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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020Oct08_City_Arts_Commission_Agenda_Comments_JimMosherOctober 8, 2020, City Arts Commission Agenda Comments The following comments on items on the Newport Beach City Arts Commission agenda are submitted by: Jim Mosher ( jimmosher@yahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949-548-6229) Item 1. Draft of the 09/10/2020 Minutes The passages shown in italics below are from the draft minutes. Suggested corrections are indicated in strikeout underline format. Page 3 (handwritten 6), paragraph 4, sentence 2: “Also recommends combing He also recommended combining questions 6, 7, 8, 9, and 14 using a table-like format that would also add former venues and museums to track community knowledge and attendance.” Page 3 (handwritten 6), last paragraph: “Library Services Director Hetherton agreed with Chair Little’s suggestion of creating a poster to display in the Library to bring awareness to the Community Arts Survey.” Page 4 (handwritten 7), paragraph 3 from end: “Commissioner Kaufman was opposed to shorting shortening the application due date, giving the local art organizations as much time as possible to submit applications.” Page 6 (handwritten 9), paragraph 2: “In response to Commissioner LeGrand’s question, Administrative Support Specialist Jacome Commissioner stated there were 201 entries for the Sculpture Exhibition Photography Contest in 2018.” Page 6 (handwritten 9), paragraph 3, sentence 2: “With not much spending happening due to canceled events, he suggested increasing the prize money by $50 each to increase participation.” Page 7 (handwritten 10), paragraph 2, sentence 3: “The Board of Directors (BOD) has appointed Howard Herzog, who also serves on the Newport Beach Civil Service Board, as their seventh member, who also serves on the Newport Beach Civil Service Board.” Item 4. City Arts Commission Statement of Funding Priorities to the Newport Beach Arts Foundation Regarding the substance of the item, it would have been helpful to provide a draft of the actual document to be submitted to the Arts Foundation. Assuming it will be similar to the list appearing in the staff report, I have these comments… Grand Opening Luncheon, Phases V and VI: My understanding is this is a private, invitation-only affair, which raises questions about the appropriateness of the City spending money on it, even if received for that purpose from the Foundation, and even of the Foundation funding it directly using charitable contributions made to it. How is the requested money expected to be spent? Assuming the anticipated attendance is no more than 50 people, the request appears to be for more than $200 per person. That seems more than the cost of a meal, yet too little to cover travel and lodging expenses for honorees from out of town. As to the Commissioners (and their families?), are they expected to pay their own costs? If not, is that regarded as compensation (in which case are extra steps needed under Section 705 of the City Charter)? October 8, 2020, City Arts Commission agenda comments - Jim Mosher Page 2 of 3 Newport Beach Art Exhibition (first entry): If this is to be a request from the full Commission, I would delete the word “leadership” from the phrase “The City Arts Commission leadership requests …” Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park, Phase VII: The proposal to increase the honorarium for overseas artists is a reasonable one if attracting foreign entries is indeed one of the City’s goals. But recognizing that the Commission serves primarily (if not exclusively?) as an advisory body to the City Council (see City Charter Section 712), before unilaterally making this change to the nature of the exhibition it would see wise to run the idea by the City Council. I could be wrong, but I seem to recall at least one Council member expressing a wish the exhibition could become more a showcase for local artists rather than the other way around. Aside from these comments on the matter at hand, the attachment of the Arts Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws raises its own set of questions. In particular: 1. Much like the relationship between the Library Foundation and the Board of Library Trustees, the Arts Foundation appears to have been created exclusively as a conduit for directing private contributions to the City. Although one of the intended uses of those contributions is to fund programming, the Foundation itself was not created as a programming body. Despite that, in the case of the library, the Foundation began hosting its own programming, which has now become the vast majority of the library programming, with only a small fraction of the funds raised going to the City. It is not clear if the Arts Foundation intends to move in the same direction. Indeed, from the Commission’s past financial reports, the City has actually made small contributions to the Foundation in the form of paying for janitorial services to support its Art in the Park programming, although those were perhaps fully repaid from the proceeds? 2. From page 3 of the Bylaws (handwritten blue 21), the Arts Commission (not its chair) is supposed to appoint two its members each year as non-voting Directors of the Foundation. I do not recall it having done so, and if so, who the appointees are. It also appears the Commission is supposed to have an ongoing power and responsibility to appoint three non- Commission-members to the Foundation board. This interpretation is reinforced by the reference to “the appointing entity” (either Arts Commission or Foundation Board) in the last sentence of the paragraph at the top of that page – although that power could, perhaps, be lost over the years through the Board’s authority under Section 6 on that page to fill vacancies. In any event, I do not recall the Commission making appointments to the Foundation Board. 3. In a later Section 6 on page 5 of the Bylaws (handwritten blue 23), the Foundation Board has voluntarily committed to following the Brown Act (Gov. Code Sec. 54950 et seq.) except with regard to closed sessions. That commitment would involve public posting of advance agendas with an invitation for the public to attend the meetings. I, at least, am unaware of any such notices, although I don’t know where they would be posted. Perhaps the Arts Commission should assist the Foundation in publicizing the Board’s meetings and providing a venue for their agendas to be posted. October 8, 2020, City Arts Commission agenda comments - Jim Mosher Page 3 of 3 Item 5. Fiscal Year 2020-21 Cultural Arts Grants Timeline The document referred to in the staff report as City Council Policy 1- 10 is, of course, the attached Policy I-10, which refers to a “Reserve Fund” and an annual amount of $55,000. I have no comment, at present, on the proposed timeline, but it would seem the Commission would want to ask what the balance in the Reserve Fund is, and also seek clarity as to how the $55,000 relates to the $30,000 mentioned in the report.