![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-URBAN-CORPS-1.jpg\")
Kyle Kennedy\u2019s house being renovated by Urban Corps staff in San Diego is pictured in June. (Ana Ramirez \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nUrban Corps of San Diego County officials scrubbed the name of founder Sam Duran from the front of the main office after he reported the then-executive director for putting the nonprofit\u2019s staff to work on his own property.<\/p>\n
For more than a decade, the administrative headquarters just west of Old Town was named the Sam Duran Center \u2014 an honor bestowed on Duran after he retired as the organization\u2019s longtime chief executive.<\/p>\n
Urban Corps\u00a0leaders said scrapping Duran\u2019s name from the building was part of a long-planned renovation and repainting plan implemented by former CEO Kyle Kennedy without approval from the board of directors.<\/p>\n
They acknowledge they may not replace the lettering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe removal of the sign was not a board action, but rather a decision made by our last CEO during recent renovations and remodeling,\u201d interim Chief Executive Officer Anne Bernstein said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFuture signage will likely focus on highlighting the organization\u2019s mission of serving the youth of San Diego County,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Duran is now 88 and has relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where he is undergoing chemotherapy to treat prostate cancer. He said he was disappointed to hear that his name was taken off the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first heard, I said \u2018No, they wouldn\u2019t do that,\u2019\u201d he said in a telephone interview. \u201cThat\u2019s getting a little bit ridiculous \u2014 but of course they have been ridiculous for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duran said Urban Corps of San Diego County should have more important issues to manage than what he sees as retaliating against him for pointing out\u00a0an obvious lapse in management and nonprofit governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor them to take it off bothers me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that I need my name recognized \u2014 I am who I am \u2014 but that is just petty. They\u2019ve got nothing better to do than that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kyle Kennedy\u2019s house being renovated by Urban Corps staff in San Diego is pictured in June. (Ana Ramirez \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Duran played a key role in disclosing that Kennedy had directed dozens of Urban Corps employees<\/a> to renovate an investment property\u00a0in the Shelltown neighborhood of San Diego.<\/p>\n Duran told The San Diego Union-Tribune earlier this summer that he stumbled upon the renovation during a visit to San Diego last year. He reported the work to several Urban Corps officials, including Bernstein, and said Bernstein asked him not to alert the board of directors.<\/p>\n Bernstein denied the accusation that she sought to hide the information from the board.<\/p>\n The misuse of the nonprofit\u2019s\u00a0employees was eventually brought to the board last year, and an independent investigation was opened.<\/p>\n Investigators found Kennedy improperly deployed up to 26 people to work on the house and some workers lived on the property throughout the months-long job. They also said Kennedy hid the work from the board \u2014 and from Urban Corps accountants \u2014 and impeded their examination.<\/p>\n \u201cKyle Kennedy\u2019s defensive responses in his investigative interview created barriers to understanding his actions,\u201d the final report said.<\/p>\n The board of directors did not fire Kennedy from his $210,000-a-year job<\/a>. Instead, he was placed on a 90-day improvement plan. The decision prompted two members of the board to resign in protest.<\/p>\n But Kennedy left the $20 million charity<\/a> after the Union-Tribune first reported the arrangement in June. He said he was let go; Urban Corps of San Diego County said he left by mutual agreement.<\/p>\n![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-URBAN-CORPS-100.jpg\")
After a hillside behind homes on Trieste Drive in Carlsbad suffered storm-related damage, a crew of Urban Corps of San Diego County worked around the area on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. (Alejandro Tamayo \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SUT-L-URBAN-CORPS109.jpg\")
A Chicano Park mural depicting seven well-respected Latinos, including Sam M. Duran, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (Michael Ho \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n