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By Ray Hanania

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Many not-for-profits thrive on grants and funds that come from the taxpayers through government agencies, but they are not accountable to the public which funds them.

Recent revelations about the La Grange-based LeaderShop, a social service agency which recently lost $300,000 in funding, has raised some serious issues about the lack of public accountability by not-for-profits.

The LeaderShop, which is supposed to work with teenagers to build character and leadership, has become the focus of even more shocking new charges of cultivating a toxic work environment that includes bullying and inappropriate behavior by the Executive Director Alan Morales.

Even though it is the public taxpayers who are funding them, not-for-profits are not accountable to the public. They are only accountable to their own boards, which often do everything possible to hide problems in order to keep their jobs and grants.

Shouldn’t there be a state law that requires not-for-profits to disclose their activities, spending and be mandated to address concerns from the public, the people they are funded to serve?

The worst thing about the LeaderShop is how much the executive director is being paid. That annual salary is $180,000, in the wake of a $300,000 loss? It’s outrageous.

Ray Hanania

I am a dog lover and I recently donated to the ASPCA. After I donated, I discovered that the ASPCA board chairman is being paid a fortune, nearly $1.2 million a year. Some 15 other ASPCA board members are making an average of $400,000 a year.

Worse, I learned, only $7.75 of the $19 a month I am donating goes to help needy animals. That information is public record, and it is available for the public to digest and understand.

I’ll never donate to them again. I want them to once again put the mission of helping abused animals as their number one priority, not to make some “animal lover” wealthy.

The problem is, no one is holding not-for-profits accountable. You can get information on them, if you have no job and a lot of time on your hands. But the system is complex, and I think intentionally so.

The idea is not-for-profits do “good” so we tend to think of them in a positive way. The reality is that in many cases, not-for-profits actually put a lot more emphasis on their executives than they do on the constituencies that are organized to service.

That has to change. We need to make everyone that collects money accountable to the people who donate that money, rather than just relying on their word or self-serving reports.

In most cases, not-for-profits operate in the dark clouds, as we have seen with the controversy surrounding the alleged inappropriate conduct of Morales of LeaderShop.

Biden needs to go

It didn’t help that President Joe Biden confused the names of Vice President Harris and “Vice President Donald Trump” during his attempt to silence concerns among Democrats on whether he should remain in the race or step down.

Biden is getting old, as many of us are, but he is the president and we are not. America needs a president who conveys a strong image and that is not what Biden is doing, fighting to overcome criticism that he should not seek re-election.

The real issues are not being addressed, like today’s horrible economy, which Biden ridiculously contends is strong. It’s not. Just go to the grocery store, gas station, big box stores, or look at the skyrocketing costs of home and car insurance. We’re all dying.

Crime is a real threat and laws passed like in Illinois that handicap the police and empower criminals are a disaster.

Biden should step down and the Democrats need a strong candidate who can appeal to both centrist Republicans and centrist Democrats. Otherwise, Donald Trump will be the first convicted felon elected as president.

Read more on these topics at hanania.com.