As California pours billions of taxpayer dollars into fighting homelessness and expanding social services, a growing debate is emerging over whether enough oversight exists to guarantee public money is reaching the people those programs are intended to serve rather than compensating the executives who run them.
The latest example comes from Southern California, where tax filings show Carol Adelkoff, the chief executive of a nonprofit organization that operates domestic violence shelters and homelessness programs, received more than $1.6 million in compensation over two years, an amount that is more than triple the pay of leaders running significantly larger organizations. Adding to the public frustration is that Adelkoff doesn’t even live in the state. She lives in Hawaii.
