While citizens have been warning about mismanagement for years, the accounting on Monroe Park is becoming more stark.

Yesterday the Richmond Free Press published an article on the situation, “IRS filing shows Monroe Park Conservancy running deficit”.

The report for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2019, shows the conservancy received $238,264 in revenue primarily from grants, but expenses ran $503,000, leaving the group swimming in red ink.

The group, established in 2014 to be self-supporting and awarded a 30-year lease to manage the city’s oldest park, also reported a significant drop in its total assets, leaving it with virtually no cash or monetary backup to support its work, according to the report.

Readers are left to wonder about the latest 12-month period. The article does not mention that the Sierra Club, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association, and many citizens have already called for the ouster of Alice McGuire Massie, the president and executive director of the Monroe Park Conservancy and the termination of the private Conservancy’s lease on the public park. The article also fails to mention that 2nd District Councilperson and mayoral candidate Kim Gray sits on the Conservancy’s board.

Mayoral candidate Justin Griffin has said that “An audit of the Monroe Park situation is one of the first things I will do. This project is a prime example of the mismanagement and waste we have here in Richmond.”

Clashes between Richmond Police Department and Black Lives Matter protesters took place last night as an attempt was made to topple the General J.E.B Stuart statue on Monument Avenue.City Council members have asked for immediate removal of Confederate statues in order to preserve ‘public safety’.

Judging from the poster above, the protests will continue, with some starting in Monroe Park.