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CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Former San Francisco Parks Alliance CEOs, board treasurer subpoenaed after missing committee hearing
The San Francisco Government Audit and Oversight Committee subpoenaed the former CEOs and the board treasurer of the San Francisco Parks Alliance after they did not show up to the committee hearing Thursday morning. More than a dozen community members from various nonprofit organizations that relied financially on the SF Parks Alliance publicly commented on their lack of trust. "Sutro Stewards in particular had close to $200,000 in reserves that is now gone," Ildiko Polony, the executive director of Sutro Stewards, told CBS News Bay Area. The SF Parks Alliance has been fiscally sponsoring groups like Sutro Stewards for nearly two decades. The alliance helps fund communities to revitalize and maintain public parks through money raised in part by these nonprofits' fundraisers. "It's enraging, it's incredibly sad. It's scary, we were all laid off as of Monday. So, currently I'm scrambling as the executive director to find a new fiscal sponsor and I'm working for free," Polony said. A recent probe alleges that SF Parks Alliance misspent $3.8 million of donation funds. Additionally, the city is investigating allegations that the alliance failed to reimburse smaller nonprofits for their projects. "The Parks Alliance holds tens of thousands of dollars of ours, including over $10,000 in money that we've either promised to other people or that we've spent already," Matthew Blain, the chair of SF Urban Riders, told CBS News Bay Area. Blain said his community of biker volunteers works on trails and habitats throughout the city. But with everything in limbo, their operations have come to a halt. "Right now, we need a structure so that the functions the Parks Alliance provided continues, for us and other park partners and other community networks throughout the city," Blain said. "The city needs to step up because we are in a crisis that impacts every San Franciscan's quality of life," Polony added. This isn't the first red flag with the SF Parks Alliance. San Francisco District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton said the board had approved a $3.25 million grant for the Port of San Francisco and the Parks Alliance. But he added that the port had only received $975,000 of those funds. Walton said this is about accountability. "Report to this committee, tell us where the resources are, how they were spent, who owes what, so we could get to the bottom of this," Walton told CBS News Bay Area. He has pushed for the subpoena to the former heads of the alliance and has called for them to testify. "They'll have the answer in terms of how to get resources back into the hands of these nonprofits, but most certainly, we will work together to try to come up with solutions. And we still have to know what assets the Parks Alliance has, what resources they have on hand, what they may be able to repay, what they may not be able to repay," he added. While no meeting date is set just yet, city leaders and community members hope to get more answers on where their money is and when they're getting it back. CBS News Bay Area reached out to the SF Parks Alliance for comment and has not yet heard back.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Imperiled community groups band together to save S.F. Parks Alliance. Is it too late?
Community groups that depend on the San Francisco Parks Alliance to manage their books are hoping it isn't too late to save the financially troubled nonprofit from collapse. Rather than cut ties with the alliance, a group of nearly 20 organizations that use the prominent nonprofit as a sort of bank came together this week to try and keep it afloat. Calling themselves the Community Partner Network Advisory Committee, the organizations sent a letter to the alliance's governing board, urging it to be more transparent about the nonprofit's financial situation and to commit to a plan for keeping it solvent. The committee is under the leadership of Ildiko Polony, executive director of Sutro Stewards, and Rasheq Zarif, president of the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association. Both organizations worry that the alliance mismanaged the funds they amassed at the nonprofit. 'We want to know how much runway is left for the SFPA,' Zarif said. 'The fear that I have is that the mismanagement went on for too long, and that it is beyond the point of no return. The hope is that with us working with them, we might be able to catch this in time to turn it around.' The Parks Alliance is a fiscal sponsor for nearly 90 community groups that use the organization to collect donations from their supporters and funding from other sources. These partners go to the alliance to pull out their cash when they need it to care for the city's prized open spaces. They do everything from restoring playgrounds to maintaining well-trodden trails, work that San Franciscans may assume is done by the city. But for more than a year, the alliance has kept some of its partners waiting months to get reimbursed for payments as low as $100, indicating that the nonprofit has a cash-flow problem, at the very least. The delayed payments have raised concerns for some of its partners that the alliance mismanaged their money and may not be able to pay them back. Each year the alliance receives millions in donations on behalf of its partners, according to the letter. But the committee said it has determined that the alliance's restricted trust, where the donations are deposited, has been 'effectively depleted.' 'You have the fiduciary and legal responsibility to address the challenges head on,' reads the letter to the board of trustees. 'We need transparency, accountability, and effective governance from you in order for us to remain community partners.' The alliance and its predecessor organizations have worked closely with the city for decades to improve its parks and open spaces. It recently underwent a leadership change with longtime CEO Drew Becher resigning in February. Its new leader, Robert Ogilvie, has said he is optimistic that he can keep the alliance afloat through downsizing and fundraising. One board member, Jim Lazarus, previously told the Chronicle that the alliance brought in outside accountants who determined there was 'no corruption' inside the organization and that 'restricted money was being used for restricted purposes.' But the newly formed committee is not content. It wants to know how much the alliance owes its partners in outstanding expense reimbursements, and how much of the restricted trust 'has been depleted with non-trust related expenses or over-reimbursements.' Louise Mozingo, chair of the alliance's board, said in an email Thursday that the board was committed to working transparently with its partners to stabilize the alliance. She said she was working hard and heartened by the support offered in the letter. 'We appreciate their letter and their partnership, and our mutual commitment to re-establishing trust between our organizations,' Mozingo said. Ogilvie declined to provide numbers Thursday on the alliance's financial situation. 'Our first obligation is to communicate directly with our partners regarding our financial situation as it affects them,' Ogilvie said. 'We will be doing this in a collaborative way over the next weeks while working to stabilize the organization.' Lazarus previously said the board is committed to paying its financial obligations. Polony, of Sutro Stewards, is worried that the crisis might cost her and her staff their jobs, if the alliance can't make payroll. Unlike with other groups sponsored by the alliance, her staff is employed by the alliance, though her organization operates independently. 'I've been consumed by this,' Polony said. 'There's a lot at stake.' The Sutro Stewards is focused on habitat restoration and trail maintenance at Mount Sutro. Its employees and volunteers help native plants thrive in the region and keep trails level for bikers and hikers. The organization is primarily funded by UCSF, which owns the land. It has five full-time and three part-time employees, as well as two paid interns, Polony said. Polony said her organization has considered cutting ties with the alliance. The group had trouble getting reimbursements about a year ago and more recently struggled to get timely financial reports from the alliance. She is concerned that her group may not be able to access the hundreds of thousands of dollars it should have at the nonprofit. But splitting off from the alliance would create new problems, since its finances are entangled with the nonprofit. And if the alliance dissolved, the Stewards would at least have to temporarily halt its operations. 'I need them to survive,' Polony said. Another group that signed onto the letter is the SF Urban Riders, a volunteer organization that has partnered with the alliance for more than a decade. The riders are a mountain biking advocacy group that maintains trails around Laguna Honda Hospital. Like other groups, the Riders have had trouble getting reimbursed. They have five-figures saved up at the alliance and also have five-figures worth of outstanding reimbursements, according to Riders chair, Matthew Blain. The Riders have considered finding a new fiscal sponsor, but have determined that staying with the alliance makes the most sense. 'The current status is very worrisome,' Blain said. 'My hope is that it as an organization continues because it's been a useful partner.' The advisory committee is calling for the board to share its short-term plans for meeting its financial obligations and its cooperation in setting a long-term plan for sustainability. It's unclear what that might look like, but Zarif laid out some options under discussion that would amount to significant reform for the alliance. Those changes could include a new governance model, changing how financial reports are disclosed or replacing board members. The committee is in the process of recruiting more of the alliance's partners to its ranks. Zarif said the board has been receptive to its letter so far. 'The main objective here is to of course get the SFPA to be trusted and supportive of the communities that rely on it in San Francisco again,' he said. Polony is also optimistic. 'There is a piece of me that is excited about where this could lead us,' she said. 'In great existential challenges, there always is opportunity.'
