Concerns linger over CAA’s finances

Thank you for the recent article about Community Action Agency (CAA), which manages the Esplanade House, detailing the ruling by Butte County Superior Court that they must follow both the Freedom of Information Act, and the California Public Records Act. They can no longer maintain that how they choose to spend public and private funding is a “private matter.”

Three years ago, over a dozen people in the social services community and those providing private sector support for the Esplanade House’s program began seriously questioning how CAA was spending money. It is gratifying to know that the courts have upheld citizens’ rights to transparency from this multi-million tax- dollar enterprise.

My interest in the Esplanade House program and families is long-standing. For 15 years I volunteered as a child psychologist to provide group sessions for residents on how best to support and encourage their children and foster positive development. From the perspective of that experience, I developed a concern about CAA‘s management of the program. Eventually I terminated my involvement with CAA.

Over the years, there have been many positive outcomes for families in the Esplanade House program. The problem appears to be oversight of the director of CAA, Tom Tenorio. Identifying and appointing your own oversight board, and actually having dual relationships with some of the board members, yields little, broken, or no oversight as to the spending of money intended for struggling homeless families.

I understand that CAA may waste more money appealing the court decision. What a travesty.

— Janet Rauch, Chico