Portland observer., December 14, 2011, Page 4, Image 4

(The
Page 4
Fortiani» (Obstruer
December 14, 2011
Audit Check Sinks CEO
tin.
spending, so the county, as stew ­
A ccording to Poe, the funds ards o f the public m onies, can
taxpayers to reconsider the fund­ provided by the county are im ­ ensure the funds are being spent
ing they provide the organization. perative for the service delivery correctly.
M ultnomah County said last to seniors in northeast Portland.
“We have an obligation, given
week the audit revealed $44,000 in He said, “95 percent o f the county this bad econom y, to make sure
questionable reim bursem ents for funds we receive go
dollars are stretched
spending from M undy’s credit to support our senior
as far as they can go
card that has no clear connection services.”
to deliver those ser­
to the business o f the U rban
Poe said the orga­
vices,” said Austin.
League and their mission.
n izatio n also p ro ­
“The Urban League
“This isn’t about the agency vides a num ber of
is an im portant part
or the county’s judgm ent of the o th e r s e r v ic e s to
o f that social service
a g e n c y ,” sa id A u s tin . “ T he those in need.
delivery.”
c o u n ty c o u n ts on the U rban
“ W e do a d v o ­
The scrutiny sur­
League to deliver these important c a c y , w o r k f o r c e ,
ro u n d in g M u n d y ,
services to seniors, low income H ealthy S tart p ro ­
who has been CEO
people and other vulnerable popu­ gram s for kids. We
and president o f the
lations, and we need them to show do a n u m b e r o f Marcus Mundy
o rg an izatio n since
us the controls are in place in things for the city
2006, began in 2009
order to continue the funding re­ of P ortlan d and the state o f O r­ after he failed to provide receipts
lationship.”
eg o n ,” he said.
fo r th e L e a g u e ’s u se o f a
T he c o u n ty has giv en the
A lthough the Urban League M asterCard during a review.
league, which operates on a bud­ plays an im portant role in helping
The financial investigation of
get of roughly $1 million annually, vulnerable populations, A ustin the organization’s spending prac­
about $250,000 a year, said A us­ said they m ust account for their tices, however, is the third o f its
c o n t i n u e d f r o m fron t
kind in over 20-years.
During the late 80s, the organi­
zation suffered a $400,000 debt
a ttrib u te d to p re s id e n t H erb
Caw thorne, and again, financial
problem s em erged in the late 90s
under president Lawrence Dark,
who resigned after accusations
for the m isuse of funds.
“W hen we see receipts that
they are spending on a bunch of
different things that d o n ’t appear
to be at the core o f the Urban
L eague’s m ission,” Austin said.
“T hat is p ro b lem atic, and we
w ould be rem iss ifw e d id n ’t take
action and address this issue.”
Poe said, “We, as a board, are
p re p a rin g
to
re s p o n d
to
M ultnom ah County, and we will
p ro v id e o u r re s p o n se to the
county audit request this w eek.”
Poe said he, along with other
Urban League board members and
staff, are appreciative of everything
Mundy has provided the organiza­
NEW
tion in the past, but they are in
support of his decision to resign.
“He resigned because he didn’t
want to continue to be a distracter,”
said Poe. “He didn’t want to con­
tinue to be a distraction or take
away the focus from the great and
necessary work that the Urban
League o f Portland is doing.”
Although the county has yet to
hear from the Urban League, A us­
tin said he expects to hear from
them soon.
“The county’s goal is to con­
tinue to work with the Urban
L eague and sort th ro u g h the
spending issues,” he said. “We
hope that they will put controls in
place that prevent this from hap­
pening again.”
Poe said, “The staff and the
board o f the Urban League of
Portland are focused on continu­
ing quality and necessary services
we are delivering to north and
northeast Portland.”
Port Shuts
Down
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
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Limited operations continued
through much of the day at the other
two terminals.
The longshorem en's union said
it sym pathized with the goals of
the Occupy m ovem ent but d is­
agreed with shutting down opera­
tions that would deprive its m em ­
bers o f pay.
A couple o f hundred protest­
ers blocked tractor-trailer rigs from
making deliveries at two major ter­
minals, one that handles grain and
potash exports and the other for
container imports and exports.
About 100 people stood at T er­
minal 5, with 12 police officers on
bicycles between the protesters
and the street. Passing trucks oc­
casionally honked their horns, and
a few that tried to enter the term i­
nal were let through.
Gov. John Kitzhaber said al­
m ost 5,000 Oregon com panies
depend on exports and employ
thousands o f people who are part
o f the so-called 99 percent that
the Occupy Wall Street protests
purport to represent.
"In trying to force a public de­
bate — and I cheer the public
debate, I think it's im portant — I
think the movement does some
damage to the people that it's o s­
tensibly trying to help,” Kitzhaber
told reporters at a gathering of
business and political leaders in
Portland.
-Associated Press