What's at stake?
The City of Fresno’s announcement followed city officials’ previous comments anticipating some Measure P arts grants recipients would see a “haircut” applied to their awards if the embezzled $1.5 million isn’t recovered.
New details of an ex-Fresno Arts Council employee’s reported embezzlement of at least $1.5 million in public arts grants — and the future of that grant program — were revealed in a joint statement from the Fresno City Council and Mayor’s Office on Tuesday afternoon.
Those details covered timeline clarifications, including that the embezzlement of $1.5 million was first reported to the City of Fresno on Thursday, Feb. 5, by an unnamed member of the Fresno Arts Council’s board of directors.
The statement followed a rare special city council meeting called with only 24 hours’ notice and consisting of three closed session agenda items.
The sudden closed-door meeting followed an emergency community meeting Monday night at Dulce Upfront in the Tower District where City Manager Georgeanne White took questions for more than an hour, providing some new details of the fledgling embezzlement case at the Fresno Arts Council.
The question of which pot of money the as-yet-unnamed ex-employee of the Fresno Arts Council had embezzled from became a point of confusion at Monday night’s meeting.
Tuesday’s statement underscores that a percentage of funds specifically from round two of the grants is still owed, “due to having a shortage of funds as a result of the embezzlement.” Some community members at Monday’s meeting shared that they have received $0 as of yet in round two of the arts grant funding.
Following comments on Monday that some grant recipients may see their year-two grants receive a “haircut” if the $1.5 million in funds can’t be recovered, Tuesday’s statement adds that the city intends to use “future Measure P funding to make those organizations whole who were owed money by the Arts Council.”
“How that occurs,” the statement continues, “is yet to be determined.”
As for the next grant cycle, the city doubled down on taking over and administering the third round of grant funding — a path that not all the artists dealing with one year after another of Measure P arts chaos have expressed confidence in.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any further steps are required before the city takes over as administrator of the grant program. The Measure P ordinance tasks “the Fresno Arts Council, or its successor local arts agency,” with implementing the arts grant program.
In the wake of the scandal, city officials haven’t held back in saying full blame for the embezzlement rests with the Arts Council.
“The Mayor and members of the City Council are appalled by the lack of safeguards put in place by the Fresno Arts Council,” the statement reads, “which ultimately allowed this embezzlement to occur.”
Tuesday’s statement called the loss of $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars “unacceptable” and said the city would pursue “every available avenue,” up to and including litigation, as well as a forensic financial investigation of the Arts Council.
The city also provided on Tuesday a dedicated phone number — 559-621-2999 — and email address — ExpandedArts@fresno.gov — where city officials are urging grant recipients to share documentation of their award agreements with the Arts Council so the city can make those whole.
