The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission has widened its deficit to about $4.2 million, but the nonprofit agency’s leaders have plans to get back on track.
Interim CEO Brian Angus, who on Monday made his first in-person appearance in his new role at a Fresno EOC board meeting, told commissioners that the organization will climb out of its operating deficit by the end of the year.
But before EOC program directors gave 2025 budget presentations, Commissioner Alena Pacheco asked for an update about how to fix Fresno EOC’s deficit. Angus, the agency’s former CEO from 2010 to 2019, said he had only come back in an interim role a few weeks ago, before asking to discuss finer details in the board’s private, closed session.
“I don't have solid information — I mean, I've been here two weeks,” Angus told the commissioners Monday. “I have information I think I understand. It's going to mean some serious changes in the agency, and for that reason, it affects staff, and I'd rather talk about that in (closed) executive session.”
Shortly after Angus’ comments, Fresno EOC’s directors for three programs — Food Services, Transit and the Local Conservation Corp — told commissioners how they plan to turn their departments around. The three programs made up the majority of EOC’s deficit, according to November board meeting minutes.
Each of them said they would no longer have an operating deficit by the end of the year, after drafting strategies to cut costs and increase revenue for the 2025 fiscal year alongside Angus and other EOC executives.
Later, during the agency’s monthly financial report, Finance Director Angela Riofrio told commissioners that Fresno EOC’s deficit weighs heavily on her finance team.
“I understand that our financial position is not the best right now, but I am dedicated to correcting this,” Riofrio told the board. “I've only been with the agency for a little over a year, so I'm learning a lot, and I know that my finance team feels it every day when we walk in.”
Board Chair Oliver Baines leads the Jan. 27 Fresno EOC Board of Commissioners meeting. On Monday, Baines was reelected as the board's chair for a two year term. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland
Unanswered questions
During EOC’s Monday board meeting, commissioners elected the board’s leadership, each of whom would serve in their roles for two years. They unanimously reelected Oliver Baines as the board’s chair. Baines is also the CEO and president of Central Valley NMTC.
Robert Pimentel, the chancellor of the West Hills Community College District, was elected as the board’s vice chair. Charles Garabedian was reelected as the board’s treasurer.
Commissioner Joaquin Arambula — also a state assemblymember — has been sounding the alarm on the organization’s finances for the past several months.
Back in November, Arambula motioned for a forensic audit of Fresno EOC’s finances, which the board unanimously approved. Two months later, the organization has not entered into a contract with a third party organization to conduct the forensic audit.
“Fresno EOC is preparing to begin the process of a forensic audit,” said Jose Moreno, EOC’s communications director, via email. “However, no contract with a third party has been signed at this time.”
Back in November, Arambula wrote a letter to his fellow board members concerned with how Fresno EOC has been “hemorrhaging money,” and called for the organization’s leaders to correct course.
Amid calls for a forensic audit, Fresno EOC quietly parted ways with former executive director Emilia Reyes, after she went on leave late last year and the board declined to renew her contract, which ended in December.
“EOC has been operating in the red for at least the past two years and resorted to depleting its reserve fund of millions of dollars to fill the void,” Arambula wrote in his letter. “The future outlook for EOC’s finances is uncertain, at best.”
This article first appeared on Fresnoland and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.