By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
The newly formed City of San Benito committee tasked with researching possible financial solutions to the current dilemma facing the Boys and Girls Club of San Benito, which club officials fear may close should resolve not be achieved, will meet Saturday morning.
The meeting is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, inside the San Benito Municipal Building Executive Room, located at 401 N. Sam Houston Blvd. The committee is made up of San Benito City Commissioners Rene Villafranco, JD Penny and Joe D. Gonzalez as well as City Manager Manuel Lara and Parks and Recreation Director Mike Jaramillo.
Regarding the nature of the proceedings, Commissioner Gonzalez said members of the club’s Board of Directors have been invited to attend. Also, the commissioner said San Benito CISD School Board President Yliana G. Rodriguez has been asked to participate but may not be able to attend due to attending an out-of-town conference
“We want to review documents and have a discussion of what needs to happen to keep them (the club) going,” Commissioner Gonzalez said early Friday evening, adding that officials have had little time to respond. “We were just all of a sudden told that they’re three months away from closing, so we had to request some information from them to review. We haven’t gotten anything to review yet, so we have to wait until tomorrow.”
Still, the commissioner was adamant that officials would “do whatever it takes to keep the club alive for the children.”
In the meantime, San Benito CISD Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón said school district officials also plan on discussing the matter during a joint workshop between the district and the city on Tuesday.
Tommy Ramirez, Jr., who serves as President of the Boys and Girls Club of San Benito’s Board of Directors, has recently warned that the club may close in as soon as three month’s time, or once the nonprofit organization’s emergency funding expires. According to Ramirez, the club has enough emergency funds to operate for 90 days.
At a recent City Commission meeting, Ramirez pleaded with elected officials to assist the club with additional funds, such as increasing the amount of Community Development Block Grant monies that the city allocates the club annually.
Ramirez has also attributed the club’s financial woes to a lack of funding from numerous sources, the United Way and CDBG included. In fact, Ramirez said United Way funding allocated to the club has decreased from $44,000 in 2004 to $25,000-$30,000 currently. During the same time span, CDBG funding allocated to the club decreased from $32,000 to $9,500.
At the aforementioned meeting, however, city and CDBG officials – though in agreement that the continuation of the club’s operations is imperative – insisted that the city has already exhausted all possible funding avenues for the club.
In a San Benito News online poll, 97 people voted that the city can do more to help the club while 30 voted that financial constraints have limited the city’s capabilities to help.
On Friday, City Manager Manuel Lara addressed concerns from the community regarding the matter in a guest column submitted to the News and published on page 4 of this edition.
“Some people recommend using Community Development Block Grant funds, as we have in the past,” Lara wrote. “It may have been overlooked, but we are actually funding them $9,500 this year. Our records show that every year since 1995 the CDBG program has given the Boys and Girls Club funds to operate. Total investment to-date is $531,277. However, the CDBG annual allocation which comes from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has been cut dramatically over the years, not just for San Benito, but other entitlement communities as well.”
How dramatic? Lara reported that the city’s allocation has “fallen from $726,000 in 1995, to $398,715 this year.”
“In years’ past, we could do more, but today that is not the case,” Lara continued.
Other figures the city manager offered includes the $18,000 allocated for public services, which he said is divided between four entities. “The Boys and Girls Club receives the most at $9,500, Amigos del Valle (food and social program for the elderly) receives $5,000, the START Center (to help needy families) receives $2,000 and Maggie’s House (an advocacy center for abused children) receives $1,500,” Lara stated.
Read this story in the Jan. 20 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
3 comments
I wonder what will happen when the City is asked to bail out Amigos Del Valle, the Chamber of Commerce and the Food Pantry? I thought that nonprofit agencies had to raise their own money instead of asking for a bailout. This may not be legal since it is taxpayer monies.
I agree with WeThePeople . . . giving taxpaper funds to a non-profit doesn’t pass the smell test.
Fund raising activities should be placed on the Boys and Girls Club yearly functions. Invest a little money with contributions from establishments and raise funds through dances, the sales of beef plates, raffles, out door movie events, host state and national bronco and little league baseball games.