Exclusive: San Marcos Council caves after pressure from city’s advisory board that accused council of being racist

San Marcos Corridor News Staff

SAN MARCOS – Due to disagreements with their awarded grant funding, San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson added an agenda item to discuss funding to the First Baptist San Marcos organization Outreach Ministry during their Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021 meeting.

According to Open Records, the Human Services Advisory Board had an issue with the City Councils’ vote on Tuesday, December 07, 2021, Human Services Grant Funding allocation.

Originally, council recommended removing $20,000 from the $111,000 in grant funds the Human Services Advisory Board recommended to the Outreach Ministry. The $20,000 would be given to PALS, who was still waiting on re-obtaining their 501c3 status when funding was allocated.

In an email obtained through Open Records, the HSAB thought the decision appeared “racist.” 

“I’m telling you that the aggressive move made by one council person is looking like something racist was going on with that demand to pull funds from First Baptist Church,” said HSB Co-Chair Mary Earls.

The First Baptist San Marcos organization Mission Able requested $123,500 and they received zero funding per the recommendation of the Human Services Advisory Board. According to the final HSAB recommendations, Mission Able didn’t receive any grant funding because people “could get the same service from Southside without hardship of applying for a loan.

Outreach Ministry provides food and shelter in the local community, while Mission Able assists in maintaining property and homes throughout the city for those who are unable to.

When asked during the city council meeting why the Outreach Ministry received funding but a similar church organization, Mission Able received none, Hughson said it was up to the HSAB.

“I just want to make note for anybody who might be watching that the Human Services Advisory Board did not recommend funding them and I was going with what the board recommended,” said Hughson.

But after Mission Able’s initial presentation during the October 26, 2021 meeting, HSAB members seemed to be in support of the organization and open to giving them funding. 

“For me, it was Mission Able that they have a self sustainable plan in place so that they can continue giving back to the community,” said HSAB member Monica Gonzales.

HSAB member JoAnn Parsons also voiced support for Mission Able, saying the organization was “super organized.”

San Marcos City Attorney Michael Cosentino said the city was able to give money to Outreach Ministry regardless of their church affiliation and not violate Church and State laws because the organization performs non-religious functions.

“So what the vernacular separation of church and state really means is that the government shall not make any law for an establishment of religion or endorsement or proselytizing of religion,” said Cosentino. “There are many organizations that are nonprofits that perform secular non-religious functions, you know, they could be having a food bank, a clothing drive or whatever.”

A Lee of the Human Service Advisory Board said in a letter to the San Marcos City Council, on Friday, December 10, 2021, that giving money to PALS would set a precedent of the City of San Marcos giving money to organizations that do not uphold 501c-3 status.

“The church offers various services including a food bank and counseling from certified therapists; the originally approved funding will be put to good use,” said Lee.

First Baptist Church NBC has no documentation providing the results of their program with their application packet. As stated in their application, “we have not kept account of all community members who have received services and resources from us.”

“I also feel that violating the rule of funding only 501c non-profit organizations may lead to other organizations that are not 501c non-profit asking for funding and using the funding of PALS, which as of now is not 501c non-profit, as justification,” said Lee.

But San Marcos City Council already has a precedent of giving money to organizations that do not hold 501c-3 status, such as the corporation Together for a Cause, which provides a GAP Transitional Housing Program. City council paid hotels $46,225 from general funds to Together for a Cause to help them cover a bill they owed to three San Marcos hotels.

Lee also stated, “I feel it is unfortunate that another organization, First Baptist Church, had $20,000 of their advisory board approved funding taken to give to PALS, even though First Baptist Church had all of their paperwork submitted and approved on time.”

And yet, First Baptist NBC was given an exception not to file a 990 Form EZ with the HSAB due to being considered a faith-based organization. First Baptist NBC also did not submit a completed audit or CPA review.

In their application, First Baptist NBC provided a budget proposal for how they plan to allocate the HSAB grant funding for Outreach Ministry. In the document, the Total Program Expenses amounted to $307,790.000 with $90,000 going to clergy, NoMoreNoMas and local counselors. Additional budgeted items include $38,000 to a Project Manager and $37,500 going towards food costs.

To be approved for grant funding, applicants must provide “letters of reference are provided that indicate strong local support for the program and the agency’s ability to implement it as described in the application.”

In the Letters of Support submitted with their application advocating for organization funding, two letters are submitted by Reverend Lea Walker-Clark. Walker-Clark writes one letter representing No More, No Mãs, Inc. and another letter representing TEXAS Christian Recovery and Other Support Services, Inc. (TexasCROSS). 

No More No Mas, Inc.
Texas Christian Recovery Letter

NoMoreNoMas is listed in the “City of San Marcos – Human Services Funding First Baptist Church NBC 2022 Budget Proposal” as receiving part of $90,000. 

When asked if the letters of recommendation being submitted by people benefiting from the grant funding was ethical, San Marcos City Staff said that letters from beneficiaries could be accepted. 

“The purpose of the letters of support was to provide the board members more information about the program or to show community support for the programs,” said city staff. “This includes hearing from beneficiaries and participants in the programs.”

“We are working with all grant recipients (including First Baptist NBC) to ensure that funding is tied to specific activities and outcomes,” city staff added.

Originally HSAB members could not agree with how much funding to give First Baptist Church NBC. When the initial review began for funding allocation for First Baptist NBC, HSAB member Malena Pinjuv said she thought the church was asking for too much money.

“Too much money,” said Pinjuv “Too much money for what they were asking to do.”

HSAB board member Eleanor Owen-Oshan also expressed concerns.

“I would have liked to have understood how many people have already been served because this is a program expansion,” Owen-Oshan said.

Owen-Oshan said that she would like to give the church organization money, but wanted more information and thought it was a lot of money to ask for in their first time applying for the grant funding.

“I would have liked to get more information. I just felt it was a large ask for a first time program,” said Owen-Oshan. 

HSAB board member Gloria Quinn concurred with Pinjuv and Owen-Oshan Gloria Quinn, saying she thought “they are a little undetailed.”

“I saw that they also got a licensed therapist to come in the council face to face,” said HSAB member JoAnn Parsons.  

In the Letters of Support submitted with their application advocating for organization funding, a letter was submitted by licensed counselor Jonnie Wilson. 

HSAB members received a presentation from First Baptist NBC Outreach Coordinator Shannon Carr during their October 26 meeting, where they discussed Wilson’s continued work with the organization.

Despite the board member expressing concern for the grant funding during the November 16, 2021 meeting, HSAB member Mary Earls said she wanted the church to get around $100,000.

“But I was thinking more along the lines of 100K,” said Earls. “We’re talking about a church. You have ministries, and you’re ministering work with people in the church.”

Owen-Oshan suggested 75K would be fair. “150K, that’s 15% of the entire pie,” said Owen-Oshan.

Earls said that she still wanted to push for giving the organization $100,000 because it is tied to a church and “it would be the right thing to do.”

“That’s where people come, they come to the Church, God’s house and ask for help,” said Earls.

When HSAB members voted, three members supported giving the organization $100,000 while two members voted for $90,000 in funding and one voted for $75,000. In order for the funding to pass, a majority vote was needed.

After a lot of back and forth between board members being unable to come to a majority vote on how much funding to give First Baptist NBC, the board decided to revisit the topic of funding at another time. 

“We have 50%, just FYI,” Said Griffith. “I’m just trying to make sure we have a decision that people are not seriously unhappy about.”

During the next HSAB Meeting on November 16, 2021, JoAnn Parsons explains how she made phone calls outside of the recorded zoom Human Advisory Board Meetings on behalf of First Baptist Church NBC with two other voting members.

“Oh, we had some discrepancies for the Outreach Ministry,” said Parsons. “For First Baptist Church, we had three [people voting] at $100,000. We had one [person voting] at $75,000. And we had two [people voting] at $90,000. So I called Carolyn asked if she would consider an average score. And she said she would an average score is $92,500. And so that’s still in the high range for the $100,000 and the $90,000. And it’s also in an acceptable range for Eleanor who voted at $75,000. I also called Eleanor today, and I discussed this with her. And she said if the board and I say if I will, I won’t put any words from her mouth. She said, if the board agrees to the $92,500 for First Baptist Church, she said that she would agree as well. I think that’s an acceptable amount since we couldn’t all come to an agreement on $100,000.”

In the final stages of the HSAB Grant funding, the remainder of the $999,120 of funds allocated was divided and distributed to the organizations that still had room to receive funding. This allowed for Outreach Ministry to receive an additional $18,502 in funding, making the final HSAB recommendation $111,000 for First Baptist NBC.

Ultimately, council members decided to maintain the HSAB original recommendation to provide $111,000 in grant funding to the Outreach Ministry, and try to pull $20,000 for Outreach Ministry from personal council funds. For instance, travel money unspent by councilmembers due to the pandemic or American Rescue Plan funds were recommended to consider for use. 

“Out of my travel, I believe I can kick in $8,000,” said Mayor Hughson. “And this is unused travel, I am not asking anyone to give up any trip or any project you were planning to do, but we just usually have money leftover in travel. So if each council member was willing to put $1,000 towards this, that would come up with $14,000.”

City council decided to let the city staff look into where the money could be pulled from council’s budget, and reimburse Outreach Ministry the $20,000 council originally reallocated to PALS. 

Local organizations who requested funding, but were denied:

• United Way of Hays & Caldwell County
• Bobcat Pride Scholarships
• Family Justice Center
• First Baptist Church of San Marcos
• Splash Coworking
• WillThrive Foundation

November 9, 2021, Human Services Advisory Board Meeting Clip

November 16, 2021, Human Services Advisory Board Meeting Clip

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