Washington Square Park Conservancy Inc.

“Organization's process to review irs form 990: once the draft of the irs 990 has been reviewed by the audit committee and the executive committee, the document is distributed to the board for approval before filing.”

“In connection with any actual or possible conflict of interest, an interested person must disclose the existence of the financial interest and be given the opportunity to disclose all material facts to the directors and members of committees with governing board delegated powers considering the proposed transaction or arrangement. Once facts are presented, the interested party is removed from discussion and the rest of the board determines if a conflict exists. If it is determined that the member/interested party has failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, the board will take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.”

“The executive director is employed by the nyc parks department as the administrator for washington square park and directly reports to william castro, a voting member of wspc board. The park's department job description includes serving as the executive director for wspc. Compensation is determined and paid by nyc parks department. A stipend determined by the wspc board of directors is paid on approval by the nyc conflict of interest board. The executive committee and executive director consulted a salary report from a professional association in the nyc area to determine an appropriate salary level for the community development director with experience on par with that required for this position.”

“Documents are available on guidestar.com and the nys charities bureau website.”

“Governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request; information as to how this can be obtained is posted on the organization's website.”

“Wspc executive director is a dual role employee who serves as the parks administrator and is an employee of nyc parks, with an additional stipend provided by wspc. This position is approved by nyc conflict of interest board. In january of 2020, george vellonakis went on leave in anticipation of retirement from the nyc parks department, and stepped down as executive director of the washington square park conservancy.”

“Volunteers contribute their time and effort to maintain and enhance washington square park by performing a host of tasks such as planting, raking, weeding and general clean-ups. Volunteers assist in gathering data on park usage, volunteering for special events and leading tours of the park. For the year ended june 30, 2019 there were 126 volunteers contributing 1,052 hours.”

“As part of the maintenance of the park the organization utilized grant funding for lawn restoration.”

“No changes in its oversight process or selection process during the tax year.”