Good riddance to rotten produce
Just when you thought the subject would go away for the winter along with fresh tomatoes, the Tuesday night Farmers Market dropped a huge bombshell. The board of directors that thought it ran the market, the one the city dealt with, the one that signed contracts, the board of record at every meeting for 20 years? That group, it turns out, was just a puppet for a previously unheard-of association based in Petaluma.
In finally announcing itself, the association dissolved the current board of directors – the folks finally getting the market straight after years of arbitrary, secretive and cantankerous management. And who sits on that emergent board? None other than Hilda Swartz, the on-site market manager. That means she was, without his knowledge, the boss of her own boss, Bill Dardon. No wonder she ignored his instructions to get the market’s financial act together and treat vendors and guests – even those in costume – with courtesy and respect.
And how about that contract she and her pal Jim Cahoon agreed to last year? She got a raise from a group, the local puppet board he ran, that she and two cronies actually control. Is that fair? Is that even legal?
Cahoon, who quit the board in a self-important huff last year, has resurfaced as well. It turns out he handles the association’s bank account. He’ll get back this week the books and accounting data for the Tuesday season – the exact information he failed to deliver to the city council despite numerous demands.
City council and staff should be outraged. They were lied to for months, if not years. And they’ll never see a proper accounting of the market’s financial history.
Legally, butts seem covered. Like the small print in a cell phone service contract nobody reads, buried in the 48-page RFP was exactly one mention of the association. But not making it and Swartz’s conflict part of the nearly endless conversation is inexcusable.
Swartz and the association will not apply for next year’s management contract. Good riddance to rotten produce.
2 thoughts on “Good riddance to rotten produce”
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SVCFM is a registered 501c6 non-profit organization. 501c6 organizations are not non-profits that are created to serve communities, the are created to “serve their members” which clearly the SVCFM has done. yet, they are required by federal law to submit a form 990 with their federal taxes. Form 990 is public record and demonstrates an organizations solvency for charitable donations and also demonstrates their financial transparency. There is not a Form 990 on record in eith of the traditional places one would find such information at GuideStar.com or the IRS. gov website. Additionally the “new” and evidently “real” board: Sonoma County Certified Farmers Market Association is publicly listed as a “corporation registered in the state of California” and not a non-profit at all and the articles of incorporation were not even filed until 2007 making them a relatively new organization. So that means what? Well, it means that since 2007 a CORPORATION has been technically running the market but they misrepresented themselves to the city as a non-profit thus enjoying that past four market seasons paying the non-profit rate of city use fees and pocketing the entire profit. Had they applied for the permit as the CORPORATION they really are then they would have not only paid higher city use permit fees but they also would have been required to donate 40% of the proceeds EACH WEEK to one or more local non-profit agencies. We are talking about A LOT of money here folks. Money that agencies like the Boys & Girls Club, The Mentoring Alliance, Pets Lifeline, FISH and so on could have really used in these tough economic times. More money in city fees that the city (you the taxpayers) could have really used to maintain our parks and city offices.
Once again I ask and continue to ask: Where is the Form 990? If the SCCFMA is the one in cahrge as a corporation shouldn’t they have to pay back the city for 4 years of standard use fees and pay back 40% of profits made in the last 4 years to some of our non-profits? Is there going to be some sort of accountability here. This is not just about how people feel about the market management, this is financial as well and we need to look at this.
Additionally they have added to their website that the Sonoma County Certified Market Association is a “mutual benefit non-profit corporation” and thus claiming 501c(5) and 501c(6) status. I question this as well as perhaps an attempt to cover ones rear and opening a new can of worms simultaneously because in the IRS.gov and the Guidestar.com data bases this organization does not have a 990 on record either, as required by federal law for any 501c(anything) to have. So where is it SCCFM? 990 please.