What's at stake?
The Fresno city parks commission will hold its art-funding-related meeting in public as City Hall begins hiring new staff.
A Fresno city parks and arts commission on Monday enshrined the open-doored, public status of its subcommittee meetings going forward, in a break from what city officials had previously advised for the subcommittee amid community backlash over transparency.
The Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission’s Cultural Arts Subcommittee — which plays a key role in shaping grant guidelines and recommending awards for the Measure P arts grants — is now a “standing” committee, following a 7-0 vote at a PRAC meeting on Monday. That means it must hold meetings in compliance with California’s open meeting law known as the Brown Act.
Monday marked one of the less fiery Measure P-related meetings in the aftermath of the alleged theft of $1.5 million by an ex-Fresno Arts Council employee. No arrests in the case have been reported.
But there was some disagreement over whether to allow the city’s PARCS Department to hire three new people to help manage the second and third cycle of Measure P grants. The city opted to move the grant administration in-house through at least the next grant cycle after canceling its contract with the Arts Council in the wake of the embezzlement scandal.
Both community members and commissioners voiced frustration that applicants to those positions won’t be required to have a specialized background in arts and culture — and were skeptical whether candidates without that background would be well positioned to engage the local arts community.
City staff confirmed that’s not a requirement, although familiarity with “fiscal processing” and community outreach will be. PARCS Director Aaron Aguirre said the city could work to advertise the positions to folks in the arts community locally to help target qualified candidates.
Two commissioners, Chair Kimberly McCoy and Jose Leon Barraza, voted against the item that ultimately passed with five supporting votes.
It’s expected to go before the Fresno City Council for final approval on March 26.
