Non-Profit Deemed High Risk Half-Million Dollars In Questionable Spending Agency Slated To Receive Stimulus Dollars
Sacramento - A Bay Area agency slated to receive Federal Recovery Act dollars has been deemed high risk and may owe the State over half a million dollars in unacceptable expenditures.
"The State's Department of Community Services Department (CSD), as well as the County and City of San Francisco, have done an exemplary job in identifying serious problems with the Economic Opportunity Council of San Francisco (EOCSF)," said California Inspector General Laura Chick who was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to oversee the spending of the state's stimulus funds.
The Economic Opportunity Council was due to receive $159,000 is stimulus dollars to perform weatherization projects in the community.
"The CSD has deemed the EOCSF high risk and has taken immediate action to stop the impending transfer of stimulus dollars," continued Chick. "However, this issue now rests with the Federal Government to determine if the State is required to not only continue to fund this agency, but also to give it Recovery dollars. As we saw on Wall Street, there needs to be a line in the sand when it comes to inappropriately spending taxpayer dollars."
In designating the EOCSF high risk, the CSD found the following areas of concern:
- As much as $542,478.47 in disallowed expenditures including co-mingling funds, board of directors retreats at a luxury casino, coffee services, drinking water and flowers
- Financial management deficiencies with no feasible plan to bring the agency into compliance
- Ability to complete weatherization work is in doubt
"President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger have made it clear that the Recovery Act dollars must be maximized for the public benefit and be spent wisely and well. Funding an agency that time and again has been unable to bring itself out of problematic conditions is not in line with this mandate from the President and Governor," said Chick.
The CSD report, dated October 6, 2009, said that the EOCSF has long struggled, "The problems of today were the problems of the past and little seems to have changed but the detail."
A letter from the San Francisco Mayor's Office dated, August 13, 2009, stated, "As a community action agency, EOC is supposed to be an anchor and support for capacity building amongst community agencies. Many child care programs struggle with financing and enrollment. Rather than being a support to other agencies, EOC is viewed to be one of the weakest performing agencies and is currently struggling in this role."
CSD and the County and City of San Francisco are working together to find an alternative to provide the services using stimulus dollars.
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