3 Jewish Community Centers May Close

The Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles said Monday that it will close its centers in Santa Monica, Silver Lake and Granada Hills because of inadequate funding from its main financial backer.

However, the organization’s leaders said they might consider keeping the centers open if the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles gives them an additional $500,000 for their operating budget and commits more money over the long term.

The Jewish Community Centers’ board of directors voted unanimously Friday to close three of its seven centers when the school year ends in June. The board also has threatened to sever its ties with the federation, its primary source of charitable funding.

The federation, which supports the centers and 15 other Jewish agencies, has been frustrated with the JCC since October, when the group announced it faced a $2.8-million deficit in its $16-million operating budget. The shortfall resulted from declining membership and what leaders call an attempt to be “all things for everybody.”

The seven centers provide day-care services, as well as health, fitness and education programs for adults. About 200 children are enrolled in day care at the three centers facing closure.

On Monday, the president of the federation, John Fishel, said it already has loaned the JCC the money it needs to close its deficit. The federation also will provide the additional $500,000, he said, but only if the JCC opens its financial records to ensure the money goes directly to programs, he said.

“We just want to understand where they’re going to use the charitable dollars we generate,” Fishel said.

But JCC board Vice President Randy Myer said his organization has given the federation the information it needs.

The JCC recently hired an outside accounting firm to keep the centers’ books, and laid off 30 full-time and dozens of part-time workers. In other cost-saving moves, the network plans to end the health and senior programs at its West Valley center in May and move its offices from the Mid-Wilshire area to Sherman Oaks.

Fishel said the JCC has made some progress in fixing its finances, but they remained troubled.

“Their leaders refuse to acknowledge that this ‘pillar institution to the continuity of Jewish life’ has cracks that grout, hope and a little paint can no longer repair,” he said.

Both groups have amplified their rhetoric over the last few days, each hinting that a divorce may be imminent.

In a letter to the federation on Friday, JCC President Marty Jannol and Executive Vice President Nina Lieberman Giladi called the federation’s recent funding decisions “a local tragedy and a scandal of national import.”

On Monday, Giladi said her agency would break from the federation unless the umbrella organization comes up with a long-term support plan for the centers.

The federation responded by saying it will offer direct funding to individual centers if the network does decide to divorce itself from the federation.

The West Valley JCC’s board already has voted to secede from the JCC of Greater Los Angeles and pursue funding directly with the federation.

West Valley JCC board President Tsilah Burman said the parent JCC should have complied with the federation’s requests for more financial information.

“They’re just in a reactive mode and they’re hurting the community,” she said.

Earlier this year, Jewish leaders said they hoped all the centers could stay open with fund-raising campaigns spearheaded by members.