New North Citizens’ Council names interim leader while director remains suspended
SPRINGFIELD — After suspending its executive director amid financial concerns, the New North Citizens' Council now has a new leader at the helm.
The organization's board of directors named Vanessa Otero as interim executive director. Otero, who started the job Monday, said that she will work to rebuild public trust in the organization.
"I'm honored to step into this interim role with a clear focus: sustain essential programs, support staff, strengthen systems, and help rebuild trust through consistent, transparent leadership and strong partnership with the board and community," Otero said in a statement.
In October, the board voted to suspend Maria Ligus from her position as executive director pending an audit of the organization's books. That decision came after the board questioned why the Ligus and her deputy director had spent tens of thousands of dollars on travel in two years.
Ligus remains suspended, Otero said on Thursday. She is still being paid, said Gladys Oyola, chair of the council's board of directors.
Maria Ligus is the suspended executive director of New North Citizens' Council. Her spending practices at the helm of the agency recently came under scrutiny. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican, File)Leon Nguyen
A forensic audit is "in the works for the new year," Otero said. She also will be making some immediate changes, including to the organization's credit card use and monitoring policy to make sure they are used "only when absolutely necessary."
She also hopes to find a firm that can help modernize the nonprofit agency's financial processes, she said.
Concerns about the agency's travel expenses is one of several issues that have recently come to light.
Longtime employee and City Councilor Maria Perez was fired in July and has since filed a wrongful termination lawsuit . She was told she was fired because she used her computer for "political reasons," the suit says.
Perez says in her lawsuit the firing was politically motivated by Ligus and Joesiah Gonzalez, a former member of the nonprofit group's board of directors who at the time was running against Perez in a City Council race. Gonzalez, who later lost the council race in November, wrote a press release about Perez's firing that contained false accusations and was later retracted .
Joesiah Gonzalez, former board member for the New North Citizens' Council, left the board after firing the council's Maria Perez, his opponent in a recent Springfield's City Council race. (Submitted photo)republican
Then in late October, the city rescinded $2.67 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding the council received to put toward the construction of a community center. The city asked Ligus for additional information about the project's finances, but she never submitted it. The nonprofit group held a groundbreaking for the project three years ago, but the site is still empty.
Oyola said in a statement that Otero will move the agency forward. "Our board is committed to transparency and accountability, and we are confident that her interim leadership will help stabilize operations and position NNCC for long-term strength," Oyala said.
Years prior, Otero worked for the council. "She really was intimately familiar with the community work New North does," Oyola told The Republican.
Otero said her contract goes through June. Her professional background is in consulting and nonprofit agencies, including leading the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley. She lives in Springfield, and serves on the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission and is a trustee of the Springfield Museums.
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