Liccardo expresses worries about nonprofits' lack of accountability

In an email thread recently released by the City of San Jose as part of an action by SJ Spotlight, Mayor Liccardo echoes a concern voiced here on Opp Now: how local nonprofits may be gaming the City's lax management systems, and underperforming due to lack of oversight and accountability. Liccardo’s email and the Spotlight’s comments below.

The new batch of emails sent and received from Liccardo’s personal Gmail account reveal his frustration with city officials and his council colleagues over different issues. Last January, Liccardo emailed then-City Manager David Sykes, Deputy City Manager Angel Rios and his staff to air concerns about the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force—specifically about the lack of results from the city’s nonprofit partners.

“I’ve been concerned/frustrated over the last several years that we don’t seem to have good performance/outcome metrics to hold our non-profit providers accountable,” Liccardo said in the email. “I don’t doubt that there are nonprofits that are underperforming if we’re not really clearly assessing them, and I hear anecdotal information suggesting that some organizations are simply mailing it in, and assuming that their longstanding relationships with the city will enable them to keep their contracts and secure renewals.”

An email showing Liccardo’s frustration of the lack of accountability over nonprofits and how two councilmembers directed where funding should go.

He also singled out Councilmembers Maya Esparza and Magdalena Carrasco for reportedly directing city officials on which organizations should get funding.

“I’ve also heard from (staff) that Maya and Magdalena have been pretty inappropriate at these meetings, and pretty directive about where they’d like to see money go and who should benefit,” he said.

This article originally appeared in the San Jose Spotlight. Read the whole thing here.

For more on nonprofit accountability, visit Opp Now’s article on when nonprofits can and can’t engage in political advocacy.

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