ORCCA executive director, Mike Lehman, admits in today’s paper that SCFS (South Coast Food Share) is tens of thousands of dollars in debt but is accusing unnamed “former employees” of “spreading” an exaggerated deficit figure of $170K. Tuesday, MGx reported that SCFS was in financial trouble and the -$170K figure used in the article came from Lehman himself because the figure has been posted on a wall in his office for anyone to see. Lehman acknowledges this figure in an email to me this week.

the $170,000 “upside down” number for SCFS is somewhat misleading. As I came on board in February (by the way replacing Pattie Gouveia, not Mary*) one of the first things I did was develop the large graphic in my office to track where all the programs are. That was a snapshot of finances at that time. Several of the programs in the red have since raised funds and are in the black. That said, SCFS is still our largest financial hole. However, the $170,000 is a bit misleading in that in only reflects the revenue for the program minus costs of the program. This number is before ORCCA makes a contribution, usually from our CSBG funds. In actuality, after the contribution from ORCCA funds the deficit is in the $50,000-75,000 range.

Why make unfounded and baseless accusations? The earlier article acknowledged that because of accounting problems “it is unclear if the $170K figure is even accurate or how long it has been accumulating.” The accusations don’t stop there, Lehman is quoted saying, “Several former employees said they were taking documents out saying we’re in financial trouble.”  So what, Lehman just let them walk out the door?

These accusations are not only shameful they deflect from the real story which is the agency is over extended and the books are in disarray, all of which Lehman admits. The paper reports by Lehman’s guestimate that SCFS is only “$30,000 to $50,000 in debt”, a 40% spread that testifies to the poor condition of the books and well below the “$50,000-75,000 range” just two days earlier. The other stunning admission in the article is the board is allowing him to raid other assets… sort of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Lehman did admit the organization is facing budget strains, but added those are being handled by making larger payments from ORCCA’s general corporate fund to the Food Share program as a stopgap measure.

ORCCA has dedicated funds and unrestricted funds like those that come from private donations and Park West and it is unclear what “corporate fund” he is referring to and block grants like CSBG are used for current fiscal years, they cannot be used to correct prior operating deficits. ORCCA is struggling under crushing $36K per month debt service and lease payments and had to use the Food Bank as part of the security required to obtain the financing for the entire campus.

Lehman and the board better start shifting their priorities away from casting blame and deflecting negative publicity and focus upon finding solutions. Ultimately, the board is responsible for the success or failure of this organization.

*Pattie Gouveia served for six months as an interim CEO until a permanent director could be hired to replace Mary Schoen-Clark. Lehman replaced Schoen-Clark not Gouveia.