Front Page  »  

Financial mismanagement continues at SLO County waste agency

December 1, 2024

Julie Tacker

OPINION by JULIE TACKER

Years of financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest and embezzlement at San Luis Obispo County’s waste management agency led to investigations, resignations and an arrest. Even so, it appears that instead of learning from the past, conflicts of interest and fiscal mismanagement continue.

As trash rates skyrocket, an agency paid through local trash bills, the SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA), continues to spend money on pet projects, one of which is tied to one of its board members.

In November, the IWMA board awarded a $10,000 grant to the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO) to partially fund their Green Business Program. The program provides free technical assistance for small to medium size businesses to help them save money and resources.

ECOSLO Executive Director Kendra Paulding’s application explains their intended use of the $10,000 grant. Kendra Paulding was picked for the nonprofit’s leadership role after her husband Jimmy Paulding won a seat on the SLO County Board of Supervisors.

Kendra Paulding’s application breaks down the funds into three categories, and commits to tracking monies spent over a two-year period:

  • $5,000 for ECOSLO staff time (salaries and benefits).
  • $1,500 for ECOSLO administration (office rent, insurance, internet, utilities, etc.)
  • $3,500 for 14 $250 rebates to SLO County businesses to help offset the costs of purchasing reusable products for break room kitchens within these small businesses, such as stainless steel cups, bamboo or metal utensils, bamboo or metal plates and bowls, cloth napkins, metal to-go containers, reusable silicone zip-lock bags.

Encouraged by IWMA’s Executive Director Peter Cron, whose pitch falsely claimed the IWMA was one of ECOSLO’s green businesses, the IWMA board voted to provide the grant. For the record, the IWMA is not currently a certified green business.

Only Arroyo Grande Councilman Jim Guthrie asked hard questions and then voted against the expenditure. Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, who represents the county, recused himself from the vote because he had a financial conflict of interest because of his wife’s employment.

The awarded grant earmarks $6,500 to give away $3,500 for just 14 businesses to spend $250 each to stock their break room kitchens with reusable’s over the convenience of disposable non-recyclable coffee pods, cups and napkins.

These top-heavy expenses to overhead and labor are lopsided.

The IWMA should return to its vision: “We will make continuous progress towards reducing waste in San Luis Obispo County.”

IWMA needs to stop wasting money, send ECOSLO to the thrift store where it can get reusable items for a fraction of the cost, take already manufactured products out of the waste stream, reduce energy by not manufacturing new kitchenware and benefit more small businesses than just fourteen.

I don’t get it and can’t get behind the continued mismanagement.

 


Loading...
Subjects:         
Related:


5 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

I can see my saltiness in my post below. I just see the irony in the 2.5% increase the elderly on SS have to endure. It’s been really tough on them the past few years! (I hope things are better by the time I’m ready to take mine.)

BUT I regress.

We should be giving Julie T an pat on the back and huge Thank You, for keeping her keen eye out on all the silliness that goes on. So Thank you Julie!! WE appreciate you!


4

You know if I am going donate my hard earned $, so the garbage company can play Santa to a few businesses, we should have a say so. I would rather they give a kickback to the elderly, trying to survive on a laughable 2.5% cost of living increase, when we all know it was more like 30 to 36%.


0

First of all, I have a problem with the grant process. It seems everything needs a grant for funding, another words, more government waste by laundering tax dollars through a loosie goosy less regulated costly admin. It seems we can’t fix a road or build a bridge without a grant these days. Then you have the nonprofits, what a scam in plain daylight. I can remember when the county less than a dozen non-profits, today there are over a thousand and some people start them instead of seeking employment. If you ask the question, what percentage of the money collected is required to go to the stated benefit, the answer will surprise you.


11

Hey, ECOSLO? It’s not “free”. Those are my tax dollars that I paid to the garbage company to do garbage company things. I did not agree, nor authorize, the garbage company to hand out cash gifts for staff salary, utilities, nor paper plates and spatulas in the break room of a NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION!


Paying for salaries, utilities, and coffee cups and coffee makers is certainly a definition of a profit!


How about, instead, your paid for “environmentalists” go down into SLO creek and clean it up? That, I shall happily pay for. You could even ask the garbage company for help…


21

You nailed it Julie! Why is a grant being used for a company’s employees’ break room supplies when the business owner or their employees should be responsible for that? Grants are written with specific rules/instructions as to what services/items can be used with the money from the grant. Grants are subject to audits to insure that the organization receiving the grant is abiding/has abided by the grant’s rules. I can’t believe that this grant allows purchases for employee break rooms! This grant was undoubtedly written to assist small businesses with financial assistance to purchase recycled, reusable products used in their EVERYDAY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES for example a restaurant purchasing containers made of 80% + post consumer waste materials where these containers are then continuously reused to store compostable food materials that will be picked up weekly as green waste. As a Procurement Officer for a large State of California agency for 23 years prior to my retirement, I have tremendous experience dealing with federal/state/local grants and their audits and reading about how this grant will be used (especially where the majority of the funds are earmarked for administrative costs and not allocated to the business’ themselves) sounds fishy at best! An independent third party needs to review ECOSLO’s proposed use of this grant to ensure ECOSLO is following the grant requirements!


61