Recent Manhattan Beach City Council decisions allocating Public Art Trust funds for two city projects have spurred a debate between the council and the Cultural Arts Commission centered around which body has the power to spend these funds.
On Jan. 17, the commission recommended allocating $200,000 for the centennial art project, and $63,000 for the library art project. The council later approved $150,000 for the centennial project and $150,000 for the library project. Prior to this, the unallocated balance of the art trust was just over $300,000.
The commission feels it’s being bypassed by the council regarding these decisions, and believes the council is violating Manhattan Beach municipal code. The code states: “Projects to be funded from the proceeds of fees collected hereunder shall consist of works of art placed in public places or incorporated into public buildings, art education programs or art display programs designated by the Cultural Arts Commission and approved or accepted by the City Council.”
City Attorney Roxanne Diaz presented the city’s stance on the issue at the commission’s meeting last Wednesday, which left commissioners questioning their role in the city’s public art decisions and why they joined the commission in the first place.
The city maintains that the commission’s role is advisory in nature, but that the commission doesn’t have the authority to spend city funds. “I don’t interpret ordinance the way I think all of you interpret it. I don’t see art trust fund as the commission’s fund, it is the city’s fund,” Diaz said. “It’s not this commission that holds the power of expenditure – it is the council.”
She added that if the council did have to seek the board’s approval before every decision, it would be prohibiting the council from exercising its inherent function of spending funds. She also noted that the council has the right to veer away from the commission’s recommendations.
“(The council) cannot be hamstrung by an ordinance that would prohibit its legislative power, its inherent power, to expend monies,” Diaz said.
With emotions running wild, commissioners themselves were divided. While Commissioner Peter De Maria felt the commission has the right and responsibility to spend the art funds, Commissioner Russ Samuels asked that the commission be sought out for its opinions and recommendations prior to any council decisions.
“I’m going to take a stance for the artists in the world and say that the City Council does not have the ability, according to this ordinance, to spend those dollars unless it comes through this commission,” De Maria said.
Samuels reiterated his stance. “If it’s going to come from public art trust fund, just by all logic, it would at least come through the commission – just say, ‘What’s your opinion on this?’” Samuels said. “Now it just seems like a series of, ‘We’re not going to even go to your commission, and when we do, we’re going to do the opposite of what you say.’”
Following the commission’s conversation with Diaz, De Maria questioned his purpose as a commissioner. “This is not what I signed on for. I don’t think it’s fair,” he said. “(This) calls into question everything we’re doing and the credibility of everything we’re doing.”
Commissioner Susannah Rosenthal brought up her desire to cancel the centennial project all together. “I’m thinking what irresponsibleness is this? We’re using every bit of money on these two projects for the city,” Rosenthal said. “I can’t hold my head up to the press or public or anybody saying I recommend this.”
The commission tabled the remaining items on the agenda, which included discussing the centennial art project selection process, budget and timeline. The next Cultural Arts Commission meeting is scheduled for April 10 at 6 p.m.
