#4 - Discussion and Action City Attorney Opini
NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES MEMORANDUM
August 9, 2010
TO: Community Development Authority
FROM: Jennifer Petruzzello, Neighborhood Services Director
SUBJECT: Agenda Item #4 – Discussion and Action regarding City
Attorney’s opinion regarding funding application questions.
Background:
At the last CDA meeting, CDA Member Fenn requested some changes to the CDA’s
Application for CDBG/HOME funding. This is the application we send out annually to
non-profit organizations or interested individuals who may be interested in seeking
CDBG or HOME funding for a project or activity.
Specifically, the member asked if we could amend the application to include the
following questions:
1.# of donors
2.Name of donors
3.# of donors on their donor list
4.Name and number of other organizations or members who fundraise on their
behalf
5.# of individuals whom they seek donations from
6.Breakdown of private grants and public funds
The CDA agreed to send out the application at this time, and seek the City Attorney’s
opinion regarding the addition of such questions.
City Attorney’s Opinion:
The City Attorney’s opinion is as follows:
“As to the question about donor information, I am not aware of anything that would
explicitly prohibit you from asking for such information in state law. However, I would
advise extreme caution that merely asking such questions creates potential liability. My
concern is that if you ask for the identity of fund raisers or donors, you enable
discrimination claims (that grants were made or denied based on the race or other
prohibited basis of discrimination of the persons involved).
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If the CDA insists that having such information is important, I suggest two things:
1. CDA would need to be absolutely certain that the Federal statutes and regulations
governing the programs do not expressly prohibit such information requests and that
requesting such information is consistent with the applicable program; and
2. The CDA should institute policies and procedures to minimize the likelihood of
discrimination claims.
Both of these two items would take consideration time.”
Recommendation:
I recommend that the CDA carefully consider the value of this information, and if it is
desired, make a motion to have the issue further researched for next year’s application
process. Alternatively, I feel that the number of donors could be added to the application
without additional research. The application currently requests applicants to list their
funding sources, which would provide information regarding private grants and public
funding.
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