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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

SF Pride Delays Release of New IRS 990 till After Parade


With all the political controversy swirling around the SF Pride committee and their confusing recognition of WikiLeaks hero Bradley Manning as a grand marshal, and then the rescission of that honor, my curiosity was piqued about when Pride files its annual IRS 990. Examining the three previous years' of filings, I learned that they filed by mid may.

When I didn't get a reply from executive director Earl Plante seeking info about the filing for fiscal year 2012 (was it filed last week? available for public inspection at their office?), I phoned Pride's accountant Arlene K. Mose. Citing privacy regulations, she wouldn't tell me if Pride had submitted the latest 990 to the feds. Mose confirmed my statement of fact that on the day the 990 is submitted, that is the day when a nonprofit must make the document available to the public, according to federal law.

Since Pride attorney Brooke Oliver has become a de facto spokesperson for the group with her postings at the Bay Area Reporter's comment section on their story last week about the firing of a staffer over the Manning debacle, and at Supervisor David Campos' Facebook page posting about his written request to Pride to hold a public meeting, I reached out to her.

I asked Ms. Oliver when their new filing would be ready for the public to view and why they don't post any 990s on their site, as so many Equality Inc groups do. She replied:

SF Pride's extension was filed, tax return due on August 15th. I said that I will pass your suggestion about putting the Form 990’s onto SF Pride’s website. Thanks for your concern. I have nothing more to say on the topic at this time.

It is my hope that on or very soon after August 15th that the 2012 IRS filing from Pride is posted on their web site, so that anyone with a computer can read it without have to go to the Pride office or wait for 4-5 months for it to be posted on either the Guidestar or Foundation Center web sites.

Plante is both the executive director and the spokesperson for Pride, and it would do the community a lot of good if he communicated more with everyone seeking info and answers.

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