san francisco parks alliance corruption san francisco parks alliance corruption

"In this case, are we now setting ourselves up for a two-tier parks system for those who can pay to play, literally, and for those who cannot afford access to our public space?". 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. So I defer to the city attorney who oversees those contracts, Farrell 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. 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. 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. Nuru recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Flower Moon, a lunar eclipse and a meteor shower unfold this week. Explosion of joy in Warriors' world comes with newfound respect for Kings, Political chaos has erupted in this Peninsula city over one issue: Housing, Beneath Michelin-starred restaurants success, landlord dispute is boiling. "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. 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. While philanthropic organizations provide tangible benefits to all of our residents, abuses in these relationships undermine the important role they play," said Controller Ben Rosenfield, in a statement. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. S.F. Parks Alliance threatens to pull funding for Richmond District 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. wine startup leaves customers with thousands of Steph Curry adds to his Warriors legend by lighting up Kings for 50. SF public corruption scandal: 8 organizations subpoenaed by - KRON4 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 documents show that in 2019, more than $64,000 that had been raised by the Crab Fest fund was transferred into a general fund. Photo: Keith Crook. investigation into public corruption has led to a new round of subpoenas. What is particularly troubling is the fact that there are a number of companies that do direct business with the Recreation and Parks department that are making donations to the Parks Alliance that are flowing directly back to the Recreation and Parks department and their general manager, Peskin said. A widening S.F. Supervisor Chan has a point about potential conflicts of interest. Sign up for our daily newsletter. 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. Tagged as: Audit Committee, Richmond District, Richmond Review, SF Board of Supervisors, Sunset Beacon, Sunset District. 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. ", 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.". This report makes it clear that pay-to-play has been happening in our city. 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. We have put forward actionable recommendations to correct loopholes that seemingly normalize unethical practices that undermine faith in public actions.. 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. 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.. Since the FBI arrested and charged Nuru for allegedly attempting to bribe an airport commissioner in January 2020, the investigation has also indicted the former director of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, two heads of trash company Recology, a former senior building inspector and a city building commissioner. Big shift in weather is headed to California. 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. The 33-page report follows sprawling investigations into corruption across the city. non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and Ongoing FBI Corruption Probe Hits Three More SF City Departments With Subpoenas The Planning Department, Department of Public Health, and the City Administrator's Office have all been hit with. In San Francisco, that goes double for nonprofits that call themselves "friends.". Previously: Feds Charge Three More People Linked to Mohammed Nuru and City Hall Corruption Probe. A Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson told the supervisors that the agency follows all codes and laws. 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. We are a trusted partner to many community groups and city departments and welcome any and all actions that bring more transparency and oversight to ensure the publics trust.. 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. This story has been updated to include a statement provided by the San Francisco Parks Alliance on Sept. 25. But they're also rife with opportunity for abuse, 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. 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 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 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. "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. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) It often pays to have friends in high places. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. 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. 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. But the board says more transparency is necessary to ensure another type of green money isn't changing hands improperly. "These so-called 'friends' groups don't have an entirely friendly history. 3 more SF city departments hit with subpoenas in expanding Nuru Drew Becher, CEO of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, expressed shock at the city's findings. 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. Supervisor Chan was bullied by the Parks Alliance for calling for an audit of this corrupt agency which is privatizing 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,. SF supervisor subpoenas parks nonprofit in wake of report that calls Im looking forward to the follow up. It's the breakdown of the sources of the money siphoned into the funds Nuru controlled at the Parks Alliance. SF City Attorney Subpoenas 8 Organizations As Public Corruption It will be interesting to see what information is uncovered. 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. Supes call for investigation of Ferris Wheel money - 48 hills SF supervisor subpoenas parks nonprofit in wake of report that calls for stronger controls, S.F. Thats great, said Chan. The San Francisco Parks Alliance. 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. Those scholarships pay the fees or other costs for low-income youth and seniors to enjoy summer programs and other activities at city parks. Chan says she hopes to ask more about the cash flow for the non-profit at a hearing she will hold on Thursday. Ongoing FBI Corruption Probe Hits Three More SF City - SFist At the same time, the non-profit reaped $11.9 million in city payments. Joe Kukura is an SFist staff asst. The San Francisco Parks Alliance has declined several interview requests from NBC Bay Area but said in a statement it was cooperating with investigators. Required fields are marked *. At the time, U.S. Attorney David Anderson commented on the allegations by saying, "corruption is pouring into San Francisco from around the world." . Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. We are putting a stop to it, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said, in a statement. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. 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. SF Parks Alliance is the only city-wide parks nonprofit in San Francisco. 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. 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. 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. 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. The supervisor and the organization have clashed before. 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. 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. Yes, we can go back and look into it, talk to the controller about adding it to our Public Integrity Reviews, Sobrepena responded. Newly disclosed documents sought under subpoena by city supervisors critical of the Alliance -- detail transactions involving a different fund related to the Parks Alliances annual Crab Fest event. 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. Other agreements lack prohibitions against conflicts of interest. 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. Corrupt SF Official Used Nonprofits to Funnel 'Pay to Play' Cash We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! Her businesses, Kwan Wo Ironworks and SFR Recovery, are among several businesses that do lots of business with the city including PG&E and Recology about which the feds are seeking a decade's worth of documents and correspondence. We are committed to working with the City so that we can continue to improve our parks and public spaces. Sobrepena could not give an immediate answer but said she could come back with that information. 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 . Now supervisors are looking to find out if there any other similar schemes. 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 . Breed's order also requires more transparency from city officers in accepting gifts. SF Board of Supervisors' Audit Committee to Subpoena Financial 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. City attorney subpoenas PG&E, contractors, nonprofits in Nuru Following the release of the report, Mayor London Breed announced an executive order to address the recommendations in the report. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck? In that span, the non-profit took in $44 million, including an estimated $3.5 million in anonymous donations, the audit concludes. 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. A bicyclist passes the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. 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. City contract scrutiny draws attention to Golden Gate Park Ferris wheel Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and accused of attempting to bribe an airport official. and Park Department as well and I also have yet to receive that information.. Chan is exploring every legislative tool possible to implement recommendations. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not 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. Parks Alliance spokesperson Juliana Bunim said in a statement Thursday that the group appreciates "all ongoing efforts to strengthen transparency and collaboration between nonprofit. 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. The move followed a city report last week that investigated the relationship between the park department and the nonprofit. That is why I am calling for an investigation focusing on this agreement and SF Parks Alliance practices," she said. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. 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. 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. Often these organizations are called "friends" organizations, like Friends of the Library, or Friends of City Planning. That meant it wasnt clear who donated dollars that ended up in city coffers. 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. 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. 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. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. She previously covered immigration and local news for the Albany Times Union and the Alabama state legislature for the Associated Press. But this audit seems like the latest chapter of her ongoing feud with the Parks Alliance, wherein she alleges potential corruption, and the Alliance threatens to pull money out of projects in her district. Just last week, two city contractors pleaded guilty to bribing Nuru with the construction of his vacation home and a $36,000 gold Rolex watch in exchange for help in obtaining city contracts. needs these 5 sites to thrive so the city can recover. Downtown S.F. 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. . 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.. 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. "San Francisco ranks No. 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. 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. 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. 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. And what about the Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park? 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. We did not dive deeper with Rec. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench. 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. 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. 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 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. 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.