The implosion of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s nonprofit partner Parks Alliance this week has several neighborhood groups incensed, searching for answers and wondering if they will get their funds back.
“It's absolutely nuts,” Friends of Lakeside Village's Kath Tsakalakis said of the sudden closure this week. “There's no good reason for it at all.”
The city’s press revealed on May 16 that the 50-year-old nonprofit diverted roughly $3.8 million in funds restricted for capital improvements at a shoreline park to cover its operating costs. The nonprofit’s Executive Director Drew Becher stepped down earlier this year and it was revealed that Recreation and Parks Department Director Phil Ginsburg was aware of Parks Alliance’s poor financial state many months ago. The city agencies are investigating.
The Ingleside Light checked in with the nine neighborhood groups that used Parks Alliance as a fiscal sponsor to pay vendors and reimburse volunteers for expenses. Many shared Tsakalakis’ reaction. Others also hoped their funds would be returned soon.
Tsakalakis’ group organizes events, such as live music and workout classes at Lakeside Landing, as well as volunteer cleanups throughout Lakeside Village. It contracts with the Ocean Avenue Association to keep the corridor clean.
Tsakalakis said she saw red flags late last year when Parks Alliance was slow to make reimbursements and pay vendors. The nonprofit’s senior management assured her there were no cash-flow issues. She said she was told the delay was due to a new finance team and the outsourcing of part of the process and that things would improve by 2025.
Parks Alliance has not reimbursed $26,000 worth of invoices to small business owners, interns, volunteers and even to herself. The group’s restricted funds account was supposed to have $16,000, which she had budgeted to last until the end of this year.
“It's really a disgrace,” Tsakalakis said. “I mean, the lack of integrity of the people running Parks Alliance that they thought it was okay to steal from their community partners to pay themselves their own salaries, bonuses, rent and operating expenses. It's really sad.”
Friends of Lakeside Village has been working with District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar to find a solution to keep them and the other community groups afloat. Tsakalakis also said that some of these groups also formed a self-made advisory group to navigate the situation with the Parks Alliance team but little progress has been made.
In Ingleside proper, members of Ridge Lane Neighbors first found out about Park Alliance’s problems through news reports and have had little to no communication with the nonprofit.
“Basically, we were blindsided by the disintegration of Parks Alliance,” Barbara VanderBorght said. “There was no communication until the public announcements and they do have our money, which has not been returned and the fate of which is unclear.”
The group was using their funds for their ongoing work to build a staircase along Ridge Lane and to purchase or be reimbursed for supplies for their monthly clean-ups.
Friends of Balboa Park’s Paul Hagen said his organization hadn’t started fundraising yet, and the Geneva Community Garden’s Jeanne Depman said her group only had about $300 tied up with Parks Alliance.
Friends of OMI Mini Parks-We Are OMI hosts monthly community clean-ups and neighborhood events throughout the Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside. The Parks Alliance implosion is the second scandal impacting their funds that they’ve had to navigate.
In 2023, the group was awarded funds from a Community Challenge Grant to bring a nature exploration area to the Brotherhood Way greenway but have faced multiple roadblocks including former City Administrator employee Lanita Henriquez, who oversaw the grant program, being charged with fraud at the beginning of that year resulting in funds being rescinded and the group having to reapply and working through land use and permitting issues.
“This story broke and here we are, scrambling to save our project once again,” said Johanna Lopez Miyaki, the group’s founder.
Lopez Miyaki said that they are owed $500 in reimbursements and their restricted funds account was supposed to have just over $2,000, which she was confident would be restored but is now unsure.
The Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee is holding a hearing on Thursday at 10 a.m. about the Parks Alliance.
“The trust is lost and I am afraid there is no going back,” Lopez Miyaki said.
Anne Marie Kristoff (she/her) is a recent graduate from San Francisco State University's journalism program. She enjoys writing about the arts, entertainment and nature.
