‘Seattle News Weekly’: The Big O Talks Reclaiming The Village and Nonprofit Fraud
The Big O joined Seattle News Weekly on Thursday to discuss two significant issues in King County: the upcoming Reclaiming The Village event at Garfield High School this weekend and the ongoing nonprofit fraud concerns.
Supporting Garfield High School: Reclaiming The Village
This Saturday, January 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Reclaiming the Village: A Black Family & Community Summit is happening at Garfield High School, The Big O’s alma mater. He discussed how the event aims to address the pain and trauma associated with gun violence and community unrest, specifically referencing the on-campus killing of student Amarr Murphy-Paine in June, 2024.
"If we're not walking a mile in the shoes of students, if we're not walking the mile in the shoes of these young people, then we won't understand their challenges and we're not able to help them,” he said.
The event aims to gather community members, especially the Garfield community, to engage with what is happening with the students on campus. The goal is to show people how they can volunteer, be visible in the building, help build a sense of safety, and support the young people, The Big O said.
Nonprofit Fraud in King County
The conversation delved into the ongoing King County fraud concerns, an issue that came to light over the summer through a King County audit that revealed some nonprofit organizations took advantage of taxpayer dollars.
“This is real direct human impact. These are dollars that never touched the streets,” The Big O said.
The Issues Found in the Audit:
Potential Fraud, Waste, and Abuse: King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn described the situation as a "disaster," noting that a lot of money was going out the door without control.
Altered Documents: Documents were reportedly altered to obtain reimbursements.
Unapproved Entities: The Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) gave money to unapproved entities tied to activities such as cash withdrawals.
Lack of Records: According to the auditor who performed the review, the total amount of money lost may never be known because of a lack of receipts and botched receipts, indicating the agency was not properly keeping tabs on funds.
Limited Scope: The auditor only looked at a fraction of the grants that went out, including four youth programs. There is speculation to be tens of millions of dollars lost.
The Big O pointed out that while King County had "lax controls," it is not directly entangled in ongoing fraudulent action with grantees. However, as a reporter covering the communities that were supposed to be served by these grant funds, including marginalized communities and those impacted by gun violence, the lack of oversight is "infuriating,” he said.
“The biggest question I want to know is, who is going to hold the people who stole from us accountable?” he said.
The Big O also provided advice to community and county leaders, suggesting a third party, such as a major accounting firm, be responsible for overseeing large amounts of money. When asked if the entire DCHS should be audited, he suggested a financial threshold for auditing grants, given that some grants were as small as $20,000. He believes such an audit would find that most grantees did the right thing.
Photos: Erik Kalligraphy
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