PREPARED BY: GREG DWYER DATE OF MEETING: 06/05/2023
SUBJECT:
TITLE
CONSIDER ADOPTING RESOLUTIONS APPROVING FY2023/24 FINAL GRANT AWARDS FOR THE ANNUAL SAN PABLO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANT PROGRAM AND ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING $45,000 IN EXTERNAL FUNDING FROM THREE SOURCES TO THE FY 2023/24 CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY EVENTS BUDGET TO FULLY FUND THE FY 2023/24 PROGRAM FOR A TOTAL PROGRAM APPROPRIATION OF $100,000 IN ONE-TIME GRANT DISBURSEMENTS
CEQA: This is not a project as defined by CEQA.
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CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt Resolutions
Body
WORKPLAN Compliance statement
The Community Grant Program 501(c)(3) - Special Event Funding is an adopted policy item under the FY 2023-25 Council Priority Workplan, effective Mach 1, 2023.
BACKGROUND
The City Council previously appropriated $55,000 in discretionary funding as part of the FY 2023/24 Adopted Budget under the City Council Departmental Budget (100-1110-44050) to provide financial assistance to non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations and establish a FY 2023/24 Annual San Pablo Community Foundation Grant Program. An additional $45,000 in funding has been received from three outside sources to support the grant program as follows: The Lytton Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians - $25,000; Republic Services, Inc., dba Richmond Sanitary Services - $15,000; and a donation from the San Pablo Senior Advisory Board - $5,000. With combined funding from all sources, there is a total program funding of $100,000 for the Annual San Pablo Community Foundation Grant Program for FY 2023/24.
San Pablo Community Foundation Grant Review Committee
On May 18, 2023, the San Pablo Community Foundation (SPCF) Grant Review Committee reviewed all 13 eligible applications totaling $120,700 in grant funding requests received by the City for the FY 2023/24 SPCF Annual Grant Program following the grant application deadline of April 13, 2023.
SPCF Grant Review Committee - Grant Award Recommendations
Following its review, the SPCF Grant Review Committee recommended that the City Council award 13 applicants for FY 2023/24 SPCF grant funding awards totaling $100,000, the full amount of available program funding, as set forth in detail below.
Conflict of Interest Issues for City Council or City Staff
Under State conflict of interest laws, including Government Code section 1090 prohibiting conflicts with contracts including grant agreements, generally public officials are not able to participate in governmental decisions related to a nonprofit for which the official is an officer or from which the official receives gifts, income, stipend or travel expenses and must publicly announce the nature of the conflict.
A non-salaried or non-compensated member only of a nonprofit may participate in the governmental decision related to the nonprofit but must announce the fact of membership in the nonprofit. With all governmental decisions, it is the responsibility of the public official to be unbiased and come to the decision with an open mind willing to hear all facts and positions.
With recusals or disqualifications for conflicts of interest, the Councilmembers are not counted towards the quorum. There may be occasions when a City Councilmember or City staff member are members of a potential grant recipient organization but are not an officer, serving on the board of directors, or otherwise receiving gifts, income, stipend or travel expenses. In those instances, if the Councilmembers and staff members indicate that they can be impartial in determining the grant awards, they do not have to recuse themselves from the vote or process.
As has been the prior practice, it is anticipated that City Councilmembers or San Pablo Community Foundation Grant Committee Members who sit on the Boards for any non-profit that has applied for these grants recuse (or disqualify) themselves from any discussions, recommendations, or votes for those non-profits to avoid any conflicts of interests or even the appearance of a conflict. Thus, the Council action will be segmented into 2 Parts, a Part 1 and a Part 2, to allow these recusals to occur. This is a process specifically allowed under the regulations for the Political Reform Act (2 California Code of Regulations section 18706), which the City has also used for Section 1090 contract conflicts. As such, the nonprofit with the conflicted official is addressed first without that official’s participation and once that action is taken (e.g., decision on whether to fund that nonprofit), then the conflicted official may rejoin the Council to make the decision about the other nonprofits.
This year, Part 1 includes a recommended grant award to nonprofit Weigh of Life. Current San Pablo Community Foundation Grant Committee Member, Genoveva Garcia Calloway, serves on the Weigh of Life Board of Directors and recused from participating in the San Pablo Community Foundation Committee’s recommendation to award Weigh of Life a grant. Additionally, Council Member Pabon-Alvarado provides consulting services to Weigh of Life from time to time and for that reason will recuse from making participating in the City Council’s decision about whether to approve the grant to Weigh of Life.
Recommended Grant Awards
Below are the grant award recommendations for FY 2023/24 from the SPCF Grant Committee submitted for City Council’s consideration:
Ø Part 1 - (BY SEPARATE RESOLUTION DUE TO CONFLICT OF INTEREST)
Organization: (General Fund Category) Amount:
1. Weigh of Life $ 7,500
Ø PART 2 (BY RESOLUTION)
Organization: (General Fund Category) Amount:
1. California Symphony $ 10,000
2. House of Loving Hands $ 5,000
3. Kiwanis Club of San Pablo $ 7,500
4. Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy $ 5,000
5. Morada de Mujeres Milenio $ 5,000
6. San Pablo Baseball Association (Fiscal agent Peacemakers, Inc.) $ 10,000
7. San Pablo Cowboys Youth Association (Fiscal agent Peacemakers, Inc.) $ 10,000
8. Wayfinder Family Services (The Hatlen Center) $ 10,000
9. West County READS $ 5,000
10. West Contra Costa Salesian Boys & Girls Club $ 10,000
Organization: (AB 939/Environmental Category) Amount:
11. Earth Team $ 7,500
12. The Watershed Project $ 7,500
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Total: $100,000
Separate Resolutions for Part 1 and Part 2 grant awards are included for City Council review and consideration (See Attachments), as follows:
• Part 1 will be considered and voted on by the City Council without Councilmember Pabon Alvarado due to her Conflict of Interest.
• Part 2 will be considered and voted on by the entire City Council as there are no conflicts of interest.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds totaling $55,000 are already budgeted in the FY 2018-21 City Council departmental budget (100-1110-44050) for these grants and all of those funds remain available. Additional funding of $45,000 from three external sources provides combined grant funds totaling $100,000, sufficient to cover all proposed grant awards if accepted by the City into the FY 2023/24 General Fund budget (100-0000-33403) and appropriated to the City Council Special Events budget for expenditure (100-1110-44050). The City will process checks for the SPCF grant award recipients upon City Council approval, with checks being mailed by the first week of July, 2023.
ATTACHMENTS:
Att A - Part 1 Resolution for FY 2023/24 SPCF Grant Awards
Att B - Part 2 Resolution for FY 2023/24 SPCF Grant Awards