Council questions Chinese American Association finances as city moves Supermoon Festival in-house

West Covina City Council members on Sept. 2 pressed the Chinese American Association of West Covina (CAWC) for detailed financial records after members presented revenue and expense figures that councilmembers said did not match CAWC’s tax filings. Acting City Manager said the city will take operational control of the city’s Supermoon Festival and move the event to City Hall for one day while staff reviews costs.

The confrontation came after CAWC representatives — founder Angel Chu, secretary Daniel Cao and accountant Jerry Lang — presented the group’s history, activities and a multi-year summary of revenues, vendor fees and donations. Councilman John Gutierrez (speaking as a councilmember) said the numbers shown at the meeting did not match the organization’s IRS Form 990 and state filings and asked why CAWC had not produced bank statements, sponsorship receipts and vendor reports that the council had requested previously.

CAWC’s secretary said the association’s president was out of state and that some records are on the president’s computer; CAWC’s accountant said he assembled the presentation but would need to confer with the president to produce supporting documents. Council members repeatedly noted discrepancies between the figures presented and CAWC’s public filings, including differing program expense totals on the IRS Form 990 and California RRF‑1 filings.

Gutierrez said the city has spent more than $152,000 in city resources on the festival over recent years for police overtime, fire, public works and staff time, and he asked why only a small portion had been returned to the city as sponsorships or direct payments. CAWC representatives said the organization donates funds to schools, after‑school programs, senior meals and pandemic PPE efforts and that event revenue helps support scholarships and community programs. CAWC’s presentation included accounting figures the group said were derived from membership dues, vendor fees and event income.

Acting City Manager told the council that city staff had reviewed festival logistics over the preceding weekend and estimated the cost to run the Glendora Avenue event would be roughly $200,000 this year. He said the city had less than 30 days to plan the event and had not yet obtained required permits. To reduce staff overtime costs and fiscal exposure, he announced the city would move the Supermoon Festival to City Hall, run it for one day, and assume responsibility for operations, staffing and any net revenue or losses. The manager said the city will assess whether to expand to a second day depending on sponsorship and vendor revenue.

The council debated next steps for oversight. Gutierrez moved to issue a subpoena to CAWC for tax returns (IRS Form 990) and supporting documentation for 2022–2024; the motion was seconded and failed on a 3–2 roll call. Gutierrez said the subpoena was necessary because CAWC had not complied with voluntary requests and because the council has a duty to safeguard taxpayer funds; opponents of the subpoena said CAWC had offered to provide records and that the city should apply any transparency requirements consistently to all nonprofit partners.

Council members and the acting city manager also asked staff to compile: (1) a complete accounting of city staffing and overtime used for special events; (2) a standardized partnership or MOU template that clearly allocates costs between the city and outside event organizers; and (3) copies of any materials CAWC had already sent the city. The mayor said he had been copied on spreadsheet materials the organization provided to staff the previous Friday.

Why it matters: The council’s review affects how West Covina will manage a major fall street festival and whether nonprofits that operate large, city‑supported events must provide audited or bank‑level documentation to show where vendor and sponsorship revenue is spent.

CAWC representatives said they will provide additional documentation once their president returns and that the association will continue community activities including donations to schools and senior programs. The acting city manager said staff will treat this year’s festival as a city event to protect public resources and staff time while the financial questions are resolved.

Ending: Council members split on whether to compel CAWC records by subpoena. The city is taking operational control of the upcoming festival; staff said they will return to the council with a financial accounting and with proposed paperwork to define future city–nonprofit event partnerships.