Menlo Arts Commission takes center stage Menlo Arts Commission takes center stage (August 24, 2005)

** Council discussion likely to address the art of supporting the commission during financial hard times.

By Renee Batti

Almanac News Editor

The Arts Commission of Menlo Park hasn't been quite the same since all seven of its members resigned last year.

In fact, it hasn't been at all, except on paper. And that's not good enough for at least one council member, who considers the "inactive" status of the commission to be a great loss to the community.

At the request of Councilman Andy Cohen, the City Council will take up the question of whether to reconstitute the commission at its August 23 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers.

The Arts Commission resignations last August and September were in protest of the council's withdrawal of support for the public arts ordinance enacted in 2002.

Led by Nancy Chillag, the commission had poured hundreds of hours into researching, drafting, redrafting and ultimately proposing the ordinance, which required developers of commercial, industrial and municipal projects costing at least $250,000 to spend the equivalent of 1 percent of their construction costs to install a piece of onsite public art.

Although new arts commissioners have not been recruited since the resignations, the council has asked staff to research options for arts programs -- including public art -- in Menlo Park.

In leading the charge to bring the Arts Commission question back before the council, Councilman Cohen said he's not counting on a change of heart regarding the repealed public arts ordinance. "I'm willing to accept that's over, done, dead," he said.

"But I'm not willing to live without an Arts Commission, because it can do great things for this city," including sponsoring more concerts, art exhibits, open studios and theater, he said.

Although Ms. Chillag, the former commission chair, hasn't given up on art, she has dismissed the notion that the Arts Commission can be revived without an infusion of funds.

"It they (the council) aren't planning to put any money in it, why waste people's time? Just to say you have a commission?" she said last week.

She said the city's method of funding arts programs when she led the commission was inadequate and frustrating.

And if it's funding that will allow a newly constituted Arts Commission to survive and thrive, the prospects look dim. The city has undergone a series of cutbacks in staff and services in recent years because of declining revenue, and projections for next fiscal year aren't hopeful.

When asked about her ideas on re-establishing the Arts Commission, Mayor Mickie Winkler said she wholeheartedly supports the idea of volunteers serving on city commissions, "because I think they're a good way for people to participate in their community." But, she added, "commissions take up a huge amount of staff time, and right now our staff is so strapped. I'm reluctant to add a commission that would absorb staff time."

A staff report on the issue estimates that about 10 to 15 hours per month would be needed for a staff member to keep up with support work if the commission were to be reconstituted.

The report also notes that the staff will be better able to make recommendations about commission projects and goals after next January, when it completes its research on options for city arts programs.
INFORMATION

The Menlo Park City Council will discuss options for the city's Arts Commission at a 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday, August 23, in the council chambers at 701 Laurel St. For more information, go online to menlopark.org.

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