Arts’ Funding Choices Lead to Complaints

Members of the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture got an earful during a 3 1/2-hour appeals hearing Friday for cultural groups dissatisfied with the commission’s funding recommendations.

More than 90 groups applied for a total of $5.28 million in hotel and motel bed tax money, approved last fall by the City Council for allocation to cultural groups and individual artists.

Seated in August, the 15-member commission has been on a fast track, developing the funding criteria and instituting an application and review process that has brought it to this stage.

But on Friday, representatives from about 50 disaffected groups picked a bone with the commission’s recommendations. Given the limited supply of money and the large demand, much of Friday’s meeting was predictable.

With $5.28 million to distribute, the commission received requests totaling $5.7 million from San Diego’s 12 biggest cultural institutions, groups with budgets larger than $2 million.

On Friday, some mid- and small-sized groups questioned whether the commission’s two evaluation panels read their applications.

An evaluation panel made a huge error when it commented that the International Aerospace Hall of Fame served a “rather small public,” said hall of fame director John Roche. “We do not serve a limited public,” Roche said. “We’ve exceeded 220,000 people the last three years. And this year we will exceed 239,000.”

The Hall of fame shares visitors and space with the Aerospace Museum in the renovated Ford Building in Balboa Park, Roche said. He said the organization has 600 members.

Marshall Lewis of the Civic Youth Orchestra took issue with comments by a commission evaluation panel that the orchestra musicians represented few of San Diego’s schools.

Ninety-six schools are represented in the orchestra, he told the commissioners, adding that if the funding recommendation were not increased, the orchestra must consider disbanding half its programs.

San Diego Repertory Theatre board member Jennifer Hankins took issue with its ranking of 3+ and panel comments about the Rep relying on a hit play to resolve its debt.

“Severe cost controls and rigorous management are what ‘saved’ the organization,” Hankins told the commission.

Under a formula, the 3+ translates into only a 7% increase over last year’s funding.

The commission rankings were based on several criteria, including artistic and administrative excellence, community support, arts in education, educational programs and impact on the community. The highest ranked groups received a score of 4.

A top score of 4 is good for an 11% funding increase above the 1988 level.

Groups were divided into three categories based on budget size. Level I groups have budgets above $2 million. Level II, budgets of $100,000 - $2 million. Level III institutions are those with budgets below $100,000.

The commission set aside $2.89 million for the 12 Level I groups; $1.42 million for the 32 Level II groups; and $401,830 for the 56 Level III groups that were recommended for funding.

Level I groups receiving a top ranking of 4 included the Old Globe Theatre, the La Jolla Playhouse and the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. The San Diego Museum of Art received the lowest funded 2+/2 ranking for a Level I group which amounted to zero increase in funding from 1988, a commission spokesman said.

The commission will consider Friday’s appeals during a meeting Wednesday and may revise some rankings, said commission executive director Victoria Hamilton.

Hamilton said a number of policy issues came “back to the table for us to work on over the next year. We’ll be evaluating where the process is working and where we can make improvements.” .

Hamilton said the board will likely give tighter guidelines to applicants in 1990, limiting, for instance, requests to a percentage of the current budget. The commissioners will probably make visits to all 1989 recipients to provide next year’s panels with site evaluations, she said.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, the commission will hold a workshop with the City Council on May 3. The commission recommendations will then go to the council’s Public Service and Safety Committee for a May 17 meeting and a May 31 vote.