CEO on leave as Fresno Economic Opportunity Commission faces $3.4M deficit. What we know
The Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, which is grappling with a $3 million spending deficit, had a leadership change this week.
The commission’s CEO, Emelia Reyes, was placed on leave and chief operations officer Michelle Tutunjian was named as the acting CEO, according to Oliver Baines, a commissioner on the board.
Baines said he was not allowed to discuss the personnel matters surrounding Reyes. The commission continues to work to understand the scope of the deficit, he said.
Requests for comment and further detail from the commission’s spokesperson went unanswered on Tuesday.
The commission’s staffers projected a deficit of nearly $3.4 million, pointing primarily to contracts with Food Services and Local Conservation Corps. The commission has been unable to renegotiate deals for those services, the report says.
“As an anti-poverty agency, we stayed committed to our obligations and continued feeding our community by using undesignated funds to cover the deficit,” the report said.
Those programs saw rising costs in transportation, utilities and goods over “a few years,” the report says. The report said staffers had begun to find savings, slowing the bloodletting of expenses.
“For instance, during the months of July to August 2024, the deficit increased $1.1 million,” the report says. “In August to September 2024, the deficit increased only $458,000.”
The EOC is nearly 60-year-old nonprofit aimed at programs that serve the underprivileged and try to fight poverty.
The organization routinely works with the city of Fresno or other governmental agencies, including programs like Fresno County Guaranteed Income, Advanced Peace and the LGBT+ Resource Center, to name a few.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 2:57 PM.
