Arts_Task_Force
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 MEETING OF THE ARTS TASK FORCE
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
4:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 201
Minutes
- Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 4:07 p.m.
- Roll Call
Voting Members Present
Jeffrey Ferns
Ken Foster
Rick Galbreath
Ron Gallman
Tim Gaskin
David Gluck
Krissy Keefer
Tony Kelly
Pamela Wu Kochiyama
Maria X. Martinez
Vinay Patel
Pamela Peniston
Richard (Rick) Putz
Alma Robinson
Laird Rodet
Darryl Smith
Marc Vogl
Debra Walker
Voting Members Excused
Virginia (Ginny) Carollo Rubin
Voting Members Absent
Elaine Katzenberger
Nonvoting Members Present (noted without roll call)
Bob Davis
Renee Hayes
Rich Hillis
Daniel Homsey
John R. Killacky
Richard Newirth
Elizabeth Murray
Geraldine O’Brien
Charles Roppel
Nonvoting Members Absent (noted without roll call)
P.J. Johnston
Gloria Woo
- Approval of Minutes
This item was called out of order to give Agenda Item 4 priority, and was actually heard as the third item of business. The following corrections and addenda to the May 3, 2005, minutes were noted without objection: Item 1, Roll Call, was amended to indicate Darryl Smith absent on May 3; Item 5, Approve Meeting Schedule, ws amended to indicate the address of SomArts as 934 Brannan Street. Motion to approve the minutes as corrected was made by Maria X. Martinez, seconded by Jeffery Ferns and passed without objection.
There was no public comment.
NOTE: ALL VOTES ARE UNANIMOUS UNLESS OTHERWISE RECORDED.
- Announcements by the Chair
This item was called out of order to give Agenda Item 4 priority, and was actually heard as the second item of business.
The Chair announced that at a recent meeting with one of the Supervisors’ aides and a representative of the City Attorney’s Office, she was informed that, in light of the recent Flying Dutchman case decision involving a parking tax allocation system, the Board of Supervisors may consider legislation that would allocate Hotel Tax proceeds through the general fund as a part of its annual appropriation.
It is the Chair’s understanding that a representative from the Controller’s office will appear at the June 7th meeting of the Task Force with more information and current plans for treatment of Hotel Tax funds in the current budget proposal.
There was no public comment on this item.
- Drafting of Bylaws
This item was called out of order for the convenience of Deputy City Attorney Adine Varah and was heard as the third item of business.
Ms. Varah indicated that Article III, Section 3 (Notice of Meetings) had been changed to clarify that Arts Task Force agendas would be posted in or near the Arts Commission’s office rather than in City Hall. She also explained that under Article III, Section 8 (Voting and Abstention), the Task Force’s actions are taken by vote, and that members may not ordinarily abstain from voting.
Motion to approve Bylaws was made by Alma Robinson, seconded by Krissy Keefer and passed without objection.
There was no public comment on this item.
- Outreach Strategy
This item was called out of order by default and was heard as the sixth item of business. This item was continued to the next meeting after a brief discussion of the parameters of an outreach strategy.
There was no public comment on this item.
- Continued Discussion about San Francisco Arts Infrastructure
This item was called out of order at the discretion of the Chair for the convenience of the presenters and was heard as the fifth item of business.
Kary Shulman, Director, Grants for the Arts (“GFTA”), was recognized for a presentation regarding the GFTA program, during which she responded to a number of questions from the Task Force regarding the organizational structure, budget and granting processes of the GFTA.
Richard Newirth, Director of Cultural Affairs, was then recognized for a presentation regarding the Arts Commission. Mr. Newirth related the history and areas of responsibility of the Arts Commission and its status as a Chartered commission and responded to a number of questions of the organizational and administrative structure of the Commission. Mr. Newirth stressed the continued shrinking of the Commission staff and budget over the past several years.
Elizabeth Murray, Managing Director, War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, was then recognized for a presentation regarding the War Memorial. Ms. Murray started by pointing out that, contrary to the organizational chart that was circulated at the prior meeting, the Opera, Symphony and Ballet are tenants of the War Memorial, separate and distinct entities with no administrative or policy overlap with the War Memorial. Ms. Murray’s presentation on the facilities of the War Memorial included the fact the San Francisco Post of the American Legion is granted free priority use of the Veterans Building in perpetuity. The most notable statistics on the War Memorial facilities included the fact that it hosts 900 performances attracting over 1.4 million visitors annually. In a brief question-and-answer session regarding the usage of the facilities, Ms. Murray was asked to provide further documentation on events, sources of rental incomes and usage of the War Memorial facilities.
Public Comment: Jeff Jones commented that the Charter grants broad policy power to the executive, alleging that the GFTA Citizens Advisory Committee (“CAC”) is no more than a rubber stamp. Mr. Jones further said that the status quo of arts funding was over in light of the Hotel Tax Fund being completely diverted to the General Fund. Lastly, Mr. Jones stressed the need for a more equitable allocation of performance and rehearsal space subsidies between the War Memorial tenants and the community-based Cultural Centers.
Charles Roppel, the GFTA CAC appointee to the Task Force, countered that the GFTA CAC was not a rubber stamp for the granting priorities of the GFTA administration.
There was no further public comment.
- Election of a Vice-Chair
The Chair asked for nominations and/or volunteers to fill the position of Vice-Chair. Tony Kelly offered himself if there were no other offers. This item was continued to the next meeting, in hopes that a more substantial number of members would be present to participate in the selection process, since the item was called late in this meeting.
There was no public comment on this item.
- New Business
There was no new business, and no public comment on this item.
- Public Comment
There was no additional public comment.
- Adjournment
There being no further business, on motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 7:11 p.m.
6/10/05 DW/RG/spr
