Doug, I sat on the board, on the exec committee and on the project fund committee at the time the $82,000 was written off. I've spoken to highest officials at NRP and the atty gen's office about it... tried to convince the board to look more closely into what was going on financially... to no avail. You did a good job of trying to spin the numbers, though!
There really was only $127,000 spent on community projects... there really was an $82,000 write off that NRP refused to pay for... there really was $8000 spent on the phone bill for one year... Even the $5000 meeting expense is ridiculous... when my boss calls a meeting, he doesn't provide snacks and drinks... he doesn't rent a special place or have a "candle lighting" and special, paid "mediators..." he just calls a meeting... we sit there without snacks till it is done... and we go. NO ADDED EXPENSE. The same person who managed (?) this half-million dollar per year budget is the same one who has been the most vocal about pushing through the Access project. Wendy Introwitz Pareene South Minneapolis Message: 12 Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Doug Walter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [Mpls] Neighborhood associations - follow the money - uh... Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2003 16:34:44 -0500 Organization: Nokomis East Neighborhood Association Wendy Introwitz Pareene writes: > http://www.ag.state.mn.us/charities/search_res1.asp?Fed=411309335&Yr=CURR&cm dSearch=Submit > > This link is to the charities division of the Minnesota > attorney general's office for one Minneapolis neighborhood ... > ...A 1 year budget of $450,000+ > about $200,000 goes to staff salaries, bennies, office space > for the staff, phone bills ($8000 for 1 year?). $82,000 gets > written off because NRP refuses to cover these expenses for > whatever reason(?). That leaves... about $120,000 for actual > projects/programs for this neighborhood. Doug Walter replies: Wendy, I read the State Auditor's report on Lyndale Neighborhood Association entirely different. It actually states that Lyndale put $368k back into the neighborhood ("Program Service Expense") in program funds--not the $120k that you deduce. The "red ink" $82k that you say is written off by NRP appears to be nothing of the sort, but the difference in assets from the year before ("Changes in Fund Balance"). Their payroll is low, and most other expenses are more than reasonable. I agree that the $8,144 listed as "telephone" seems high when taken at face value. However, that amount may depend on how they classify expenses--it may include their web development and ISP/Hosting charges, etc., which I don't see listed elsewhere. I do know--having been through the process--that the State's auditors miss nothing. Doug Walter TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
