The former head of a San Francisco nonprofit that recently collapsed after misspending millions of dollars on Thursday sought to deflect blame for the organization’s demise as he faced withering scrutiny from city lawmakers.
Drew Becher, an ex-CEO of the now-defunct San Francisco Parks Alliance, told a panel of city supervisors that he did not begin to understand the extent of the nonprofit’s problems until after the departure of its top financial officer last year. After that point, he said he tried to keep it afloat by seeking help from top donors and cutting staff until he left his job in February.
His explanation was met with intense pushback from enraged supervisors. One accused Becher of failing in his duties and another likened the Parks Alliance’s situation to “a Ponzi scheme.”…