SCR Chief Is ‘Flummoxed’ Over City’s Fear of Flyers : Theater: The troupe’s distribution of a leaflet urging patrons to contact legislators in support of the NEA raises issues of politics and accounting, Costa Mesa’s mayor says.

The artistic director of South Coast Repertory Theatre said Saturday he is shocked that city officials would object to the troupe distributing flyers asking patrons to support the National Endowment for the Arts.

The City Council last week delayed distribution of $175,000 in cultural arts grants, including $30,000 for SCR, after a resident complained about the group’s support for the NEA, the arts-funding organization mired in controversy for underwriting works of art deemed obscene by some critics.

“I’m totally flummoxed and dumbfounded by this,” said SCR Director Martin Benson. “Nothing requires those (attending SCR) to adopt our views, but my views are pro-NEA, and as a citizen I have a right to express those views.”

Mayor Peter F. Buffa, who proposed that the arts grants be held up, said Saturday that he is concerned that SCR may have used city money to print the flyers, putting the city in the position of endorsing a political activity.

“We have no control over their everyday business operations or politicking, if they choose to do that, but we do expect them to ensure that no public monies are going to support purely political actions,” Buffa said.

SCR recently distributed a leaflet at performances that urged patrons to contact their legislators in support of the NEA.

In addition, SCR directors have on occasion personally addressed audiences before shows urging the same action.

The troupe’s current application to the NEA is for $180,000.

Buffa said the city is not seeking to comment on the content of SCR productions, nor is he opposed to the group’s public support of the NEA.

“In this case, the fact that it is an arts group is beside the point,” he said. “If any group came in and said, ‘We are a political action committee or a partisan group,’ we would immediately say, ‘This is public money.’ We can’t support a group that is politicking.”

Buffa said he would like to meet with SCR officials and be assured that city money was not used for the flyers.

Benson said, however, that having to prove “that city grant money is not being used politically is ludicrous. I really don’t see the tie between the city of Costa Mesa and the NEA.”

Benson noted that several other county arts groups, including the Newport Harbor Art Museum and the Laguna Art Museum, have taken public stances in support of the NEA and against bids to disband the endowment or severely reduce its government funding.

The City Council is scheduled to reconsider funding for a dozen cultural arts groups at its July 2 meeting.

Councilwoman Mary Hornbuckle said she supports SCR but also endorses better accounting procedures to ensure that money given to arts groups are used for purposes specified in grant applications.

“We do that now with money given to social service groups but not with arts groups,” she said. “If we give them money for an outreach program, then I think there ought to be some assurances that the money has gone for that. It’s just good fiscal policy.”

Costa Mesa has come under national scrutiny in recent months for several controversial and unprecedented actions taken by the council in response to concerns that the community is being overrun with illegal immigrants.

On Friday, an ordinance was found unconstitutional that had permitted police to arrest people, many of them undocumented workers, who gathered in some areas of the city with the “intent” to seek work.

The city received another blow Friday when Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp firmly rejected a city policy--passed in August but since rescinded--that sought to withhold federal grant money from nonprofit groups unless they pledged not to aid illegal aliens.

When that policy was proposed, some council members said that it should apply to all groups receiving grant money, including cultural arts groups such as SCR.

Asked whether, in light of his concerns about SCR, the city will pursue an anti-politicking pledge from arts applicants, Buffa said:

“Considering what’s been happening recently, that’s an area where we would be asking for a lot of trouble. These are very complicated issues, and when you try to come up with a blanket policy, it seldom works. We have to look at this on a case-by-case basis and use judgment.”