SF Supes: It's time we crack down on failing, money-sucking nonprofits
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This week, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved a bill that'll require contracted nonprofits to meet “measurable performance goals” if they want to keep consuming City money. Lately, SF has faced scrutiny for a barrage of nonprofit scandals exposing serious misuse of taxpayer funds; and many (including former mayor Sam Liccardo) worry San Jose'll be similarly plagued unless pols take action. From the SF Examiner.
San Francisco pours more than $1 billion into nonprofits every year, and a new city law aims to ensure that money is well spent.
The Board of Supervisors approved a bill on Tuesday that directs the Controller’s Office to establish “measurable performance goals” for The City’s contracts with nonprofits and annually review whether city departments are meeting their auditing responsibilities.
The legislation, sponsored by Supervisor Catherine Stefani, comes as a persistent wave of scandals has rocked city-funded nonprofits like SF Safe, the decades-old public safety nonprofit with close ties to the San Francisco Police Department that allegedly misspent more than $80,000 of city money.
The city relies on a bevy of nonprofits to provide social services, distributing more than $1.4 billion to some 600 organizations. However, there is no unified policy for grading those nonprofits and ensuring they meet their contract’s demands with San Francisco.
Pending Mayor London Breed’s signature, Stefani’s legislation will empower The City Controller’s Office and attempt to standardize the processes for evaluating nonprofits’ work on behalf of numerous departments.
“I’m confident this ordinance will absolutely transform how The City monitors the performance of our contacts,” Stefani said on Tuesday.
The legislation earned unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors.
This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Examiner. Read the whole thing here.
Related:
Gov’t nonprofit partners: Taxpayers, keep your eyes off (y)our money
Pressure builds for City to make nonprofits more accountable
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