During the first day of its annual convention, the Association of Village Council Presidents had some good news to tell the 38 delegates attending: AVCP is set to file its 2018 audit on time, which is a first for the organization.
In 2016, AVCP was taken to task for misappropriated federal funds for its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Since then, the nonprofit has undergone a yearly audit by Anchorage firm BDO to get its finances back on track.
But that’s not all. According to AVCP Director of Communications Azara Mohammadi, the organization has reduced the number of audit findings by more than two-thirds. The 2016 audit had resulted in 26 findings. In the 2018 audit, there were just five.
AVCP also updated delegates on the visits from U.S. Attorney General William Barr in May, and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney in August.
In his keynote address, Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., the Alaska Region director of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, praised AVCP CEO Vivian Korthius and her staff for addressing the lack of public safety in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and getting the attention of Attorney General Barr. After the visit, the Department of Justice released $10.5 million in emergency funding for Alaska, and Barr declared a law enforcement emergency.
In her speech, CEO Vivian Korthius praised her staff for coming up with solutions to present to Barr, and praised tribes for helping conduct the research that was presented to him. But getting public safety officers in place remains difficult in the region. Of four village public safety officers hired in July, only one made it through the training to graduate in September. AVCP’s Mohammadi says that she cannot comment on personnel matters.
The AVCP Convention continues today, Sept. 25, at the Bethel Cultural Center. Delegates will vote on 11 resolutions to send to the Alaska Federation of Natives' annual convention in October.
The post has been clarified to say that the findings have been reduced by more than two-thirds.