disclosure information, Bunim said. City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Wednesday announced. The documents show that in 2019, more than $64,000 that had been raised by the Crab Fest fund was transferred into a general fund. 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 San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Clean City Coalition. 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. Another issue was anonymous donations, with up to $3 million from unnamed sources going to the Parks Alliance during the same time period the organization gave $1.9 million to the park department. The Parks Alliance said in a statement Monday that it appreciates the citys work to strengthen transparency and accountability between nonprofit organizations and the City of San Francisco. Along with many other nonprofit groups, we continue to work with city departments to meet or exceed these good government controls, the Alliance said. 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. During a hearing Thursday, Supervisor Connie Chan issued a subpoena to the Parks Alliance to find out how many, if any, similar accounts the Recreation and Park Department has. Our track record is clear. The report further alleged the San Francisco Parks Alliance accepted some $1 million in donations from contractors under investigation by the City Attorney's Office and the money was then funneled back to DPW to pay for lavish parties. The money is used to renovate the city's treasured green spaces large and small for example, erecting a towering Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park and laying down AstroTurf at Merced Heights Playground. 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. A total of 10 subpoenas . 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. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) - City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced on Wednesday that several subpoenas were issued as part of a joint public corruption investigation. This raised a lot of questions, said City Supervisor Connie Chan, who has been a vocal critic of the Parks Alliances role in city politics. The report's authors came away with more questions than answers. So, knowing that it actually does have a close relationship with the Rec. Chan explained that she thought it worthwhile to get this information in the hope of avoiding the possibility of continuing practices with the potential to encourage corruption. 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. 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. "When gifts are solicited from those that do business with the City, it creates a risk to fair and transparent public processes. But its more of a potentially problematic relationship, as the report found no smoking gun, and the alliance has since agreed to not accept anonymous gifts of $100 or more. Under the terms of its contract with Ferris wheel operator. 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. Im relieved to know Supervisor Chan and others are requiring transparency from our City agencies, especially SF Rec and Park.

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