ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Hey, Anybody Seen Any Dirt?

Martin Benson, founder and artistic director of the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, had it right when he wondered aloud: “Where’s the problem that needs to be addressed?” He was talking about the Costa Mesa City Council, which at the time was considering a puzzling new municipal arts policy. Benson may as well have been asking a rhetorical question, because the council was too busy debating to hear.

In fact, no real problem at all gave rise to either the City Council’s debate or the adoption of the arts policy. Nevertheless, a majority of the council voted to put arts grant restrictions on the use of city money for “obscene matters” or “for the conduct of any religious or political activity.”

The debate was another example of the hysteria over the funding controversy engulfing the National Endowment for the Arts. Unable to let such a juicy issue pass, the council found a way into the mess by elevating the concerns of two local residents. They objected to SCR’s printing and distribution of a brochure urging support of the NEA--a perfectly understandable activity given that the SCR receives grants from the NEA. What was lost in the debate was that no one had ever raised a question about the SCR’s presentations, which are respected and honored across the country.

As it turns out, the new Costa Mesa arts policy will do little to change the way the city distributes its $175,000 in annual arts grants, which go to SCR and a dozen other groups. That’s because the policy in part mimics state laws already on the books and in part because the city must defer to court determinations of obscenity or risk prior restraint to freedom of expression.

While Benson’s question was left unanswered, however, the City Council’s entry into the NEA debate leaves another question: Aren’t there enough real municipal problems for the City Council to address?