Arts Coalition Urges Protest of Proposed Cuts

The San Diego Arts and Cultural Coalition, which includes more than 100 local arts organizations, is urging its members to attend today’s City Council meeting to protest proposed cuts in arts funding.

“We would just like to make the Council aware that cuts of this magnitude would be very, very difficult” for the arts groups, said Bud Franks, co-chair of the coalition.

As part of an overall goal of reducing $18 million from the 1993 city budget, the city manager is proposing an across-the-board 15% cut in the transient occupancy tax (TOT) money allocated to the arts, civic events and promotional programs. As it stands now, 121 organizations and programs will be impacted, from the Actor’s Alliance of San Diego to Young Audiences.

The cuts “will cost jobs, programs and productions,” said Franks, who is also executive director of the San Diego Civic Light Opera (Starlight), which could see its city allocation drop from $172,487 in 1992 to $140,717.

At the Old Globe Theater, the 15% cut could mean staff reductions and rollbacks in staff salaries, Old Globe manager Tom Hall said.

“It is not an insignificant impact by any means,” he said.

Hall said he would be among the arts leaders attending today’s meetings. As much as anything, Hall said he would question why other areas were not cut as much as the arts funding.

“Our only concern is one of equity,” Hall said.

Under the current proposal, other groups funded by TOT money, such as Economic Development programs, would not be impacted.

Those groups have “a more direct value in terms of long-term revenue impact,” said Deputy City Manager Bruce Herring, noting that increasing revenues will also increase the amount of money available to the arts.

But Franks said the arts leaders will emphasize to the Council that galleries, theaters and museums also help the overall economic health of the community.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that the arts are revenue-generating,” Franks said. “The arts are one of the prime tourist-serving programs in the community.”

Under the current proposal, the 15% percent will be chopped from the money allocated to each group by the City Council in June, which, in many cases, was already less than organizations received in the 1992 fiscal year.

For example, the Old Globe Theater received $697,835 in 1992. It requested $771,000 for 1993 and was granted $676,430 in June. But under the new proposal, it would receive only $574,966--a $122,869 reduction from 1992. The June budget generally followed the recommendations of the city’s Commission for Arts and Culture.

Other organizations, which had originally received an increase in June, would find their ’93 allocation to be only slightly less or even slightly greater than the city funds they received in 1992. For example, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society was given $47,852 in the ’92 budget and asked for $113,938 for ’93. In June the council agreed to give the group $56,369, which means that after a 15% cut the group will receive almost the same amount as in 1992--$47,914.

The California Ballet, the Combined Arts and Education Council (COMBO), the La Jolla Playhouse and the San Diego Foundation for Performing Arts are among the groups that would receive about the same money as in 1992 under the city manager’s proposal, albeit far less than they had hoped to get. Eleven groups, including Teatro Mascara Magica and San Diego Youth and Community Services (ARTSREET), will receive funding for the first time.

But many of the arts organizations, already hard hit by the overall state of the economy, could be severely impacted, particularly smaller groups that are already finding it difficult to raise money. The Blackfriar’s Theater would see its city funding drop from $27,669 in 1992 to $22,865 in 1993. The city funds for Sushi would drop from $44,882 to $34,717.

Larger groups will suffer as well. The San Diego Symphony received $549,362 in 1992, but would receive only $452,634 under the budget proposal. The already-struggling Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego would see its funding allocation drop from $176,840, to $145,344.

“The whole arts community is concerned about this,” Franks said.