Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Lulac Appeal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
LULAC appeal: committee raises leadership subscore but keeps prior reported outcome unchanged
Summary
The Topeka Social Service Grants Committee granted the Topeka LULAC Senior Center a full leadership subscore (5/5) after an appeal about board composition, but declined to revise a missing prior quarterly reported outcome; staff will recalculate awards before the Aug. 1 deadline.
Karen Mitchell, board treasurer for the Topeka LULAC Senior Center, appealed two rubric items for the center’s FY2027 social services grant application: (1) that a 2025 quarterly report omitted an amount that should have been 124 served and (2) that the organization’s board composition should have received the full leadership points because Hispanic members were reported on the same line as white in EC Impact in prior cycles.
Mitchell told the committee she believes the blank field in the quarterly report was a clerical error and that ‘‘had that been included, we would have achieved our goal for that particular output and outcome’’ and therefore the organization should have received 20 of 20 points for prior grant reporting. She also said the center has historically reported Hispanic members on the same line as white in EC Impact and received full leadership points in prior years.
Brett (grants staff) responded that the blank field appears to be a grantee clerical error and that staff policy generally does not allow reopening or revising prior reported outcomes that were not included in the original quarterly report, primarily for data‑integrity reasons. On the question of leadership scoring, Brett explained the rubric awards five points when at least 20 percent of board members are racial or ethnic minorities, among other criteria, and added that EC Impact stores race and ethnicity in the same field, which affects how percentages are calculated.
After discussion, the committee voted to grant LULAC the 5/5 leadership subscore but to leave the outputs/outcomes score unchanged (i.e., not to retroactively change the prior quarter’s reported number). Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz recorded the motion and the committee approved it on voice vote (transcript records 3 yes, 0 no). Brett said staff will recalculate award amounts with the corrected subscore and set a follow‑up meeting before the city’s Aug. 1 deadline so final awards can go before full council as part of the budget process.
Mitchell thanked the committee for the opportunity to appeal; Ortiz encouraged LULAC to connect with staff to avoid similar reporting gaps in the future.
