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). All rights reserved, Union Lawsuit Alleges Retaliation for Whistleblowing in SF City Hall Corruption Probe, Former San Francisco Public Works Head Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charge. 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. "This is a city of riches," she said during Thursday's committee hearing. 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. Garbage time: Recology was the major donor to Mohammed Nuru's nonprofit The nonprofit San Francisco Parks Alliance is being scrutinized again in the wake of the city's corruption investigation, and a supervisor who's criticized the group in the past now wants to look more closely at its operations. and Park to see if they actually have subaccounts with Parks Alliance or not, Chan said. It often pays to have friends in high places. 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 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. 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. Stay in touch. Former City Attorney Dennis Herrera first issued subpoenas investigating the Parks Alliance in early 2020, also in connection with the ongoing corruption scandal. No trains were going in or out of BART's SFO Station for about an hour Wednesday morning due to an unspecified "police matter" that has yet to be made public. Breed's order also requires more transparency from city officers in accepting gifts. 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. 20002023 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. 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. 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. "We have issue with the way the vendor was selected. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. 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. ", 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.". Chan, who commissioned the report, said the results demanded reform. Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay. 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. About Us - San Francisco Parks Alliance 3 more SF city departments hit with subpoenas in expanding Nuru All rights reserved. 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. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. 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. Construction companies subpoenaed by San Francisco City 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. It will be interesting to see what information is uncovered. needs these 5 sites to thrive so the city can recover. In San Francisco, that goes double for nonprofits that call themselves "friends.". non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and 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. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. 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. 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. Nuru was arrested by the FBI in January and accused of attempting to bribe an airport official. 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 SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. 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. The San Francisco Parks Alliance was subpoenaed by the City Attorney's Office last year as part of the city's corruption probe. Joe Kukura is an SFist staff asst. The Parks Alliance has said it didnt know it was being used unscrupulously by city officials. A total of 10 subpoenas . Sobrepena could not give an immediate answer but said she could come back with that information. SF Parks Alliance is the only city-wide parks nonprofit in San Francisco. She previously covered immigration and local news for the Albany Times Union and the Alabama state legislature for the Associated Press. Audit Finds $3.5 Million In Anonymous Donations to SF Parks Alliance 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. Press Release: Supervisors Chan and Peskin Call for Investigation on SF The supervisor and the organization have clashed before. 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. 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. In that span, the non-profit took in $44 million, including an estimated $3.5 million in anonymous donations, the audit concludes. 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. As a result, city leaders have inspected departments relationships with philanthropic organizations. Even so, Supervisor Aaron Peskin has joined Chan in questioning the ethical implications of shifting money from a scholarship fund to a separate pot controlled by parks officials. 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 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. 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. "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. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. 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 . No budget was presented to the commission providing the details of what would be spent before the agreement got commission approval, Brousseau said. It was one of more than 20 firms. However, all of this occurred outside of the Citys established financial and procurement systems. And that wheel, apparently, is still going round and round. Related: Parks Alliance Pushes Back On Accusations, Tells Supervisor Chan to Kiss Richmond Playground Goodbye [SFist]. 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.. 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. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. As the Chronicle reports, Bovis's foundation is named along with Recology and the San Francisco Parks Alliance as entities the feds are seeking mentions of in all meeting notes, minutes, and communications from these city departments. 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. 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 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. 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. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. While no formal accusations have been made, Chan's subpoena comes in the wake of an ever-unfolding corruption scandal that has ensnared four city department heads since early 2020. Of the $720,000 that (SF) Parks Alliance paid to vendors, more than half went to just five vendors. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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! 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. 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. 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. 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 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 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. Nuru would solicit those funds from contractors whose city contracts Nuru oversaw. That is why I am calling for an investigation focusing on this agreement and SF Parks Alliance practices," she 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. "These so-called 'friends' groups don't have an entirely friendly history. When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck? "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. The Planning Department, Department of Public Health, and the City Administrator's Office have all been hit with subpoenas stemming from the sprawling federal investigation into corruption in San Francisco government. 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.. I also wanted to say that, throughout this whole process, we are committed to being transparent. 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. Although the wheel was eventually able to open in the fall at limited capacity, a surge in cases halted operations after just five weeks. investigation into public corruption has led to a new round of subpoenas. 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 . 1 in its park investments in the nation, dollars per capita," Chan said. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco City Hall reporter. Looking to get in touch with our 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. The move followed a city report last week that investigated the relationship between the park department and the nonprofit. Chan is exploring every legislative tool possible to implement recommendations. 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. 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. 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. . For a Richmond neighborhood playground, for instance, the $3 million budget was completely opaque, said Fred Brousseau, from the Budget and Legislative Analyst's office. City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Wednesday announced. 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. "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. The SkyStar Observation Wheel was installed last year as part of the park's 150th anniversary just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts! This arrangement ultimately created the opportunity for unethical steering of purchases to occur.. 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. 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. 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. Now it looks like the feds are following up on this pattern and trying to see if there are more examples of city vendors possibly disguising bribes that benefited city employees as charitable gifts. 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. During the Thursday hearing, Farrell from the Parks Alliance said they have already apologized for that spat. 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. Stay in touch. The Historic Preservation Commission is expected to vote on whether to extend the contract through 2025 at its next meeting on March 3. Ongoing FBI Corruption Probe Hits Three More SF City - SFist City officials cannot work behind the scenes with City contractors to benefit their departments and use other entities to cloak those efforts.". 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. Your email address will not be published. They say they are awaiting a complete review by the City Controllers office of the data turned over so far to determine next steps. 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. What are the names of their anonymous donors? Chan Raises Questions About Park Groups' Accounting 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. Following the release of the report, Mayor London Breed announced an executive order to address the recommendations in the report. 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. The net encircling former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru has now ensnared more entities in The City's ever-growing corruption scandal. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) It often pays to have friends in high places. "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. She is already co-sponsoring a measure that would prohibit city officials and employees from soliciting payments from people who could benefit from business. 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. elsewhere. Thank you to Mr. Pendergast for this article. How long has it been since May started off this cold in Bay Area? 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. the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Clean City Coalition. Every year, millions of dollars flow into the San Francisco Parks Alliance.
san francisco parks alliance corruption
