Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER DIRECTING STAFF TO AUDIT THE CITY OF CARSON'S CASH AND IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CARSON CITIZEN'S CULTURAL ARTS FOUNDATION, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
Mayor Robles has made a request that Staff undertake an audit of the Citizen's Community Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization ("Foundation), including all revenues and expenditures. The Foundation has been active in organizing or assisting with numerous community events, e.g. the Jazz Festival, Juneteenth, and the Women's Conference. It is one of the largest non-profit partners the City has in mounting special events.
The Mayor was concerned that at the February 19, 2019 City Council meeting, Councilmember Davis-Holmes presented a check from the Foundation to another organization. The appearance of City monies being directed to another group without the consent or knowledge of the City was what concerned the Mayor.
Staff is uncertain about its ability to order an "audit" of all of the Foundation's revenues and expenditures if they do not originate from or relate to the City of Carson, but some audit rights may exist under any arrangement that exists between the parties. Furthermore, all non-profit organizations have certain minimum obligations for reporting and transparency under Federal and state laws, so some information should be readily available on-line, but not to the level of detail requested by the Mayor.
Unlike simpler audits of, say, Cultural Arts Funding recipients, events staged and organized by the Foundation are large and highly intertwined with the City's resources. Such an audit could be a lengthy process, and consume significant staff time during a critical time - budget season. Staff believed it was important to place the question of whether to even undertake such an audit before the City Council to make sure that this information is being requested by at l...
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