Arts_Task_Force
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 MEETING OF THE ARTS TASK FORCE
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
4:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 201
Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 4:10 p.m.
- Roll Call
Voting Members Present
Karen Ames
Jeffrey Ferns
Rick Galbreath
David Gluck
Elaine Katzenberger
Krissy Keefer
Tony Kelly
Pamela Wu Kochiyama
Maria X. Martinez
Anjali Nath
Vinay Patel
Pamela Peniston
Richard (Rick) Putz
Alma Robinson
Virginia (Ginny) Carollo Rubin
Marc Vogl
Debra Walker
Voting Members Excused
Ken Foster
Laird Rodet
Voting Members Absent
Tim Gaskin
Darryl Smith
Nonvoting Members Present
Bob Davis
Mike Farrah
Tim Hallman
Renee Hayes
P.J. Johnston
Carolyn McMillan
Elizabeth Murray
Richard Newirth
Geraldine O’Brien
Nonvoting Members Absent
Rich Hillis
John R. Killacky
Charles Roppel
Gloria Woo
NOTE: ALL VOTES ARE UNANIMOUS UNLESS OTHERWISE RECORDED.
- Announcements by the Chair
Renee Hayes was recognized for a brief presentation of Grants for the Arts (GFTA) statistics, and distributed spreadsheets detailing the statistics.
Public Comment: Jeff Jones said that the War Memorial support was not included in the “big six” total City support.
- Update on Task Force Report
Mark Vogl reported a summary of the discussions of the Revenue working group and noted that the group sought to establish consensus around the ideas being floated, namely:
The Hotel Tax allocation should be secured, whether by ballot initiative or by other means;
The City should be bound by current legislation, and establish a new baseline;
GFTA should fund the arts solely and without strings;
All monies collected for arts should be spent on the arts, i.e., Redevelopment and Planning C-3 fees, etc., and a supervisory body should be designated to coordinate the expenditures of arts fee-generated monies;
Arts development fees should be expanded to apply to all commercial development, not just downtown C-3 zones.
There was discussion of raising the Hotel Tax, but no consensus was reached.
Elizabeth Murray was then recognized to explain an implementation strategy for returning the Hotel Tax allocation to the currently prescribed levels. Ms. Murray noted that if the Hotel Tax allocation were returned to the original allocation scheme (provided for by ordinance which was last followed in the 2003-2004 fiscal year), the General Fund would have to absorb a $26 million reduction, which is a politically untenable position. Several options were discussed, with a general agreement that the Revenue working group would continue to work on the problem and report back.
Public Comment:
Nina Saltman, a principal in the Clay Studio, requested the Task Force’s assistance with regard to the studio’s pending eviction.
Andrew Wood suggested that there is a need to get legal definition of whether we need to go to the ballot.
Jeff Jones suggested that the original legislation implementing the Hotel Tax Fund states that the increase can be no more than 10% per year, which could pose a problem with implementation. In order to reduce the pain for the General Fund, he suggests that changes be phased in over perhaps ten years.
David Gluck and Maria X. Martinez were recognized and briefly outlined the work of the Structure group, which has resulted in consensus to recommend that the City reorganize the arts agencies into a Department of Arts and Culture for the purposes of unifying arts policy citywide, economizing on administrative costs and raising the profile of the arts thereby recognizing the arts as a major contributor the economic and social well-being of the city.
Public Comment:
Julie Muchay asked whether there is any precedent for a Department of Culture.
Toby Leavitt offered that the best chance of success in implementing the recommendations is to minimize politicizing the arts.
Heather Kitchen, Executive Director of ACT, voiced concerns about the amount of time artists spend on political action and lobbying. Such actions could become a detriment if the “Arts Czar” could single out an artist’s or organization’s funding in retaliation for their activism.
Scott Walton warned that for an unpaid “Czar” position (like Charlotte Shultz’s), there would be pressure to have the position become paid and this would generate an incentive to find funding to pay a salary instead of concentrating on promoting the arts.
Jeff Jones said that he had just returned from New York and reported that artists supported Republican mayoral candidate Bloomberg since he focused on the contribution of the arts to civic life. Mr. Jones also noted that Los Angeles, Chicago and New York all have Departments of Cultural Affairs—this is not a new idea and there is a need for more political power for artists.
Andrew Wood said that the program and structure elements seem to meld into staffing for development resources, effective leadership and mandate for the arts. He said that when the City is making decisions, the voice of artists must be at the table, and that artists must organize. He also said that integration of programs and structure will make the recommendations clearer.
- Outreach Update
This item was continued to a future meeting.
- Update on Expenditures
This item was continued to a future meeting.
- New Business
Jeff Ferns asked that the Proposition 40 deadline be discussed at a future meeting.
There was no public comment on this item.
- Public Comment
Andrew Wood suggested that the Task Force supply sufficient copies of materials for the public.
There was no further public comment.
- Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
1/18/06 DW/RG/spr
