Rewild ATX seeks audit of parks nonprofits

Rewild ATX, which describes itself as a citywide network of volunteers working on climate mitigation, water protection, biodiversity and keeping parks open for all, has issued a press release raising concerns about Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department’s nonprofit policies. According to Rewild ATX, those policies “feature blanket and unexamined agreements with The Trail Conservancy and other park non-profits.”

The group expressed particular concern about the appointment of Kimberly McNeeley, who announced her departure as director of PARD shortly before The Trail Conservancy revealed her selection as chief executive officer of the conservancy.

According to Rewild ATX, “PARD agreements with parks non-profits, initially billed as a way to fund park projects, appear to have been lucrative for the non-profits and the executives who run them.”

Rewild ATX says that it sponsored “a forensic financial study that calls into question the degree to which the city’s non-profit partners – specifically The Trail Conservancy, Austin Parks Foundation, and Waterloo Greenway – serve the public good rather than their own interests. Under outgoing PARD Director McNeeley’s term 2019-2024, just these three non-profits had amassed $44 million in unspent funds as of 2022.” The group says their study “revealed that a relatively small amount of funds raised by the three non-profits goes to park maintenance, restoration, or new park acquisition.”

Rewild ATX is now asking the city to do an independent audit of the three nonprofits.