san francisco parks alliance corruption

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. The latest subpoenas also reflect the ongoing probe into the city's dealings with two businesses run by city contractor Florence Kong, who was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in early June with lying to investigators about gifts she allegedly gave to Nuru. The new ferris wheel at Golden Gate Park. 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,. However, all of this occurred outside of the Citys established financial and procurement systems. 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. 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.. We have put forward actionable recommendations to correct loopholes that seemingly normalize unethical practices that undermine faith in public actions.. 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. The BLAs Director of Policy Analysis Fred Brousseau told the Committee that the Parks Alliance has had a relationship with Rec. Stay in touch. 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. 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. We did not benefit in any way nor had any control over the donations that Nuru and Public Works solicited and directed to the sub-account, as the report states. 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 Parks Alliance is a major philanthropic backer for the parks and other city departments. A widening S.F. 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 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. She joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 2019 to report on business and has also written about wildfires, transportation and the coronavirus pandemic. That's a standard practice governments use to ensure they get the best deal. . 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. and Park has a similar practice with subaccounts involving the SF Parks Alliance. and Park, the expenses and transactions with those subaccounts dating back five fiscal years and identifying the funding sources for the subaccounts. Downtown S.F. The probe stems from federal. These subaccounts really operated like a city account, she said, because invoices were directed and approved by Public Works employees and tracked by both Public Works and the Parks Alliance. and Park. So I defer to the city attorney who oversees those contracts, Farrell said. This corruption of these officials is being covered up by the SF City Attorney and other officials. 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 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 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. 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. They have very similar names, but the SF Recreation and Parks Department and the SF Parks Alliance are two different entities. 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. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. Our track record is clear. It was previously unclear how federal investigators knew about the tipoff Nuru was re-arrested and the complaint against him and Bovis made public in late January after he initially had likely entered into a cooperation agreement with the feds. Some of the concerns have already been addressed after the two entities created a memorandum of understanding earlier this year to safeguard against potential corruption, but that agreement needs to be strengthened, the report said. 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. This story has been updated to include a statement provided by the San Francisco Parks Alliance on Sept. 25. But Supervisor Chan is not done with the Parks Alliance yet. However, it has since agreed to new restrictions on fundraising activities that require it to disclose all contributions of more than $100. The Parks Alliance has said it didnt know it was being used unscrupulously by city officials. 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., Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 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.. That's the problem we are talking about here.". City officials cannot work behind the scenes with City contractors to benefit their departments and use other entities to cloak those efforts.". The move followed a city report last week that investigated the relationship between the park department and the nonprofit. 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 - 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. Sign up for our daily newsletter. "This is a city of riches," she said during Thursday's committee hearing. No problem, Chan said. Previously: Feds Charge Three More People Linked to Mohammed Nuru and City Hall Corruption Probe. What are the names of their anonymous donors? At a hearing last year, Lisa Bransten, director of partnerships for the parks department, said Parks Alliance backing certainly played a part in boosting job satisfaction to 86% among the staff. 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. 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). 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. 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. It's a large amount of money coming to the city, she said. 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. but even at the lower levels it can lead to more of a culture of corruption where contractors have cozy . The supervisor and the organization have clashed before. The SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. and Park to see if they actually have subaccounts with Parks Alliance or not, Chan said. They report on how this privatization is taking place and the threat this is to public access and the need to stop the transfer of the park into a commercial profit center for developers with non-union workers and a lack of health and safety protection. 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. In that span, the non-profit took in $44 million, including an estimated $3.5 million in anonymous donations, the audit concludes. 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. It also isn't the first time the Parks Alliance and Supervisor Chan have clashed in public. The Parks Alliance, a major non-profit dedicated to bettering the citys parks, became ensnared in the citys ongoing corruption scandal involving Public Works. Im looking forward to the follow up. Former City Attorney Dennis Herrera first issued subpoenas investigating the Parks Alliance in early 2020, also in connection with the ongoing corruption scandal. Nuru would solicit those funds from contractors whose city contracts Nuru oversaw. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for in the wake of an ever-unfolding corruption scandal that has ensnared four city department heads since early 2020, a new subpoena power the board crafted for itself in 2020, first issued subpoenas investigating the Parks Alliance in early 2020, threatening to pull $2 million in funding for a Richmond District playground. Near the end of the hearing, Chan said the driving force behind her line of questioning was to ensure that anyone, regardless of the amount of money they can donate to a nonprofit, gets their say in how parks across San Francisco are shaped. And that is precisely the sort of structure that allowed Mohammed Nuru to bilk a $1 million slush fund out of the Parks Alliance, as the City Controller discovered in September 2020. 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. These purchases would then be reimbursed through Public Works accounts held by the Parks Alliance "outside of city purchasing rules." When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck? Stay up to date! The San Francisco City Controller's Office found, in a September 2020 report, that the San Francisco Parks Alliance took roughly $1 million in donations from a number of city contractors that were under investigation by the City Attorney's Office for funneling money to the Public Works Department for lavish parties. needs these 5 sites to thrive so the city can recover. 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. The audit says those contracts need to adhere to basic city contract standards to prevent conflicts of interest. Contractors and building permit holders made donations to the Public Works subaccounts at the SF Parks Alliance, Sobrepena explained. Related: Parks Alliance Pushes Back On Accusations, Tells Supervisor Chan to Kiss Richmond Playground Goodbye [SFist]. Those same contractors were awarded more than $570 million in city contracts by the Public Works Department, according to the report. 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. is the city's financial engine and it is sputtering. 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. Chan said she was disappointed with the reports about Nurus and the Public Works relationship with SF Parks Alliance, plus she was concerned that instead of pausing that type of agreement between Rec. 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. But they're also rife with opportunity for abuse, the report found. And Parks Alliance Board Chair Liz Farrell said, "I want to also just to be clear on the record, and say that the Parks Alliance has not been accused or found to be involved in any wrongdoing as part of the investigation into the government corruption.". It will be interesting to see what information is uncovered. Other agreements lack prohibitions against conflicts of interest. The San Francisco Parks Alliance was subpoenaed by the City Attorney's Office last year as part of the city's corruption probe. Chan asked her if she had any information that Rec. 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. As a result, city leaders have inspected departments relationships with philanthropic organizations. 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. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 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. Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and accused of attempting to bribe an airport official. 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. Nuru recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Abrupt closure of S.F. During our review period, Parks Alliance made payments totaling $978,000 to support Public Works activities and as directed by Public Works. As approved in 2000 by the public, $150,000 is allocated annually for a period of thirty years toward community gardens. 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. 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 . 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. and Park Department.. 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. The non-profits running large parts of the park are now directing the development without public participation and their privatization agenda is supported by Mayor London Breed and her Parks and Recreation Director Phil Ginsberg. The sell off and privatization of Golden Gate Park is escalating at the same time of a massive corruption scandal of top officials of the City and County of San Francisco. The Parks Alliance was subpoenaed last year alongside a host of other firms as part of the City Hall probe. Before that, she freelanced with a focus on the Yemeni diaspora while studying at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. 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. 20002023 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Although the wheel was eventually able to open in the fall at limited capacity, a surge in cases halted operations after just five weeks. The San Francisco Parks Alliance has declined several interview requests from NBC Bay Area but said in a statement it was cooperating with investigators. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Call (415) 706-6428 for information about advertising online and in the printed versions of the Richmond Review and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. Haney called Public Works actions "inappropriate behavior" and said the department "is clearly out of control." 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 citys public corruption scandal by managing an off-the-books contractor fund that Public Works officials tapped to pay for employee parties and swag for city workers. Supervisor Chan was bullied by the Parks Alliance for calling for an audit of this corrupt agency which is privatizing Golden Gate Park. . 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. The City Controller's Office and City Attorney's Office report into city ethics is the second to be released this year. 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. This S.F. These funds were largely spent on staff appreciation and events that benefited City employees.. Last year, a report by the City Controller's Office into ongoing corruption within city departments revealed that departments like Public Works engaged in relationships with nonprofit organizations to encourage large donations by contractors seeking lucrative city contracts. 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. 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 motion to issue the subpoena was passed by the Committee unanimously. 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. The organization said Friday that its books are totally open and available, and it would gladly provide park department records, which the city hasnt requested previously. Sobrepena could not give an immediate answer but said she could come back with that information. Although the wheel was eventually able to open in the fall at limited capacity, a surge in cases halted operations after just five weeks. Federal investigators say the alliance maintained a $1 million off-the-books fund that then Public Works director Mohammed Nuru frequently tapped to pay for employee parties, events and swag. Your email address will not be published. In San Francisco, that goes double for nonprofits that call themselves "friends.". 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. the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Clean City Coalition. 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 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 City Attorney and District Attorney have failed to investigate and prosecute the privatizer's funding of Park and Recreation Director Phil Ginsberg and his managers. Supervisor Chan has a point about potential conflicts of interest. 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. Often these organizations are called "friends" organizations, like Friends of the Library, or Friends of City Planning. 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. "San Francisco ranks No. 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. Prosecutors say Nuru used the fund to pay for everything from T-shirts to gift bags, from funeral expenses for a worker to event entry fees for public works teams. During the Thursday hearing, Farrell from the Parks Alliance said they have already apologized for that spat. Every year, millions of dollars flow into the San Francisco Parks Alliance. The Department of Building Inspection issued 218 building permits to seven of those entities. editor / reporter who has been published in almost every San Francisco publication, including Hoodline, SF Weekly, Thrillist, and Broke Ass Stuart. The park departments memo said, For the most part we welcome the recommendations in the report and many of them are generally in place through the (memorandum of understanding) or existing policy.. Records reviewed by NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit show that thousands of dollars raised by the San Francisco Parks Alliance scholarship fund, ended up paying for the city's Recreation and Parks staff retreats instead. "These so-called 'friends' groups don't have an entirely friendly history. Im relieved to know Supervisor Chan and others are requiring transparency from our City agencies, especially SF Rec and Park. The development of the tennis courts went over $400,000 which the City has to pick up. . 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.. 1 in its park investments in the nation, dollars per capita," Chan said. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco City Hall reporter. March 10, 2020 / 5:11 PM / CBS San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The Director of San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection, Tom Hui, has been placed on leave amid a. 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.. 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. How Did Bestiarii Impact Rome's Economy, Sharon Versyp Married, Highway 87 San Jose Accident Today, Pluto Square Midheaven Natal, Miles Davis Second Great Quintet Members, Articles S