Concerned about decisions made without public notice, Los Gatos has opted to turn over their Music in the Park program to a nonprofit group Music & Arts. -DB
Los Gatos Weekly-Times
March 11, 2009
Editorial
In the news media, we take the Brown Act very seriously. If council members were to discuss a topic not on the agenda, we’d be all over them. If the planning commission were to meet without proper notice to the public, it wouldn’t slip our notice.
So how the heck did we fail to question the close collaboration that obviously takes place between members of the Arts Commission as they go about the business of recruiting musicians and raising money to support Music in the Park?
Probably, just like everyone else, we simply sat back and enjoyed the concerts that take place on Sunday afternoons on the lawn at the town civic center.
What’s more, even though the town exempted arts commissioners from its policy that forbids commission members from fundraising activities, it’s clear that it would make more sense if commissioners did not.
Concerns about the Brown Act, as well as fundraising issues are the key reasons the council last week asked the Arts Commission to try to work out an agreement for Los Gatos Music & Arts, Inc. to take over responsibility for producing Music in the Park.
Music & Arts is a relatively new 501 C(3) nonprofit organization that last year took over production of Jazz in the Plazz. The mission of the group is to promote the arts in Los Gatos, including music and arts programs for young people. Music & Arts stages a summer dinner to raise funds for the Los Gatos Museums and The Venue; both organizations also benefit from the organization’s excess funds at the end of the year.
Mayor Mike Wasserman expressed concern that producing Music in the Park might be too much for Music & Arts, especially if it lost its active volunteer base.
Music & Arts board chairman Jonathan Knowles believes that consolidating the two summer concert series under one management makes a lot of sense. As a member of the Arts Commission and co-chair of Music in the Park, he is in a good position to know what both jobs entail.
He sees efficiencies of scale as a big benefit. “In negotiating a contract for a sound system,” he says, “we have much more leverage if we are producing 20 concerts instead of 10.”
Knowles is a hard-working, enthusiastic volunteer who seems to have unlimited energy for supporting the community.
He is serving as liaison between the Arts Commission and Music & Arts as the two entities try to reach an agreement.
The pursuit of this goal makes sense for the town to address nagging concerns about the Brown Act as well as to relieve a town commission of having to fundraise in the community.
It sounds like a good solution for the community as well, especially if putting the management of both concert series under one nonprofit creates greater efficiencies.
After all, nothing says Los Gatos like sitting on a lawn chair on a Wednesday evening in the Town Plaza and the civic center on a Sunday afternoon listening to the sounds of music.
Copyright Los Gatos Weekly-Times 2009