Gov’t nonprofit partners: Taxpayers, keep your eyes off (y)our money

Analyzing several well-subsidized SF nonprofits, Josh Koehn explains in the SF Standard that many residents are urging for transparency in how NP partners address objectives and use taxpayer funds. Even SF Mayor Breed acknowledges difficulties in working with NPs, but local nonprofit lobbyists strongly request no additional stipulations be enforced—lest the paperwork adds up.

San Francisco nonprofits receive more than a billion dollars in taxpayer money every year, but the level of scrutiny they face varies greatly by department—and, in some cases, oversight of operations has been left to the honor system since the pandemic started.

City records show that two nonprofits—Baker Places and the United Council of Human Services (UCHS)—received mostly glowing marks from city agencies last year, not long before they were accused of mismanaging public funds. City officials are in the process of pulling some of Baker Places’ contracts and flagged UCHS for criminal investigations….

Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who oversaw a Government Audit and Oversight Committee hearing last month looking into how well city nonprofits are performing, said the discrepancies in reporting by city departments should serve as a wake-up call.

“This is exactly why San Franciscans are skeptical about how we are spending taxpayer dollars,” Stefani said in a statement. “Last year, we spent $1.4 billion on city contracts. And yet, the checks that are supposed to prevent and identify mismanagement failed.”

This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Standard. Read the whole thing here.

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Image by Marco Verch