San Francisco funds many NGOs, now asking for accountability

San Francisco Chronicle/C.W. Nevius 5/31/14.  "Nonprofits must produce results if they want city funding."
 

Could you please be accountable?

"San Francisco's social help network is wide, robust and wildly expensive. A 2009 study found that the city was funding 804 nonprofit vendors at a cost of $483 million. At the time, that was two to three times as much per person as Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Mateo counties. And that was five years ago. If you don't think the numbers have gone up, you haven't been paying attention - this year the cost is above $500 million.

Mayor Ed Lee signing the balanced 2013-15 budget

And it doesn't end with getting the original funding. Once a nonprofit is on the ledger sheet, it's unlikely that it will be removed the next year - even if performance isn't up to standard. That is if someone can figure out how to measure their goals. Accountability isn't a city strong point - we're better at throwing money at problems and hoping things all work out. So here's a crazy idea. Suppose the social service network were run like a business. Suppose that at each round of funding, clear and definable goals were set.

....  The nonprofit has to come up with its own measuring metric - and if the results fall short, there are consequences. Lurie suggests that city government "doesn't have the bandwidth" to do that. Why not? If we're spending $500 million a year, surely there's enough to buy a little extra oversight.

....  "Sometimes we've tried a group and it didn't work," Lurie said. "But I would say the model works. This is why we're attracting investors. There are decisions to be made, and we expect there will be more. But I believe we have built a culture of accountability." Accountability. What a concept."   Read article.

Related -  San Francisco budget, 7/24/13.  "Mayor Edwin M. Lee today signed San Francisco's two-year balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2013-14 and 2014-15 after the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved it yesterday. The two-year balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2013-14 and 2014-15 totals $7.9 billion annually, and it closes budget shortfalls of $124 million for FY 2013-14 and $256 million for FY 2014-15. The Mayor and Board of Supervisors worked closely together to develop this budget, and collaborated with residents, community organizations, City Departments and City employees to deliver the balanced budget on time."  Mayor Ed Lee, 2013-15 budget disclosures.

Note:  Daffy Duck graphic from Schools matter, "Florida toughens Pre-K standards".  Mayor Ed Lee signing City and County of San Francisco 2013-15, two year budget from the related articles above.

Posted by Kathy Meeh