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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - March 3, 1986 SM181 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING JOINT MEETING LODI CITY COUNCIL AND LODI ARTS C0MMISSION 7:30 P.M. MONDAY, MARCH 3, 1986 Pursuant to the following notice which was mailed to the Lodi City Council, members of the Lodi Arts Commission and the press pursuant to State statute, Mayor David Hinchman called the joint meeting of the Lodi City Council and the Lodi Arts Commission to order: NOTICE OF JOINT SPECIAL MEETING LODI CITY COUNCIL AMID LODI ARTS COMMISSION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Mayor David Hinchman has called a Joint Special Meeting of the Lodi City Council and the Lodi Arts Cam►ission, Monday, March 3, 1986 at 7:30 p.m. at the Team Roan, Hutchins Street Square, 600 West Oak Street, Lodi, California. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss items of mutual concern. Alice M. Reimche City Clerk Dated: February 26, 1986 City Clerk Reimche recorded the roll as follows: Present: Council Members - Olson, Reid, Snider and Hinchman (Mayor) Absent: Council Members - Pinkerton 14� Also Present: City Manager Peterson, Parks and Recreation Director Williamson and Clerk Reimche Also Present: Lodi Arts Commission Members - Shawn Allen, William Daniger, Karen Ramonda, Cecil Church, Carol Marvel, Sally Humphreys, Mary Jane Ballatore, Mel Brenner, Susan J. Ullrich, and Allyn R. Senner City Clerk Reimche presented the following letter frau Lodi Arts Ccmnission Chairman Cain Mitchell who was unable to be present at this meeting: "Dear Alice: As you know, my personal life is in turmoil right now, and so I do not know if I will be at the meeting Monday night. If I am not, will you please read the following to all those there. It is very important to me that these points are known. Thanks, Clain. I am so pleased that the city council and the administration and the arts cot:missioners can have this meeting together. I feel it will enable each group to know and understand the functions and viewpoints of the others, and that this exchange will be will enable the LAC to continue to develop and strengthen the arts in Lodi. There are a few specific points I would like to make. 1. The LAC has had a planning meeting and has determined which projects to continue with and which to drop. We feel that the Senior Arts Outreach, the Student Drama Outreach, the free Brown Bag Concerts in the city plaza, the 166 Continued Plarch 3, 1986 Young Renaissance Art Shwa, the Children's Summer Theatre, the biennial Post Card Contest, and the regular issuance of the monthly arts calendar and the yearly "Arts in and Around Lodi" brochure are projects which show great promise for development or which are routinely valuable. 2. A varied and wide representation of arts -devoted persons on the LAC is important. It is better not to have all artists or teachers; business and professional are very important to LAC. They bring expertise and viewpoints which are different and valuable. 3. As the projects develop and increase (see note on schools, below) the ccmuissioners' work loads will increase. It is thus necessary and important that the group continue to have paid clerical help for its work. The details are increasing, and it is easier to get cannission members if they can devote themselves to community -reaching arts projects and assistance rather than to routine, time-consuming paper work. The secretary has this year been of immense assistance, both to the commission as a whole and to me as president. I would like to thank the council for their approval of this position and its compensation. 4. In reference to the remark about schools above, the time is right for the LAC to work with the school district in obtaining artists in the fields of poetry, visual arts, and performing arts to be in the elementary schools in keeping with the new state directives about fine arts curriculum development in all grades. Hopes are that also we can begin—next sunnier—to offer a month or six weeks' worth of free arts classes in cooperation with the school district and with other arts groups in town. This will mean a need for more funding, and commissioners must prepare to seek local, state, county, and other grants and donations. 5. As one of several city commissions, the LAC is in a unique position. The Parks and Recreation Ccmnission and the Planning Commission have their respective responsibilities --and each has a fully staffed and administered city office to carry out the plans, work out the budgets, etc. The Arts Commission has to be its own advisory body AND its own operating department, so to speak. It has no city department --with facilities and staff --to do this work. Thus it is important that the LAC receive consideration of this state of its being and be treated accordingly when it canes to needs for office space and budget administration. 6. The LAC needs to have sane fact of its actual being reflected in the budget setup. If it is to continue under the administrative guidance of the Director of Parks and Recreation, fine. But please let its budget be listed in a separate block instead of being sandwiched in between Tokay Pool and a baseball diamond. This separate listing is not necessary for the other City ccamissions; they are not functioning in the same way. With respect to budgetary structure, LAC is functioning just as separately as Hutchins Street Square, which is considered under the direction of the City Manager. It is not included in the manager's department budget as just one more listing. LAC has its own budget, plus it administers the budgets for Tokay Players, the Lodi Art Center, the Lodi Com unity Band, and the Children's Sumner Theatre. That's a sizeable block of budget functions. Somehow this should be reflected in the budget setup as it is printed. 7. Final point: LAC needs an office where is roan for all its files and activities, and where it can be easily reached by the catmunity. We are being sought out now by various other groups, and our facilities—at least the board roan --are being used by arts groups which have no place of their own to meet. To date, I have been unable to find a new home for LAC in the time I had to work on it before my, time began being taken up with my husband's illness. I would like to repeat my constant hope that, considering the remodeling about to go on in City Hall and the Carnegie Building, an office might be set aside for the LAC's use. Any of you who may have been present at meetings of the Chamber of Commerce' Economic Concerns Committee know how much stress is now 163 Continued March 3, 1986 being place on development of tourism. This is in keeping with a general trend throughout the state, and many commmities are working to include active arts participation in their festivals and other civic projects. Lodi is a growing, developing community, and I would certainly hate to see it shortchanged in any way --which will happen if the arts are not considered just as valuable and important as anything else. Thank you, everyone, for your time. This statement contains many points which are close to my heart. I have worked hard for LAC during my two terms, and I can certainly foresee good things ahead for it and the canm=ty-because of the fire people who have been, are, and will be LAC members. Cain Mitchell, LAC Chairman" Discussion followed regarding the following points: 1. The Arts Commission's need for permanent office space a) Space needs (office, meeting roan, etc.) 2. Projected time frame for vacating the Carnege Library 3. Hours of Commission secretary 4. Budget process and approval 5. Coordination between City and Commission a) what department has responsibility for Arts Commission b) Reservations regarding Commission's desire for independence c) Relationship between Arts Commission and Parks and Recreation Department 6. Common ground with Hutchins Street Square a) Concern for not being involved in facility planning at site b) Is there a future home for Commission activities at site? 7. Coordination of efforts of Commission and other Art groups within the comm mity 8. Plans for coordination of summer art programs with local schools 9. Coordination of efforts to promote arts within the community No formal action was taken at this meeting by the Lodi City Council. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:55 p.m. ATTEST: Alice M. Reimche City Clerk 3