Non-profits divided by City Council

In a marathon, four-hour session, the City Council on Monday made the first decision, with more to come, in handing out the quarter-million dollars in the city’s budget for this year that is designated for local non-profits. While in the past, the Council has recognized a “Big Three” group, comprising the Sonoma Commiunity Center, the Vintage House, and the Boys and Girls Club, henceforth it will be a “Big Four” group, now including the Sonoma Ecology Center. That suggestion was put forth by council member August Sebastiani.
The unanimous decision was made following round-table discussions to review how the money had been allocated in the past and to consider how it might be done differently, now and in the future. To those four “Tier One” non-profits will go $150,000 in funding, with the detailed breakdown to be decided by the council at its regular meeting on October 3.
The remaining $90,000 in this year’s budget will be divided among all other, “Tier Two” non-profits that are based in Sonoma Valley and forswear, as they must in order to maintain their non-profit status, all political advocacy. The comparative criteria for those decisions would be made based on the nature of services they offer to the citizens of Sonoma – services that the city does not provide.
These were summarized in a motion put forth by council member Steve Barbose, as follows:
(1) Broad spectrum of the community served;
(2) Breadth of services provided;
(3) Quality of programming;
(4) Affordability of programming;
(5) Level of community support;
(6) Collaboration and partnerships;
(7) Benefits to the city;
(8) Longevity of the organization;
(9) Staffing, facilities and other resources;
(10) Budget; and
(11) Financial reporting and controls.
The motion was approved by a vote of 4 to 1, with council member Joanne Sanders wanting to limit funding only to non-profits in the city of Sonoma itself.
A timetable will be announced later for the submittal of applications by interested non-profits and for the subsequent award of funds.