Neighborhood groups held contractually accountable by City Hall
Neighborhood groups in Santa Monica must now sign a contract before accepting any money from City Hall.
The Santa Monica City Council last week unanimously agreed that the nonprofit groups should be held accountable on how they use City Hall funds.
“There was no contract,” said City Councilman Bob Holbrook, who brought the issue to the council. “There was no handing them a document saying, ‘If you receive city funding, here’s what you can do.’”
Holbrook said he was concerned that some of the neighborhood groups have in the past used City Hall funds to campaign on political issues. He pointed to an election earlier this year for Proposition A, an initiative that would have allowed homeowners to decide if their homes should be designated as historic landmarks. Holbrook said two groups — the North of Montana Association and Friends of Sunset Park — used City Hall dollars to distribute election materials urging a “No” vote on the measure.
“I think that the neighborhood groups need to get out of politicking or stop taking city money,” Holbrook said.
There are eight nonprofit neighborhood groups in Santa Monica that are recognized by City Hall. Since 1999, those groups have applied for and received $59,540 in matching grants, ranging from $1,080 to the maximum $4,000 annual contribution, according to city documents.
In order to receive money, the groups must show they will raise at least half as much through cash or in-kind donations, including volunteer time, professional services and materials.
Before agreeing to the contractual mandate, City Councilman Ken Genser asked that the restriction apply to all groups that ask for money from City Hall, including the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce.
Judy Rambeau, the City Hall official who oversees the matching grants, said that although some groups did send out materials against Proposition A, they used their own money.
Doris Sosin, NOMA’s temporary co-chair, agreed.
“We weren’t campaigning,” she said. “We took a stance against it because our whole reason for having the organization was for protecting quality of life.
3E3,“(Having a contract) makes sense,” she added. “That doesn’t bother me that there’s contract. If we’re taking city funds, they need to be used responsibly.”
Sosin said City Hall’s matching grants are helpful because they help the group cover the $3,000 cost of mailing out newsletters to all 3,500-plus households north of Montana Avenue.
Rambeau said any nonprofit in the city can apply for the matching grants until March for the next fiscal year.
Typically the money is used for publishing and distributing newsletters, conducting surveys, buying advertisements for upcoming events or public service announcements, increasing membership and administrative costs.
Currently there are six neighborhood groups active in the city — the Friends of Sunset Park, Northeast Neighbors, North of Montana Association, Pico Neighborhood Association, Sunset Park Associated Neighbors, and Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition. The Ocean Park Community Organization and Mid-City Neighbors are inactive.
In order to qualify for a matching grant, the groups must meet five criteria. They must represent a Santa Monica neighborhood, be a recognized nonprofit, have an active board of directors that meets regularly, hold at least one general membership meeting each year and maintain a membership of at least 50 active members residing at different addresses.
“The idea of this whole program is really that the groups would be independent, autonomous groups,” Rambeau said. “They’re not arms of the city... the idea is that they use this money to increase their membership and communicate better.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 17, 2003. Read the original PDF.