San Francisco's Chinatown New Year Parade Funding in Doubt: City to Audit Chinese Chamber, May Shift Grant
San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade, organized by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for nearly 75 years, draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and accounts for roughly a third of Chinatown merchants' annual income. But after a former female employee filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit in September alleging years of sexual harassment and assault by chamber board members, the city is reassessing whether to keep giving the chamber its nearly $500,000 annual parade grant, the San Francisco Standard and the San Francisco Public Press reported jointly.
Mayor Daniel Lurie told reporters the allegations had prompted the city to evaluate whether the chamber should continue receiving parade funding or whether another organization should take over. The city's Grants for the Arts department has sent the chamber an 'intent to award' letter naming it a candidate for a $470,000 grant for 2027, subject to final terms, while the city controller's office will audit the chamber's use of public funds. The chamber responded that preparations for the 2027 parade are moving forward in full force and that it will provide a financial audit report.
The parade itself will go ahead regardless, and sponsor Alaska Airlines has said it will support the Chinese New Year festival and parade no matter who organizes it. How the city handles the grant will decide who runs Chinatown's signature cultural event — and will test community trust in the governance of a long-established association.
Source: San Francisco Public Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：旧金山华埠龙门（格兰特大道）。Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / Photo: The Dragon Gate in San Francisco's Chinatown on Grant Avenue. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
