INC NEWS - Centro Hispano survives proposed Durham cuts (Indy Weekly)

[Mike - Hotmail]

Thanks John for posting the article.

There have been several questions raised over the last couple of years 
regarding how the city allocates and judges how 'non-city agency' monies are 
spent.

This was the first year I've been invited to sit on the panel.

With everyone's budget getting squeezed tighter and tighter for the last 
couple of years,  I've heard both elected officials and staff members 
repeating the phrase  "City Hall can't do it all!"

I have to agree.  Everyone needs to realize that their budgets are going to 
be scrutinized.

To solve Durham's problems we (the community) have to be volunteers in 
working together with our churches, our non profits and other not for profit 
agencies (Duke for instance) along with the county and United Way 
organizations to solve them.   We shouldn't expect the city to do for us via 
annual contributions via the budget process.

I was quite frankly surprised on how some monies are automatically 
designated to a few non profits out of the pool that others applying for 
money have to directly compete with.

It's getting harder for a mom and pop operation to compete with larger more 
organized groups.

But believe me,  every single application had someone (or several) very 
passionate people behind it vying for funding this year

And you can find reason to believe that their heart felt missions were 
worthy ones.

Trying to decide which one deserved to be placed above another (score wise) 
was a very difficult task.   There were several disagreements about a 
balanced allocation system (youth vs crime, arts vs. community, after school 
vs. neighborhood) and divergent opinions on a number of them.

Basically,  it came down to results and accountability for me and a focus on 
what the city of Durham basic functions are.

If an organization proved that they spent the money effectively (on programs 
and services) on as many people as possible ($$$/individual served) and they 
were able to show that they had a diverse board AND were able to match or 
solicit donations from other sources other than just the city ( and NOT THE 
COUNTY!!!) then in general they got better numbers.

Others that had limited boards, little or no other demonstrated fund raising 
activities or were requesting monies for salaries didn't get very high 
numbers, in my opinion.   For instance,  if a group was requesting $100,000 
and they spent over half of it on salaries, clerical support and benefits it 
raised a flag.   If the application didn't show other sources of funding 
another flag was raised.   Then again if the application lacked financial 
documentation to prove either one or both of these how were we able to tell 
how affective they would be spending the limited amount of money that others 
also were asking for?

In the end,  I think the city panel did the best that they could NOT 
polarizing the process.

Several of us were new to the panel and some others were old hats.

It was an imperfect endeavor but I'm hopeful that new people find the 
courage to participate next year too.

Finally,  I stand behind the comments that were published in the Indy piece.

I personally believe that the city (with the able assistance of Julie 
Brennan) tried to make the process as objective as possible.

In addition, I'm glad that the City Manager was able to find the additional 
funds for those organizations that got the funding they were lobbying for.

My heart goes out to those that weren't so fortunate.

I'm hoping that they will reapply next year.

mike


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Schelp" <bwatu at yahoo.com>
To: <inc-list at DurhamINC.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 2:43 PM
Subject: INC NEWS - Centro Hispano survives proposed Durham cuts (Indy 
Weekly)


> Article raises many good questions...
>
>
> Centro Hispano survives proposed Durham cuts
> The Independent Weekly, 9 June 2005
>
> Durham leaders will not follow the advice of a citizen
> panel that recommended cutting funds for El Centro
> Hispano by more than three quarters, in part because
> the center's services are too "Latino specific." But
> the organization is still fighting for its full
> request. Last year, El Centro--one of North Carolina's
> leading Latino organizations--received $33,920 from
> the city. This year, the 12-year-old organization
> requested $44,900 to support a youth program, summer
> camp, a community health fair and ongoing work with
> Durham Police, housing and other agencies that deal
> with local Spanish-speaking residents.
>
> Instead, a review panel recommended awarding only
> $5,000--a suggestion that city budget officials
> announced June 6 will not be followed. Among the
> reasons cited for El Centro's "low" rating of 71 out
> of 100 points (the cutoff score was 70) were that
> center programs "should be for any child or family
> regardless of race, not just Latino" and that "the
> bulk of [grant] money is for salaries and a one-time
> festival." (Of the $44,900 requested by El Centro,
> $12,380 would go to salaries and $3,000 to the Health
> Fiesta, according to its grant application).
>
> El Centro's leaders were bewildered by the panel's
> recommendation because the proposal they submitted was
> essentially the same as last year, when the
> organization received a rating of 98 and was given
> three quarters of the money it requested.
>
> "We just don't understand how this can happen," says
> Angelina Schiavone, El Centro's outgoing director.
> "The city has always been very positive and supportive
> about our work. Those views are not coming through in
> this decision."
>
> City Council member Eugene Brown had much the same
> reaction. "I don't know how this happened," he said in
> a phone conversation before Monday's council meeting,
> where it was announced that El Centro will receive
> $30,000 in grants this cycle. "It's going to change."
>
> While the city grant is a small part of El Centro's
> nearly $799,000 annual budget, Schiavone says its
> leaders are concerned about the reasons cited for the
> cut. The Latino population that El Centro serves
> represents people of many races and countries of
> origin, she notes, and the organization supports
> immigrants from African countries, as well. (The local
> Tanzanian immigrant association holds its meetings at
> El Centro's downtown Durham offices).
>
> "They said they want us to be more diverse and
> inclusive," Schiavone says. "But people have a
> different knowledge of what the Latino community is.
> Within the community we serve there is diversity. And
> the reason we focus on Latinos is that we feel this is
> a community that is underserved and marginalized."
>
> Others stress that El Centro's youth program is
> essential at a time when concerns about school dropout
> rates and gangs are on the rise in Durham. At the
> group's first meeting of the summer last week, Latino
> teenagers from several local high schools talked about
> the racism they'd experienced at the hands of fellow
> students and the support groups El Centro helped them
> form to bridge those gaps.
>
> Overall, the organization is offering people the kind
> of help "that, in fact, the city of Durham itself
> would be hard pressed to give them," writes Ariel
> Dorfman, a distinguished professor of Literature and
> Latin American Studies at Duke---one of a number of El
> Centro supporters who sent letters to the City Council
> asking for full funding for the group.
>
> On Monday night, members of El Centro's youth group,
> staff, volunteers and supporters marched to City Hall
> chanting, "El Centro Hispano unido jámas será vencido
> ("El Centro Hispano united will never be defeated").
> Youth group members hoisted a poster-size letter to
> the council with comments such as, "Don't marginalize
> me. Every time you do that it pushes me towards
> violence."
>
> During the meeting, the group learned that city budget
> officials had added $25,000 to El Centro's proposal
> for a total of $30,000. That recommendation now goes
> to City Council, which is slated vote on a budget June
> 20.
>
> Why did the review panel recommend cuts?
>
> A "consensus sheet" on El Centro's grant application
> to the city was signed by two panelists: Mike
> Shifflett, past president of the Interneighborhood
> Council and Harold Chestnut, a leader in the Partners
> Against Crime organization. The sheet lists reasons
> for both the low and high ratings given to the
> proposal--comments that contradict each other. For
> example, under "low rating justification," questions
> about "inclusiveness" are raised. But the high rating
> justification notes that services El Centro offers the
> Latino community are "not duplicated" by the city or
> other nonprofits.
>
> Chestnut--whose name appears beside comments on the
> low ratings--says he doesn't remember the specifics of
> El Centro's proposal or his written notes, since the
> panel made its evaluations back in March and looked at
> so many applications.
>
> Shifflett doesn't remember any debate on the panel
> about El Centro's target population, though he says he
> feels it's "very appropriate" for the group to focus
> on Latinos. He says he was most interested in whether
> all of the nonprofits he reviewed could show concrete
> results.
>
> This is the third year that Durham has used citizen
> panels to review grant requests from nonprofits doing
> work in the arts, public safety, youth and community
> development. El Centro was not the only nonprofit to
> see its funding request slashed. Panelists also
> recommended substantial cuts in requests from the
> African American Dance Ensemble, Schoolhouse of Wonder
> and the SEEDS community gardening program--among
> others. The $2.18 million available to fund nonprofits
> in 2006 is about the same as this year, according to
> city budget officials, while the number of groups
> applying for grants has risen from 54 to 64. The
> review process is aimed at helping the city make
> better and more accountable decisions about nonprofit
> funding. But some say it still has flaws.
>
> Barbara Lau, Community Programs Director for the
> Center for Documentary Studies--whose request for
> funds for a youth arts program was rejected by the
> panel this year--points out that nonprofits aren't
> able to choose the category in which they will be
> considered. Her organization's request, for example,
> was evaluated under community development, not arts
> and culture. City budget officials insist that the
> individual categories don't affect how proposals are
> evaluated since the scoring system is uniform.
>
> It's also not clear, Lau says, how the rating system
> for each proposal is related to the city's stated
> goals or its overall budget totals--a point on which
> volunteer panelist Shifflett, agrees. "I would love to
> be able to see a policy that gives direction to the
> panel about whether they are going to do capacity
> building or increase funding year to year for these
> organizations," he says.
>
> Some say El Centro's experience this year raises
> larger questions about the city's nonprofit grant
> review process. ("Are we asking other organizations if
> they serve Latinos?" asked one of the group's
> supporters).
>
> For Lau, those bigger questions include, "Who should
> be involved in deciding how the city determines who
> funds nonprofits? What should the panels look like,
> and how can the process become more transparent and
> less political?"
>
> More important than funding, El Centro's staff members
> say, is the need to make sure city leaders understand
> their organization's mission.
>
> "They say we are not diverse enough, but I'm
> Palestinian and I'm working at El Centro because this
> is my community," says Nadeen Bir, one of two
> part-time leaders of the youth group, Jovenes Líderes
> en Acción.
>
> "People don't realize that North Carolina is where the
> Latino population is growing the fastest," adds her
> co-leader, Sergio Graterol. "There aren't a lot of
> other places Latino youth can go."
>
>
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