Politics & Government

City Increases Funding to Councilwoman's Employer

After hiring an elected city official as its president, the Boys and Girls Club is getting 12 times what it did before from the city.

The amount the city gave a nonprofit organization increased more than 12-fold after it hired a city council member as its CEO.

The council voted to give only $1,000 through its two grant programs last year to the .

Then, in June, the club hired Councilwoman Maryann Edwards as its president. This year, the city gave $12,549 to the organization through those same programs.

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The city granted $7,549 on Feb. 8 as part of its Community Development Block Grant program and $5,000 on Feb. 22 through its Community Service Funding Program. The two programs – funded by taxpayers – give money to nonprofit organizations.

Last year, the City Council – which included Maryann Edwards – turned down the Boys & Girl’s Club’s application for the Community Development Block Grant, and it voted to give it only $1,000 through the Community Service Funding Program.

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Edwards was one of two members of the Community Services Funding Ad-Hoc Subcommittee in 2010, which read the applications and formed a recommendation to the council, according to city records. The other member was Mike Naggar.

Favoritism or worthy cause?

Edwards denied she was playing favorites since she left the room when the City Council voted on the grants during meetings last month.

She offered another explanation for the council’s decision in an e-mailed statement. “Perhaps the city increased the funding because the number of kids served by the four Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest County increased from 7,000 to 12,000.”

On top of the club’s growing clientele, the demand for the club’s more costly service grew by 10 percent, said John Whann, the club’s director of operations.

The club offers two childcare services: all-day and after school. The all-day service picks children up from their homes, takes them to school, picks them up again and takes them to the club, where they get help with their homework and take part in other activities, Whann said. This costs $300 a month, though needy families pay only $150.

The less expensive service – though the one that brings in less money – provides only after-school care and no transportation, he said.

Many parents switched from the all-day service to the after-school service last year, he said, so not only did the number of clients increase, but the club’s expenses did, too.

Other grants denied

While the Boys & Girls Club got more money, other seemingly worthwhile charities had their funds either cut or denied, despite their own growing clientele.

The Hospice of the Valleys is serving more people and has growing costs, yet their grant application was turned down flat, said Terry Azkoul, the executive director.

The number of patients the hospice cares for increased 15 percent from 2009 to 2010. Also, the number of patients with no or insufficient medical insurance increased 56 percent over that same period. Nonetheless, the City Council turned down the organization’s application for a $5,000 Community Services Funding Program grant.

Smiles 4 Kylee, a nonprofit organization that started in Temecula and gives school supplies to needy kids, was also turned down for its $5,000 grant application. This organization’s clientele more than doubled last year, said Pam Partch, the organization’s secretary.

Organizations that got grants last year through the Community Services Funding Grant were turned down this year, according to city records.

Habitat for Humanity, which got $5,000 last year, was denied this year. Hospice of the Valleys got $2,000 last year and nothing this year.

Organizations funded through the city’s other program, the Community Development Block Grant, also got cut this year.

CASA, a safe home for abused children, got $7,793 last year and got denied this year. The Assistance League of Temecula Valley got its funding cut from $9,333 last year to $5,049 this year.

To read more about the rising demand for nonprofit's services, .

The club’s good works

The Boys & Girls Club deserves the grant, Edwards said.

It provides childcare to needy families. Through its four sites – two in Temecula, one in Murrieta and one in Lake Elsinore – it gave 69,000 rides on 14 buses to more than 100 school sites in the Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore school districts.

More than 1,000 kids participate in the club’s sports leagues every Saturday and thousands go on field trips each year to places such as the beach, zoos, Sea World and college campuses.


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