New Westminster city council is continuing to scrutinize the Hyack Festival Association requests for funds.
While Hyack is working on plans for this year’s events, city council hasn’t forgotten the internal issues that plagued Hyack in 2013, which included the firing, rehiring and parting of ways with its former executive director. As a result of the “dysfunction” that ensued within the organization, the city commissioned an independent audit of Hyack’s books and slashed its 2014 grant.
According to a city staff report, the KPMG audit found no evidence that funds had been used inappropriately or for purposes other than Hyack-related administration and event costs, the association’s books and records appeared to be in good order, and Hyack’s unaudited financial statement from 2013 appeared to be properly stated and reliable. KPMG said Hyack may need to update some of its policies and procedures around expense reimbursement, procurement and financial management.
According to the staff report, the audit found that neither the city’s grant nor administration costs are “allocated out to the events” which made it difficult to assess to what extent the city’s grant was required to fund individual events.
New Westminster city council has been considering requests for various grant programs.
Hyack applied for a number of grants from the city, including: $4,269 in city services for the antique fair in the Arenex; $5,000 for the New Westminster Hyack Ambassador Pageant; $1,000 for a new Novemberfest event; and $55,000 for administrative costs for events in 2015, including $15,000 for upgrades to the float.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the audit showed “no true connection” between the money requested and the events offered, with much of the funds going to administration.
“That was a real concern to me,” he said.
The City of New Westminster has not made the KPMG report public.
Council referred the request for funds related to the float to the festivals grant process and suggested the city pay bills related to the float as they’re submitted, rather than giving the association cash beforehand.
Coun. Mary Trentadue wants to ensure the city is treating all grant recipients the
same. She said she’s uncomfortable about requiring specific things from certain organizations and not others.
Hyack president Don Swindells said the association is willing to sit down with council and go over any questions or concerns it may have about the organization that’s been organizing events in the city for more than 40 years.
Swindells, who previously served as the association’s president in 2006, hopes to mend the organization’s relationship with city hall.
“We had a great, great relationship with the city in 2006,” he said. “My personal goal is to hit the reset button and get back to that.”
