Four former top employees with the San Francisco Parks Alliance, the politically connected nonprofit that has funneled millions toward the city’s green spaces, received bonuses last year while the organization was racking up a massive deficit, The Standard has learned.
Under the leadership of former CEO Drew Becher, the former employees — COO Justin Probert; COO, development, marketing, and programming officer Sonia Banks; chief strategist Kearstin Krehbiel; and director of finance Deanne Bray — each received between $5,000 and $10,000 in extra pay.
The bonuses, which were paid in addition to salaries ranging from about $150,000 to $180,000, were reported on the organization’s Form 990 covering July 2023 to June 2024, which was obtained by The Standard. Previous Parks Alliance 990s show that compensation for top executives has increased over the years, even amid financial troubles. Becher, for example, saw his salary increase from $185,595 in 2022 to $202,884 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit was experiencing continued budgetary issues. The organization closed 2023-24 with a $4.6 million budget deficit. While the figure was lower than the shortfall of $5.5 million in 2022-23, experts said it is unusual for a nonprofit in such financial distress to pay bonuses to top management.
“You would never, in a million years, give a bonus under these circumstances,” said Joan Harrington, a nonprofit ethics expert at Santa Clara University.
In a text message to The Standard about the bonuses, Bray wrote, “The only thing I can think of is that decisions [were] made above me.” The other three former employees who received bonuses did not return requests for comment.
In addition to the budget deficit, the nonprofit’s financial disclosure shows other problematic signs. The organization spent more on fundraising events than it brought in from those gatherings, losing more than $250,000.
The nonprofit’s board chair, Louise Mozingo, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Recreation and Parks Department, for which the Parks Alliance serves as a de facto fundraising arm, declined to comment.
For years, the Parks Alliance has acted as a fiscal sponsor for community organizations and a major fundraiser to support the city’s open spaces. It has active city contracts worth more than $1 million, supporting projects such as the Detroit Steps in Sunnyside and a mural in Glen Park, according to the controller’s office.
The Parks Alliance’s swanky galas are a who’s who of political figures, attracting the likes of state Sen. Scott Wiener, Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, former Assemblymember Phil Ting, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and Recreation and Parks chief Phil Ginsburg. Former board members include Liz Farrell, wife of former mayor Mark Farrell, and Kanishka Cheng of TogetherSF Action, a moderate political group that poured millions into local politics last year.
Harrington said that while it isn’t unusual for a nonprofit to lose money on fundraising events, the negative financial picture raises questions about why the Parks Alliance decided to overspend.
“If you know you’re in the red, you would think carefully about the event you were having,” she said. The organization’s contributions and grants dropped from $9.3 million in 2022-23 to $7.5 million in 2023-24. It also saw its program service revenue — money that comes from services or goods it sells related to its mission — go from $1,102,406 to $300,807 during the same period.
The Parks Alliance first came under scrutiny in 2020, when it was linked to the corruption scandal surrounding disgraced former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. Investigators discovered that Nuru funneled donations through the Parks Alliance that were used to influence contracting decisions. Though the Parks Alliance was not accused of wrongdoing, officials noted that the arrangement could have enabled corrupt practices.
In April, The Standard reported that Becher had quietly resigned as CEO amid questions about financial mismanagement.
On Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the district attorney had launched a criminal probe into the nonprofit after it was discovered that $3.8 million of restricted money intended for local community groups was allegedly spent on operating costs. The Chronicle had also reported in April that the Parks Alliance was having trouble reimbursing its community partners for as little as $100.
The district attorney declined to comment. The city attorney’s office, which is also investigating, called the recent reports about the nonprofit “extremely troubling” and said it was reviewing whether the organization had been using public money appropriately.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder on Tuesday called for a “full audit” of the Recreation and Parks Department in light of the developments surrounding the Parks Alliance. A spokesperson for the controller’s office said an audit of the two organizations, stemming from the Nuru scandal, is ongoing.
In February, the Parks Alliance hired Robert Ogilvie as CEO. Since then, it has reduced its staff by more than 50%, according to an email Ogilvie sent Monday to parties affiliated with the organization. The most recent Form 990 indicates that the organization had a staff of 119 in 2023-24.
“I have been on the job for a bit more than two months now, and though I knew that the organization had significant challenges, I joined because I believe in the mission of the Parks Alliance and the importance of its purpose to our local communities,” Ogilvie wrote.
Ogilvie confirmed that it was Becher who approved the executive bonuses and added that there will be no more bonuses under his leadership. The organization is working on reimbursing its community partners and plans to release an audit of its finances, he said.
As of this month, the organization has $1.6 million in assets, including $1.2 million in cash on hand.
“While our liabilities currently exceed our assets the SFPA remains a vital organization and continues to work with our community partners to raise funds and develop a long term plan to meet past, and future, project goals,” Ogilvie wrote in a statement.
Becher did not respond to a request for comment. On Monday, before The Standard obtained the Form 990, Becher said in a text message that public and private audits during his eight-year tenure found the organization to be in good standing.
Jim Lazarus, who has had multiple stints on the Parks Alliance board and returned in the fall of 2023, said Tuesday that there were obvious financial troubles.
“The board is only as informed as staff and officers inform us, until you do your audits and [IRS filings],” Lazarus said. “I don’t know what all the [contractual] obligations were, but obviously we had obligations to our partner organizations as well. Retrospect is always easy, but things were not managed appropriately by staff in that organization over the last two or three years.”