Benicia City Council saves Arts and Culture Commission in reorganization of advisory bodies

BENICIA – The Benicia City Council voted unanimously to keep the city’s Arts and Culture Commission in its current form at a meeting on Tuesday,  leaving it out of a budget-driven reorganization effort that combines commissions and reduces commission duties. 

The council also preserved a key oversight power held by the Open Government Commission.

Community comment primarily focused on impacts to the Arts and Culture commission. Gallery owners, musicians and even the tuner of Benicia’s street pianos spoke passionately about the value of the Arts Commission at the council meeting. 

The commenters expressed concerns that the city staff proposal to combine the Arts and Culture Commission, with the Human Services Board and the Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries Commission into one Community Services Commission would mute the voice of an arts community that is crucial to the city’s economy.

Elaine Eger, a member of the Arts and Culture Commission, urged the council not to erode the trust that donated artwork, such as the sculpture “Neptune’s Daughter” that stands on Benicia’s shoreline walkway downtown, will be protected and appreciated.

“We recognize the city's dire financial straits and are willing to limp along until better times,” Eger said. “But please do not dissolve the Arts and Culture Commission. It's an important representative of a city that's dedicated to the heart of our city.”

Councilmember Terry Scott, who is a former member of the Arts and Culture Commission, said that he is an advocate for a commission that is at the heart of Benicia’s identity. 

“Think of the arts and culture commission as a lighthouse,” Scott said. “It may operate with a very small crew, but its impact extends way far beyond the footprint. It serves as a guardian of artistic heritage. It's a catalyst for significant, measurable, proven economic development. It's a magnet for creative talent to move into our community, and it provides a stewardship of the community's creative future.”

The reorganization of commissions is motivated by the city’s resiliency plan to reduce its structural deficit. As part of these cost cutting measures, the city has already eliminated ten full time positions and combined the library, the recreation division and family resources under one community services division. 

According to City Manager Mario Giuliani, combining the commissions into one will reduce staff time involved in supporting the individual advisory bodies. Commission and community members suggested reducing or eliminating the number of staff present at the commission meetings, but Guliani said that staff support duties involve a range of issues from IT support to general coordination of the various bodies.

Although the City Council left the Arts and Culture commission unchanged, they voted unanimously to combine the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Human Services Board under the new Community Services Commission. 

Human Services Board Chair Margaret Kolk said that since the commission is down to only three members, she is open to the idea of combining the advisory bodies. 

Councilmember Kari Birdseye said that she could support the combination of Parks and Recreation and Human Services because their missions are more aligned. 

The reorganization plan also involved significant changes to the Open Government Commission and the Tax Oversight Board. 

The Open Government Commission is a citizen watchdog body that is charged with monitoring the city’s compliance with its open government ordinance, which contains a number of government transparency policies related to public records requests, violations of Califorrnia’s open meeting laws and residents’ rights to public comment.   

The staff proposed eliminating the majority of the commission’s oversight duties, leaving in place the commission’s role in organizing candidate forums prior to elections. The reduced function of the commission would only require semi-annual meetings, according to the staff report. 

Councilmember Tom Campbell, who was involved in drafting Benicia’s open government ordinance, said that he would like to maintain the commission’s power as an appellate body that oversees the actions of the city government. The reorganization plan proposed to eliminate the commission as an appeal option and instead appeals would have been handled by a panel of three city attorneys. 

At the meeting, Campbell said he had originally included the appellate duties in the ordinance “so the citizens would realize that there is someone looking over our shoulders.” 

Lori Grundman of Benicia Litter Pickers also expressed concern about the dramatic reduction in the powers of the open government commission. She said that a few months ago when she had brought up concerns over the reduction of the time allotted for public comment from 5 to 3 minutes she was told to bring her complaint to the Open Government Commission. 

“I guess we're being told that we can't do that,” said Grundman. “Where can we go? Because now it seems like we're being told that we can't go anywhere.”

However, as a result of the concerns expressed by Grundman and Campbell, the council voted to leave the citizen commission appellate duties in place. 

In an interview, Campbell said that for transparency oversight to be effective, “you want an outside body, not one that is connected to City Council.”

The City Council also approved sections of the reorganization plan that separate the Local Tax Oversight Board from the Economic Development Board. The new board will be comprised of the city treasurer, who serves as chair, two councilmembers and four residents. The board’s role is to assure that local tax measures are spent according to council resolutions that fall within the purposes outlined in the original tax measures approved by voters.