Following calls for a state audit of a Butler County nonprofit, Community Partnership’s executive director defended its integrity, saying, while the organization has faced challenges, it remains transparent.

Sandra Curry recognized the ways the organization has been challenged in an interview with the Butler Eagle on Friday, April 25, and rebutted claims made earlier this week by seven county elected officials that alleged financial mismanagement and transparency failures.

“Our organization has gone through a tremendous amount of change and in many ways has been operating as a brand new, small nonprofit,” Curry said. “And like any brand-new organization, that has come with challenges.

“Our audits and financial information can be accessed by the public. As an organization, it is always our primary responsibility to follow all funding requirements and best support our community, families and individuals who need help getting connected to resources.”

Two days prior, Butler County commissioners — Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel — alongside the Butler County state House delegation — Reps. Marci Mustello, R-11th, Aaron Bernstine, R-8th, Stephenie Scialabba, R-12th, and Tim Bonner, R-17th — sent a letter to state Auditor General Tim DeFoor.

“(We) are writing to request a comprehensive audit of Community Partnership, Inc... due to serious concerns about its financial management and compliance with federal grant requirements, as evidenced in its most recently available independent auditor’s report,” the letter said. “Additionally, over the previous several months, stakeholders and constituents have raised concerns related to the operations of this taxpayer-funded organization.”

A news release from the elected officials referenced a 2022-23 independent audit conducted by Maher Duessel as cause for their concerns. They cited material weaknesses in financial reporting, inadequate segregation of duties and noncompliance with federal grant requirements as key concerns.

In a March 28, 2024, letter, Curry addressed five findings from the audit and agreed to a corrective action plan.

“We undergo an independent audit, reviewed with our board and auditors on a yearly basis,” Curry said Friday. “Additionally, we work with an outsourced third party for our financial services to ensure appropriate segregation of duties.”

Three of the five findings in the audit were addressed by the elected officials in their Tuesday letter.

The findings relate to the financial reporting system, segregation of duties over cash disbursement and cash receipt processes, internal controls over payroll process, internal control and compliance over period performance and internal control for grants and compliance over period performance over special tests and provisions.

“We work with all funders to follow funding requirements, included within those requirements is maintaining a tri-partite board,” Curry said.

A tri-partite board is a governing body composed of public officials, consumers and private individuals or groups.

“Unfortunately, fulfilling the publicly elected seat expectation has proved difficult and that is something that we have been diligent about rectifying,” she said.

In their release, the officials also flagged some recent interactions between Curry and two of the signatories as additional concerns.

Recently, Geyer said she was denied access to an annual report, and Bernstine said he was denied a meeting.

The officials’ release said Curry canceled a planned meeting with Bernstine, calling the interaction an “indication of the organization’s unwillingness to cooperate with public officials.”

“Initially a meeting was called with Bernstine and after understanding the request for the meeting, it became apparent that he was requesting documents that we then made promptly available,” Curry said. “It seemed there was no need for a further meeting.”

Bernstine said he asked the organization about how they intended to address the audit’s findings, but received no response. In his opinion, between the lack of transparency and failure to address the audit, he felt state intervention was necessary.

The Butler Eagle acquired a copy of the emails between Bernstine’s office and Curry.

On Wednesday, April 9, a representative from Bernstine’s office emailed Curry requesting a meeting at his Ellwood City office for April 11. In a response, she said herself, alongside the board’s chair and vice chair, would be able to meet at 9 a.m. Then, in a second response dated April 10, Curry canceled the meeting.

“Upon further reflection, we have decided that there is no need to meet tomorrow morning. I have attached our board and executive staff leadership list, as you requested,” Curry said. “As I indicated, we are more than happy to respond to any questions that the representative might have.”

Bernstine said that he has never seen nor heard of an organization, especially one that uses taxpayer money, outright refuse to meet. Curry said that she believed that Bernstine’s request to meet was related to requested documents.

The officials’ release said Geyer, in another instance, was denied access to the organization’s 2024 annual reports “without explanation.” Geyer previously served two years in an ex-officio role on the nonprofit’s board. She was serving as the board’s president, according to the nonprofit’s 2023 990 Form, but is no longer on the board.

When she reached out to Community Partnership to receive a copy of its 2024 annual report, Geyer said her request was denied in an email. She said she alerted the commissioners to the denial.

“You can’t be a nonprofit and deny an annual report request, especially to an elected official,” Osche said of the situation.

Curry clarified that all older reports should be available on the organization’s website, and the 2024 edition will be posted next week. Currently, the 2022 report is available, while the 2023 edition requires permission to access.

“Our board of directors review our annual report every year,” Curry said. “As a former board member, all prior annual reports would have been given to Ms. Geyer. Following the board review and approval, those documents are available on our website.”

She said the 2024 annual report was reviewed during the most recent board of directors meeting and will be published to the organization’s website “shortly.”

While Curry recognizes the nonprofit faces challenges, she said, it’s been open about its situation.

“We have always been transparent with our stakeholders that operating Community Partnership has been a challenge and, as always, we will continue to comply with the requirements of our funders,” Curry said.

Geyer said she also recognized financial challenges as the organization adapted to operating independently, and communicated with the other commissioners in hopes of helping Community Partnership through that transition.

However, Geyer said she was informed by the state Department of Community and Economic Development that her role on the board was as a “conflict of interest.”

Osche said the department’s claim originates from the county’s contracting of Community Partnership for its food assistance programs. Osche said she believes Geyer was intentionally pushed out of the organization, as county commissioners have previously served on such boards without issue.

In Osche’s opinion, when the organization became independent, neither the board nor staff knew the policy for running nonprofits.

Boozel said that part of the problem revolves around Curry’s inexperience in the role, but ultimately, his primary concern lies in the organization’s lack of transparency.

According to her LinkedIn bio, Curry served as manager of Community Partnership under the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources between 2017 and 2022 before transitioning to executive director of the independent Community Partnership.

Community Partnership is a community action agency operating in Butler County, as designated by the state Department of Community and Economic Development in 2018. Community action agencies are designed to combat poverty within their area.

Its focus is driven by local community needs assessments, which are completed every three years, according to Curry.

At first, the organization operated under shared leadership with the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, Center for Community Resources and Nonprofit Development Corporation — all located in downtown Butler. The organization became standalone in May 2022, after Mike Robb, the head of all four organizations, departed. Curry was promoted to executive director in his absence.

Shortly after, in June 2022, county commissioners voted to place the county’s food assistance programs, the Emergency Food Assistance and the State Food Purchase programs with Community Partnership. It operated these programs until they were reassigned to Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in 2024.

Community Partnership has since continued to provide other food access programs under grant funding, Curry said.

“Community Partnership is committed to the mission to decrease poverty and making fresh, healthy food accessible to every resident of Butler County,” she said. “We are committed to fulfilling our mission and meeting the requirements and expectations of our funders.”

These programs include the nonprofit’s Produce Cart and Fresh Bucks, a partnership with Butler City Farmers’ Market vendors.

For many of the officials, their stated goal is to make sure Community Partnership is managing its funds properly.

“I want to ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent properly and efficiently,” Mustello said.

Osche and Boozel both said they hope the organization can get back to serving the county’s impoverished residents soon.

Geyer said that the county is likely to move forward with renewing the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank’s agreement to provide food assistance programs. She said this is due to the amount of support that the food bank is able to provide, she said.

“Based on the 2022 annual report, Community Partnership reported 168,000 pounds of food distributed across Butler, Lawrence and Beaver counties,” Geyer said. “The food bank did 2.5 million pounds in 2024 — 1 million pounds was just fresh produce.”