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Nov 3, 2009 11:43 pm US/Pacific
Nonprofit Accused Of Wasting $500K In Public Funds
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS13) ―
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The Economic Opportunity Council is accused by state officials of wasting more than $500,000 in taxpayer funds.
CBS
A California inspector general is trying to cut off a non-profit agency from public funds after it wasted more than half a million dollars, which includes a high-priced retreat at a Northern California casino.
The Economic Opportunity Council is accused by state officials of helping themselves to public funds in an audit by the Department of Community Development. According to the audit, the EOC of San Francisco has misspent more than $500,000 in state money.
"I am very much holding this agency up as a bad apple," said California Inspector General Laura Chick. "They're not thinking clearly about the use of public dollars and they do not deserve to be in this business."
An itemized list goes on and on, detailing $8,000 spent at a board of directors training event at Cache Creek Casino; $2,300 was spent on water, $700 on coffee service and $450 on Kleenex.
"I want to offer to buy their supplies for them at Costco. I know I could do a lot better," Chick said. "These are not items, by the way, that should be coming out at all from taxpayer dollars," she added.
The EOC office in San Francisco closed early on Tuesday, but CBS13 was able to speak by phone to Hazel King, the woman listed as the chairperson of the board of directors. She would not comment about the audit on the record, but said the agency would have a response soon.
But any response might be too late for Chick.
"You're in the business of a non-profit, to give very scarce dollars to people in need," she said. "You don't go to Cache Creek Casino for director's training. And everyone brings their own Kleenex. They must be doing a lot of crying there."
Chick said that her department is working with the city to make sure anybody that relies on the services the EOC provides is actually getting what they need.
The EOC is in line for another $150,000 in federal stimulus money that they've already been granted, but Chick said she is going to work to make sure they don't get it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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