For the second time in less than a year, legislation was introduced to City Council to make more lenient the fundraising performance standards required of Friends of Hemming Park.
“It’s a bad indication,” said council member Bill Gulliford, who introduced the legislation Tuesday to amend the $1 million contract between the city and the nonprofit.
The legislation was introduced as a one-cycle emergency to allow the Friends to receive a $150,000 installment from the city that was scheduled June 1 but withheld.
Based on a report submitted by the organization to the city, the fundraising performance requirement in the contract that would allow the payment was not met unless concession sales and other fees collected could be included with donations.
The contract calls for $200,000 to be raised within nine months of the Sept. 1 effective date of the contract.
The organization is required to raise a total $250,000 within a year of the effective date.
The city agreed to pay the Friends $1 million to manage the park; to date, the organization has received $600,000.
Nearly $90,000 in non-donation revenue was disallowed as fundraising when the Friends submitted a financial report required to receive the June 1 payment.
That caused the organization to fall short of the $200,000 mark and delayed the payment, said mayor’s office spokesman Bill Spann.
The latest legislation would change the language in the contract from “private donations” to “revenues, which shall include without limitation, all private donations, concessionaire fees, advertising fees and event license fees.”
Gulliford co-sponsored legislation in February to allow the Friends to receive an installment payment based on $50,000 in grants the nonprofit received months before the management agreement was in effect.
He said Tuesday he’s concerned about the Friends’ progress toward solvency.
“Even if my colleagues agree to amend the agreement, it’s not working,” Gulliford said. “It has to be self-sustaining. We may have to rethink the whole thing and how to proceed.”
Council member Matt Schellenberg, who cast the only vote against the contract when it was approved by council in August, said Tuesday he is concerned about the Friends’ performance.
“The problem is the organization has not fulfilled what it said it would do. They are trying to get money from the city when they do not deserve it,” he said.
Bill Prescott, Friends board member, said not receiving the June 1 payment became an issue for the organization three weeks ago when the city rejected the concession income as donations.
“The piggy bank is getting empty,” he said.
By now, Gulliford said, the Friends should be covering the expenses to manage the park through donations and earned income and the organization should be “banking the payments we contribute for the future.”
Asked about the future of the relationship between the Friends and the city beyond the 18-month agreement that expires April 1, Prescott said the organization likely will need more money from the city to continue park management.
He estimated Tuesday the amount could be close to $500,000 per year.
Gulliford said it will be a tough sell to convince him the city should take on a recurring financial obligation for Hemming Park.
“I have said over and over this is one-time money,” he said.
The amendment legislation as well as the Friends’ performance to date will be topics of discussion at the council Finance Committee on Monday, Gulliford said.
“I introduced this legislation so we can have a debate,” he said.
In addition, a public hearing is scheduled at the Aug. 11 council meeting, when the contract amendment could come up for vote.
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