MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OF THE ARTS COMMISSION

Monday, January, 27, 2020
12:30 p.m.
401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 125

Minutes

President Ordeñana called the meeting to order at 12:35 p.m.
 

1. Roll Call
   Commissioners Present
   Roberto Ordeñana, President
   Kimberlee Stryker, Vice President
   JD Beltran
   Charles Collins
   Mary Jung
    
2. General Public Comment
   There was no public comment.
    
3. Director’s Report
   Acting Director of Cultural Affairs Rebekah Krell asked President Ordeñana to give an update on the status of the search for the Director of Cultural Affairs position.
   
   President Ordeñana thanked the Department of Human Resources for their partnership during the search process. President Ordeñana expressed the need for a national search in order to acquire a robust pipeline of candidates. He also recommended hiring a search firm. He discussed an outline of candidate priorities and recommended the Executive Committee perform the majority of the work during the search process. He continued to explain the next steps in the process. He also added that he would like to see the search firm structure staff input as well as community feedback sessions. He thanked Kate Howard, Heather Johnson and Micki Callahan for their help as the search process begins.  
   
   Kate Howard from the Department of Human Resources shared the steps in working through a search process if the agency decided to use their prequalified pool. She said she reached out to the eight prequalified firms and six of those firms are interested in working with the Arts Commission. She also shared that their team has been assisting to create a job description in addition to gathering job descriptions from similar municipalities.
   
   Commissioners continued to discuss in detail the process, potential timeline, search costs, and the variety of steps the Arts Commission could take to complete the search. The Committee showed interest in firms with experience in arts and cultural and discussed potentially soliciting an outside firm through an independent process. The Committee also felt it was important to take time to find the person who is right for the job.
   
   President Ordeñana outlined next steps as the Committee moves forward in the search process.
   
   There was no public comment.
    
4. Cultural Center Allocations
   Ms. Krell stated cultural center allocations are based on the square footage of the building, the budget size of the organization, specifically diversification of their funding sources, and performance metrics.
   
   a. President Ordeñana announced that he would need to recuse himself from consideration of sub item a, regarding the Queer Cultural Center (“QCC”), because this organization occasionally rents space from his employer, the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center. President Ordeñana left the room at 1:11 p.m. and Vice President Stryker called for a vote on the motion.
   
   Commissioner Beltran complimented Directors Melonie and Melorra Green for their programming and their leadership.
   
   There was no public comment.
   
   Motion to increase the grant of $728,274 to the African American Art and Culture Complex (“AAACC”) and sub-grantee Queer Cultural Center (“QCC”), authorized by Resolution No. 0909-19-155, by $219,007 (an increase of $207,747 to AAACC for a subtotal not to exceed $815,223, and an increase of $11,260 to sub-grantee QCC for a subtotal not to exceed $132,058) and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a grant agreement not to exceed $947,281 at this time.
   Moved: Beltran/Collins
   
   The motion was unanimously approved.
   
   President Ordeñana returned to the room at 1:12 p.m.
   
   b. Motion to increase the grant amount of $363,040 (authorized by Resolution No. 0603-19-156) to the Bayview Opera House by $25,412 and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a grant agreement not to exceed $388,452 at this time
   Moved: Beltran / Jung
   
   Public Comment:
   Barbara Ockel from the Bayview Opera House said she was surprised by how the Prop E allocations were handled. She said the amounts allocated last year compared to this year were shocking. She also stated the diversity of the allocations is unclear. She said the cultural center directors don’t feel that there is any transparency into how the funds had been allocated. She said the Bayview Opera House receives a low amount of funding each year but that they are still held to the same requirements. She explained the hardships of paying for staff and the staff turnover they’ve experienced while running a cultural center. She said the Bayview Opera house is constantly struggling. She said she appreciates the Commissioners and staff but she said it’s hard to continue.
   
   There was no further discussion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
   
   c. Motion to increase the grant amount of $627,834 (authorized by Resolution No. 0603-19-157) to Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts by $18,274 and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a grant agreement not to exceed $646,108 at this time.
   Moved: Beltran / Collins
   
   Public Comment:
   Jennie Rodridguez from Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts supported Barbara Ockel’s comments. She expressed that whenever she raises more funds, there are more requirements to take away the money. She said it makes it harder to serve their population. She explained that facilities take a lot of resources and that more items are considered cosmetic or not programmatic so the funds must come from their own budget. She said they are doing their best with the resources they have. She also described recent staff turnover due the increasing cost of living in San Francisco. She explained they’re doing their best but need more support.
   
   Ms. Krell asked Senior Program Officer Jaren Bonillo to provide more detail around how the allocations were determined. Ms. Bonillo noted the cultural centers receive non-competitive grants annually. She said that the cultural centers start with a base allocation at beginning of the year. She described the criteria, which included building square footage, operating revenue and a demonstration of a diversified and strong revenue plan in addition to performance measures and impact. She said the cultural centers presented at the Community Investments Committee where the Committee reviewed the performance measures, impacts and programming plans of all of the centers.
   
   There was no further discussion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
   
   d. Motion to increase the grant of $811,303 to SOMArts and sub-grantee Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (“APICC”), authorized by Resolution No. 0603-19-158, by $45,294 (an increase of $34,034 to SOMArts for a subtotal not to exceed $714,729, and an increase of $11,260 to sub-grantee APICC for a subtotal not to exceed $141,868 and to authorize the Director of Cultural Affairs to enter into a grant agreement not to exceed $856,597 at this time.
   Moved: Beltran / Collins
   
   Public Comment:
   Vinay Patel, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, said he worked on Prop S and Prop E. He said he had questions about the evaluation matrix. He stated the first time he found out about the matrix was when the allocations were announced. He expressed concern about the amount of funds allocated this year versus last year since he expected a larger jump with the new Prop E funding. He noted that based on the matrix, the smaller group will always get the least amount of resources. He said the matrix could have been shared with the directors sooner since there was little time for the community to provide dialogue.
   
   Maria Jenson, Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center, thanked the Commission for their work and wanted to show her support for all of the cultural center directors. She said Prop E gave a sense of a cohered arts community. She said they were hoping Prop E would bring more transparency as well as equity. She explained that the stress of running an arts organization in the current economic and financial landscape of San Francisco. She asked the Commission to help the cultural center directors find a pathway for more conversation. She said no one wants to feel like they’re not part of the process. She said she hopes to level the funding field and wants to move forward together.
   
   Barbara Ockel stated that that funding criteria should be published ahead of time. She also encouraged the review of the criteria. She said she wanted more information about their performance since she needs to know if she needs to do anything differently.
   
   Ms. Krell thanked the cultural center directors for their attendance and providing feedback. She added that the upcoming cultural centers director meeting would be a good opportunity to review the allocations and criteria.
   
   The Committee continued to discuss details relating to the cultural center allocations.
   
   The motion was unanimously approved.
    
5. Arts Commission FY 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Draft Budget
   Acting Director of Cultural Affairs Rebekah Krell reviewed the budget memo. She presented the proposed program budget and capital budget for the coming two fiscal years.
   
   The Committee discussed the budget, including the increase to the capital budget for the cultural centers. Ms. Krell explained that the requests reflect the needs of the cultural centers based on needs assessments completed by the Department of Public Works.
   
   Deputy Director of Programs Joanne Lee gave further details about the full systematic analysis of all of the buildings. She said the goal is to look at how to bring the buildings up to a higher safety standard. She described upcoming projects at the various cultural centers and her plans moving forward to work with Capital Planning.
   
   The Committee and Ms. Krell continued their discussion on the funding of cultural centers capital requests, Prop E funding projections, the goals of aligning with the Mayor’s budget instructions and policy vision as well as the City’s deficit.
   
   Commissioner Collins requested the details of the capital requests be shared with cultural centers to build on the idea of transparency and ensure proper dialogue.
   
   Motion to approve proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Arts Commission budget.
   Moved: Beltran, Jung
   
   Public Comment:
   Maria Jenson said that it’s a great to have these buildings. She explained that the centers were deeded to non-profits when the neighborhoods were not thriving. She said SOMArts is now in a tech corridor and she appreciated the efforts to help with capital projects. She said they have a robust rental program where hundreds of people can be in the space so it’s not just a cosmetic need. She reiterated that it’s a great asset to have these buildings.
   
   There was no further discussion, and the motion was unanimously approved.
    
6. New Business and Announcements
   There was no new business or announcements, and no public comment.
    
7. Adjournment
   There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

posted 2/7/20, 1:30 p.m., adv
Approved 3/2/20
 

Language Accessibility

Translated written materials and interpretation services are available to you at no cost. For assistance, please notify Commission Secretary Alyssa Ventre, 415-252-2255, Alyssa.ventre@sfgov.org.

我們將為閣下提供免費的書面翻譯資料和口譯服務。如需協助，Commission Secretary Alyssa Ventre, 415-252-2255, Alyssa.ventre@sfgov.org

Materiales traducidos y servicios de interpretación están disponibles para usted de manera gratuita. Para asistencia, notifique a Commission Secretary Alyssa Ventre, 415-252-2255, Alyssa.ventre@sfgov.org