School Board Member, LOV Director Differ

The finances and future of the League of Volunteers (LOV) have been controversial topics ever since the recent revelation that the non-profit owes thousands in back rent to the Newark Unified School District.

School Board Member Charlie Mensinger told Patch that these articles had left the impression that the district was going after LOV because it occupied offices at the former Ruschin Elementary School, which might be sold.

Mensinger said the possible sale and the district's stance toward LOV were unrelated.

"This has been going on for about three years," Mensinger said of the rent dispute.

He said LOV had brought the amount in arrears down from about $80,000 to a reported $67,000 but this was deemed insufficient progress toward erasing the debt.

As a result Mensinger said that when two contracts between LOV and the district came to the end of their terms recently, the district exercised its option to end rather than the contracts.

"It's not our intent that they should go out of business but we're on a tight budget," Mensinger said, adding that as a board member he had to put the needs of the students and the district first.

LOV Executive Director Shirley Sisk defended the 34-year-old non-profit in a letter published on Patch.

She argued that the organization had lived up to its name by enabling "1,084 volunteers (to) provide 25,570 hours of service" to the community last year

Sisk said LOV intends to repay the district.

She told Patch in a interview that the group owed $61,000 rather than the somewhat larger amount previously reported.

"I have a repayment plan," she said.

Sisk said LOV was prepared to move out of Ruschin and was already looking for other office space following the expiration of its contract.

But she said the district should not have cancelled the second contract that LOV has to operate weekly bingo games at the MacGregor Continuation School.

Sisk said that none of the overdue rent was owed on the MacGregor contract; all of the amount in arrears was tied to the Ruschin contract.

She argued that losing access to MacGregor will eliminate one of LOV's best recurring revenue sources and imperil both its repayment plan and survival.

"We can't give up bingo," Sisk said.

What do you think should happen next?