Fighting the Arts Slash : County Leaders Lobby for $3-Million Budget Restoration

Representatives of at least two Orange County arts organizations are in Sacramento today for the annual Arts Day effort sponsored by the California Confederation of the Arts, lobbying a dozen key legislators, including three county state senators.

Martin Weil, managing director of Opera Pacific, and Erich Vollmer, executive director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society, will be among the arts representatives converging on the Capitol.

Legislators targeted by the confederation include Sens. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) and John Seymour (R-Anaheim). Campbell is also one of eight legislators honored for providing “exemplary leadership on behalf of the arts,” a confederation statement said.

The primary concerns of the federation is attracting money for the California Arts Council and arts-education measures. (See related story on Page 3.)

On March 30, Weil wrote to Gov. George Deukmejian, urging him to restore a proposed $3-million cut in the council’s budget for fiscal 1990. The council is operating on a budget of $15.6 million for 1988-89, which Deukmejian has recommend cutting to $12.6 million for 1989-90. The council, however, is asking for $17.8 million in the next fiscal year, which includes a $2.2-million cost-of-living increase.

The arts council, Weil wrote, “represents a basic commitment by our state to foster and maintain a postion of national leadership in the arts and associated creative endeavors.”

If $3 million is cut, he wrote, “current and future public access to the arts is severely threatened. Without adequate state and federal funding, the arts will only be available to the most privileged California residents.”