The nonprofit that throws those free movie nights in SF parks is now in a blockbuster financial scandal, so Mayor Lurie has put a pause on their funding, and three city departments are now conducting audits and investigations.
It was maybe the canary in the coal mine when the SF Parks Alliance announced in early May that they would not be doing the free outdoor “movies in the park” series Sundown Cinema this summer, unable to shoulder the costs of the $30,000-$40,000 for each show. But that canary had actually been chirping, as that cancellation announcement came just days after we learned that the Parks Alliance had laid off most staff and its CEO quit, over what seemed at first glance as some possible financial mismanagement.
The SF Parks Alliance is not the same thing as the SF Rec and Parks Department. The Parks Alliance is a private nonprofit that fundraises for and holds money for smaller neighborhood groups and “Friends of the Park” organizations, saving them the hassle of incorporating and getting their own 501(c)3 status. But there had been rumors swirling that these neighborhood groups were being denied access to their own deposited money, sometimes even unable to get reimbursed sums as small as $100.
These rumors blew up big time a week ago today, when the Chronicle dropped a 5-pm-on-a-Friday news bomb that the Parks Alliance had spent almost $4 million of others groups’ money on its own operating expenses. The organization’s chair Louise Mozingo, admitted to the Chronicle that her group’s finances resemble “what a friend of mine would call a dumpster fire.”
SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins threw gasoline at that dumpster fire when her office announced Tuesday that they were conducting a criminal investigation into the Parks Alliance. And it will not help them rectify their financial troubles that today the Chronicle reports that Mayor Lurie has paused all city funding into the Parks Alliance.
“The allegations involving the San Francisco Parks Alliance are troubling,” Lurie told the Chronicle. “Our nonprofit partners support critical projects and community groups, and they must be held to the highest standards of integrity and accountability.”
Per the Chronicle, the Parks Alliance currently has eight active contracts with the city for around $1 million. But it also sounds like much of this has already been paid out, as the Chron says that the freeze will only affect $287,663 that the city hasn’t paid out yet.
We already knew that City Attorney David Chiu’s office was investigating the Parks Alliance, an investigation that was announced the same day as the DA’s probe. But today’s Chronicle report informs us that Controller Greg Wagner’s office is also conducting an audit of the organization.
“The serious allegations we’re hearing about Parks Alliance need to be addressed with urgency,” Wagner said in a joint statement with the City Attorney. “This organization was entrusted as a steward of funding for important community projects — we need to get to the bottom of what’s happened.”
Perhaps the most baffling case of disappearing Parks Alliance funds is the situation with Crane Cove Park in Dogpatch, which KPIX covers in pretty good detail here. One of those smaller groups called the Baker Street Foundation gave $3 million to have that park renovated. Those renovations have not happened, and now the Baker Street Foundation is learning that the Parks Alliance spent nearly $2 million of that just on their own operating costs, and not the park.
Supervisor Shamann Walton has called for hearings into the Park Alliance matter, which the Chronicle now reports will begin on Thursday, June 5. So that sounds like a Government Audit & Oversight Committee hearing at 10 am. Supervisor Jackie Fielder has called for a Budget and Legislative Analyst audit of not only the SF Parks Alliance, but also the SF Rec and Parks Department.
As far as those free movies in the park go, it seems there’s still a Saturday, June 7 screening of Wicked as part of the summer-long Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. The event page for that screening has no mention of the SF Parks Alliance. And if you’re a fan of these outdoor movie nights, this might be your last chance to catch one in a park for quite a while.
Though if you’re fan of watching SF scandals unfold, you might want to pop some popcorn to see how this one goes.
Related: SF Parks Alliance Scandal Explodes, District Attorney’s Office Opens Criminal Investigation [SFist]
