Budget committee forwards Rec and Park request to correct McLaren Park planning grant to full Board

Chair Supervisor Connie Chan on March 8 moved to forward to the full Board a resolution retroactively authorizing the Recreation and Park Department to accept and expand a Priority Conservation Area grant for McLaren Park and neighborhood connections planning.

Tony Moran, an analyst in the Recreation and Park Department’s Capital and Planning Division, told the committee the department applied for the grant in 2019 and the award was made in 2020. Moran said the department discovered a discrepancy between the amount appropriated in the city budget and the amount actually awarded and that the Controller’s Office recommended an accept-and-expand resolution to correct the appropriation. "This resolution is basically intended to correct the appropriation," Moran said, adding that the action is retroactive because work on the planning project began in 2022.

The committee asked Rec and Park to update the explanatory memo before the item goes to the full Board so members have a clear, line-item explanation of why the item is retroactive and what the corrected dollar amount represents. Chair Chan said that updated memo should accompany the item on the Board agenda.

During public comment, caller Francisca DeCosta urged transparency, saying, "We the people have to know how our taxpayers' money is spent" and asked the city to provide line-item detail for the project’s budget. The committee had no further substantive questions and voted to forward the resolution with a positive recommendation (three ayes).

The Budget & Finance Committee’s action forwards the matter to the full Board of Supervisors, where the item will appear on the next Board agenda for final action.