Oversight urged for L.A. parks
The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks is losing “hundreds of thousands of dollars” annually because it fails to adequately manage concession contracts at golf courses, parks and other public facilities, City Controller Laura Chick said Friday.
Chick released an audit that assailed the department for allowing contracts to lapse before seeking new deals and for letting concessionaires stray from their contractual requirements without ensuring that the public receives quality services.
Chick’s audit found, for example, that sloppy oversight of the contract with the company that operates the Greek Theatre resulted in at least $57,000 in lost revenue in 2006.
The parks department oversees 51 agreements with companies that have a hand in food services, driving ranges, gift stands, arcades and amusement rides, among other things.
The concessions produced $52 million in gross revenue in 2006.
“I believe we are leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table,” said Chick, who called for the department to become more entrepreneurial.
Jon Kirk Mukri, Parks Department general manager, was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment. Spokeswoman Jane Kolb said the department received a copy of the audit Friday afternoon and was reviewing it.
Chick’s audit comes on the heels of a report she issued last month that said the department has yet to spend $129 million paid by real estate developers over the last decade to create new parks in the city’s fastest-growing neighborhoods.
Friday’s audit said the department must do more to recoup revenues, partly by consolidating contracts to reduce administrative costs.
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