Morning Report: Audit Showed Homeless-Serving Agency Drew Down Reserves Before CEO Departure
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The CEO of a prominent homeless-serving nonprofit in North County quietly left the organization last year with no explanation.
Now our Tigist Layne reveals that an independent audit of nonprofit Solutions for Change uncovered multiple withdrawals from its reserves in 2023 and 2024 that violated state and county rules.
The audit found that the nonprofit had pulled about $550,000 from reserves to “cover operating cash flow needs” despite mandates that it maintain rainy-day accounts for various projects and in at least some cases, get permission to draw from them.
Board Chair Chris Chen, who temporarily stepped up as acting CEO following founder Chris Megison’s departure, told Layne that Solutions for Change didn’t get required approval from the county to dip into reserves tied to its projects and that it was his understanding no cash was left in those accounts.
South County Report: The Latest on the Rohr Park Debate
As Chula Vista kicks off a planned overhaul of 60-acre Rohr Park, Bonita residents who aren’t Chula Vistans have been speaking out against the proposed elimination of a popular equestrian arena.
In his latest South County Report, our Jim Hinch notes that elected leaders in Chula Vista – including Mayor John McCann – are now calling for the city to hold onto the arena during the revamp.
Also in this week’s roundup: The leader of the Living Coast Discovery Center marine wildlife sanctuary in Chula Vista is retiring and McCann now has an official backup when he’s called into Navy Reserve duty.
County Halts Request for Lobbyists to Lay Groundwork for Tax Hikes
County officials this week canceled a controversial callout for bids from lobbyists to help the county push changes to state law to pave the way for it to pull in more revenue.
Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond in recent days has blasted the proposal, first reported by the Union-Tribune, to hire a contractor to rally for legislative tweaks allowing the county to try to enact payroll taxes or increase charges on documents during real estate transfers.
The county posted a notice on its contracting site Wednesday that it was canceling the request for quotes. The callout was originally posted Dec. 18 and closed Dec. 22. It’s unclear how many would-be contractors responded to the request.
The request was the second of two bidding processes under the purview of the sustainable fiscal planning subcommittee made up of Democratic Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe.
Lawson-Remer’s office told Voice of San Diego is for now more focused on finding savings in the county budget before it tries to raise revenue.
SDG&E Prices Rising Again This Month
Electricity bills from San Diego Gas and Electric for the vast majority of San Diegans went up 7.4 percent beginning Jan. 1.
That amounts to approximately $4 more per month for the average residential customer, said SDG&E spokesman Anthony Wagner.
Most San Diegans only pay SDG&E to deliver power to their home over the energy grid which the private company owns and maintains.
The price of the actual power most San Diegans use is bought and sold by public energy companies in the region called San Diego Community Power and Clean Energy Alliance, public energy companies governed by its member cities. San Diego Community Power will likely set those rates at its Jan. 15 meeting.
For cities that still buy both power and pay for energy delivery from SDG&E, an average bill will rise 10.5 percent. Much of that is due to the cost of the energy itself, said Wagner, which is not something SDG&E can make a profit on.
Former Mayor Chimes In On Balboa Park Parking Drama
The drama surrounding Balboa Park parking is reaching a boiling point. Even former mayor Kevin Faulconer put in his two cents. Faulconer, who now leads the Lincoln Club Business League, called for an end to the paid parking plan.
“Balboa Park belongs to the people of San Diego, not to a parking meter,” said Faulconer in an email statement. “Adding new fees at a time when people are stretched thin is simply wrong. San Diegans should always be able to use their parks without being charged.”
The club said the paid parking plan is a “deeply flawed roll out,” and called on city officials for the immediate suspension of the program. Meanwhile, residents are also getting riled up. Meters along sixth avenue have been vandalized by spray paint, foam, and glue to avoid any payments getting into the machines. Yikes.
So, what does this mean for the city’s budget? Our social media star Bella Ross broke down how the parking plan could leave a big budget hole.
Related: In yesterday’s Morning Report, we highlighted Mayor Todd Gloria’s clapback at councilmembers who urged the city to suspend parking fees for San Diego residents at the park. We accidentally provided an incorrect link. Here’s the mayor’s memo.
In Other News
- The Union-Tribune pulled back the curtain on an addiction treatment program in the county’s Vista jail that’s showing positive early results.
- San Diego Unified announced Thursday it’s canceling school on Feb. 26 to accommodate a strike over special education pay and benefits, inconveniencing parents who now must find child care. (NBC 7)
- Imperial Beach residents are questioning a shooting by a sheriff’s deputy that left a homeless man dead near a winter festival last month. (KBPS)
- The county has launched its own wastewater infectious disease surveillance program to detect spreading viruses. (Union-Tribune)
- The city of Poway is cutting down nearly 3,000 trees for safety reasons. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, MacKenzie Elmer, and Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafana.
The post Morning Report: Audit Showed Homeless-Serving Agency Drew Down Reserves Before CEO Departure appeared first on Voice of San Diego.
