Kyra Worthy, executive directortor of 4Richmond responded to my August 8, E-FORUM, in the article copied below, “For Richmond responds to Butt inaccuracies,” carried by Richmond Standard.
Let me be clear. I have no criticism of the projects and programs that For Richmond (or 4Richmond) is funding. I think its great to see money flow into the community from any source.

But I stand by previous comments that I have made about 4Richmond. And if you think I am alone, see the article “Richmond nonprofit's aid seen as front for Chevron” by Joe Garofoli of the Chronicle, dated, November 10, 2013.
·         First of all, there is the issue of transparency. 4Richmond is a 501(c)4 corporation, which means it does not have to limit itself to charitable activities, nor does it have to report the source of its funding. Politically active nonprofits -- principally 501(c)(4)s and 501(c)(6)s -- have become a major force in federal elections over the last three cycles. The term "dark money" is often applied to this category of political spender because these groups do not have to disclose the sources of their funding -- though a minority do disclose some or all of their donors, by choice or in response to specific circumstances. These organizations can receive unlimited corporate, individual, or union contributions that they do not have to make public, and though their political activity is supposed to be limited, the IRS -- which has jurisdiction over these groups -- by and large has done little to enforce those limits. So we have a major credibility gap that could have been avoided by setting up 4Richmond as a 501(c)3 charitable non-profit.
·         4Richmond has never clearly defined its relationship with Chevron. Only one place in its website does it even mention Chevron’s involvement, “For Richmond thanks Chevron for providing seed funding to help our organization address urgent needs in the city of Richmond around jobs, health, education and public safety.” 4Richmond has not disclosed how much of its funding comes from Chevron, but with maybe two or three exceptions, its entire steering committee is made up of die-hard Chevron cheerleaders. 4Richmond identifies itself as a “coalition dedicated to creating a healthier, safer and more prosperous Richmond.” However, in the Garofoli article,  [Joe] “Lorenz said Chevron is the organization's only donor so far.”
·         4Richmond consistently praises and advocates for Chevron. Examples include:
o   Time to slip on your favorite sneaks! Registration has opened for the 28th Annual GRIP Harmony   Walk & 5K Race to End Homelessness Presented by Chevron.
o   Register for the 28th Annual GRIP Harmony Walk & 5K Race to End Homelessness Presented by Chevron: http://bit.ly/1qkV9Dq
o   Did you know the @ChevronRichmond Modernization Project will bring over 1,000 jobs? Start career your prep now: http://bit.ly/VcY5d3
o   For Richmond is proud to have voiced our support for the @ChevronRichmond Modernization Project: http://bit.ly/1knmBnV  #communitybenefits
·         The 4Richmond Mission Statement includes Health as one its four goals, and one of its immediate objectives is listed as, “Preserving Doctors Medical Center and access to emergency services and affordable healthcare.“ The website also states, “Protecting healthcare options and opportunities for Richmond residents is vitally important, so we will work to preserve Doctors Medical Center and access to emergency services and affordable healthcare. Yet 4Richmond has been nowhere to be seen or heard as the DMC crisis has escalated.
If 4Richmond is an idependent non-profit organization as Ms. Worthy states, I challenge it to become a 501(c)3, disclose its board of directors, its funding sources and its funding recipients. Why would they not do this? They ask the public to “Join For Richmond,” and endorse it, but it’s a black box with no transparency.

I’m sorry, Ms. Worth, you are a good person working hard for the community, but your defense of 4Richmond just doesn’t pass the truth test.

·        

Kyra Worthy, executive director of For Richmond
For Richmond responds to Butt inaccuracies
August 22, 2014 by Mike Aldax
0
Community Views
By Kyra Worthy, executive director of For Richmond:
Recently, For Richmond was unwillingly drawn into Richmond mayoral race discussion via a mass email distributed by candidate and city councilman Tom Butt.
In an Aug. 18 alert to his e-forum, Butt decried Chevron-funded billboards supporting his political opponent and fellow councilman Nat Bates. Butt also claimed:
“If Bates weren’t already close enough to Chevron, his campaign headquarters shares a building at 3101-3109 Macdonald Avenue with 4Richmond, a thinly disguised front used by Chevron to distribute money to Richmond non-profits [sic].”
Let me be clear: As an independent, nonprofit organization, For Richmond doesn’t advocate for political candidates, we advocate for the people of Richmond–for their education, health, prosperity and safety.
We wear our Chevron funding as a badge of honor on our website for all the world to see—no disguise and with complete transparency. We are HONORED to be a part of Chevron’s far-reaching community investments and are grateful to them—as are legions of our local nonprofit counterparts—for their dependable and generous support.
For Richmond also has never been “used by Chevron” to distribute money to other Richmond nonprofits as Butt contends. The local community organizations and efforts For Richmond supports are not dictated by Chevron. As Executive Director, I make that decision—end of story.
Trivializing the efforts of For Richmond’s hardworking team—all of them Richmond residents—as merely doling out money to other nonprofits, is also completely misleading. Our hands-on work has taken many forms, from advocating for causes like the WCCC Family Justice Center and Doctors Medical Center, to organizing an out-of-state college prep program for Richmond students this summer (as reported by the West County Times), as well as countless other community endeavors. Our ‘Barrier Removal Program’ is our most recent highlight and one I am very proud of.  To date 250+ Richmond residents have been assisted with becoming more employable, 43 have been accepted into a construction trade industry pre-apprentice program and 26 have obtained full time employment within a variety of bay area construction companies.  We are working one-on-one with the remainder of the residents on ensuring that they too surpass their barriers (i.e. – obtaining their GED, drivers license and math preparation for entrance level exams) to meet the qualifications and criteria to obtaining employment.
Councilman Bates’ decision to become our neighbor on Macdonald Avenue, though welcome, has absolutely no correlation with For Richmond. We don’t make renting decisions for this space, our landlord does.
Our community is a community in need. For Richmond’s work involves joining people together from throughout our city to develop solutions to those needs. It’s what this community has asked for and it’s also a key reason we’ve been so successful to date.
What Richmond doesn’t need? Misleading politically motivated missives—when we all should be entirely focused on the betterment of our community.
Sincerely,
Kyra Worthy
Executive Director
For Richmond
Richmond nonprofit's aid seen as front for Chevron
Joe Garofoli
Published 7:45 pm, Sunday, November 10, 2013

Melissa Caine-Huckabay, project director of the West Contra Costa County Family Justice Center, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom attend a groundbreaking ceremony. The nonprofit 4Richmond helped pull together community partners to support the project. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle
 In a city where 17 percent of residents live in poverty, any nonprofit that suddenly started spreading around $100,000 to needy causes would ordinarily attract a large fan club.
But when the city is Richmond and the nonprofit's chief benefactor is Chevron - and the other funders don't have to reveal themselves - it's not surprising that there's some skepticism about what's behind the good deeds.
The year-old nonprofit is called 4Richmond, and it bills itself as a coalition of labor unions, local nonprofits and corporations dedicated to creating a "more prosperous Richmond."
But critics says the organization is just a political front group for Chevron, the nation's second-largest oil company, which has a fractious history with the East Bay city that is home to one of its refineries. They worry that because 4Richmond doesn't have to reveal its donors, the organization could have an outsize effect on the city's bare-knuckled political world - something the group's backers insist won't happen.
The organization was formed shortly before the August 2012 fire at the refinery that prompted 15,000 people in and around the city to seek treatment at hospitals. Chevron, whose 2012 earnings were $26.2 billion, has paid $3 million in criminal and civil fines in connection with the fire, and still faces at least three civil lawsuits, including one by the city of Richmond.
Given that latest chapter in the Richmond-Chevron relationship, the motives of 4Richmond's backers are drawing increasing scrutiny in a city where politics are so tough, the mayor's political opponents in 2010 revealed details about her battle with depression.
In the dark
The scrutiny is a sign of concerns about how new campaign finance laws that have reshaped national politics - particularly those that involve "dark money" groups that aren't required to reveal donors - are trickling down to midsize cities.
Richmond's mayor and a longtime councilman are concerned because 4Richmond is organized as a 501(c)(4) group, named after a section of the tax code. Bottom line: It means the group doesn't have to say where its money comes from.
Even though 4Richmond has donated only to small community groups and local projects and has not engaged in political activity, it organized itself as an advocacy group. That means it could get involved in city election issues next year.
Longtime City Councilman Tom Butt noted that 4Richmond's steering committee includes many of the same political allies who opposed a soda tax in Richmond in 2012 - a campaign that saw a record $2.7 million pour into the city of 106,000 to defeat the measure.
'Chevron-friendly'
Butt, a frequent Chevron critic, said many of the members of 4Richmond's steering committee appear to be "Chevron-friendly." He also notes that the group has hired A-list San Francisco political and public relations consultants Alex Tourk and Sam Singer.
Still, Butt acknowledged the dilemma 4Richmond presents to skeptics. He's wary of what the group might do down the road, but he loves that it's raising money for Richmond's struggling schools and community groups.
"We'll take all the money they want to give us," Butt said. "But people should know what this is. I think it is about Chevron wanting to create warm and fuzzies around town.
"Later, how hard is it going to be for one of these groups that took money from 4Richmond to say no to them?" Butt said.
This month, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Police Chief Chris Magnus appeared at the groundbreaking for an expansion of the West Contra Costa Family Justice Center, a multiservice center for victims of domestic violence. Magnus praised 4Richmond for pulling together community partners behind the project.
Seeking transparency
McLaughlin, however, was cautious about the organization.
"All I'd like to see is some transparency here," said McLaughlin, a Green Party member who has tangled both with Chevron and some members of 4Richmond's steering committee.
But a 501(c)(4) organization doesn't have to provide much transparency.
"The organization 4Richmond is not a political action committee," City Clerk Diane Holmes noted, "and is not required to file any documents in my office. They are a nonprofit organization."
Although representatives of several labor unions, community organizations and Coca-Cola are listed as members of the organization, Chevron is supplying the $100,000 that will be distributed this year as well as $500,000 in startup costs to hire staff and find office space, said Joe Lorenz, the refinery's public affairs representative. He is also a member of 4Richmond's steering committee.
Lorenz said Chevron is the organization's only donor so far, and that it will continue to make its donations to the group public. He said he hoped any other 4Richmond donors would be as transparent, but acknowledged they weren't legally obligated to be.
Lorenz stressed that the organization is not intended to be political. Chevron wanted to find a way to stitch together community nonprofits in the city into a single powerful voice, he said.
Helping Richmond
"This organization is not about politics," Lorenz said. "The people involved have made that very clear to us that they don't want it to be."
That includes Don Lau, executive director of the West Contra Costa YMCA in Richmond and chairman of 4Richmond's steering committee.
"Whoever is willing to spread warm and fuzzies around Richmond - I'm OK with that," Lau said. "Now if that comes with a price I'm not willing to pay, I'm not OK with that.
"We have made it very clear from the beginning that this is not a political organization," Lau said. "This is about helping Richmond."
Jessica Levinson, a campaign finance expert and law professor at Loyola University in Los Angeles, said Richmond voters need to be diligent about advocacy groups that don't have to reveal their donors.
"It's great that this group seems to be doing good things now," Levinson said. "But that doesn't mean that people shouldn't stay alert and ask tough questions of them."
Joe Garofoli is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli