Delayed Measure P grant funds are hamstringing local arts groups | Opinion

The great news for 134 cultural arts groups in the City of Fresno is that they have qualified to get a piece of $6.3 million from Measure P.

The bad news is that these organizations — like the Fresno Philharmonic, the Asian American Writer Coalition and the High School Folklórico Showoffs — are still waiting for their funds more than two months after they received notification of getting the grant.

Even worse is that the same delay happened last year, during the inaugural distribution of funds made possible by the 2018 voter-approved ⅜-cent sales tax that will generate $1.5 billion over 30 years to fund improvements and maintenance of public parks, build new parks and trails and support local arts.

This does irreparable harm for the local cultural arts scene that is relying on 12% of Measure P money at a time when state and federal grants for the arts are disappearing. When these organizations have to wait for their approved funds, it can lead to postponements of scheduled shows or concerts, scaling back presentations and delaying payments to vendors. That’s no way to run an operation.

Frustrations voiced

The city’s Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission has gotten an earful this year from critics of the process. The battle for scraps of the $6.3 million available this year for cultural arts grants led to accusations that well-established organizations got the lion’s share of the funds, that the Fresno Arts Council president interfered in the selection process and that bias tainted the selection process.

Johannus Reijinders, a grantwriter who helped some applicants, asked the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission for more transparency in the grant panel review sessions. He even asked the commission in October to release transcripts and recordings of those sessions to prove full transparency of the process.

“We are not asking for changes to the current process that we are bound to, we are asking for the current process that we are bound to, to be followed,” Reijinders said; he wanted the entire process to be redone.

Thankfully, the process continued. However, the funds were still late.

Lilia Gonzáles Chávez, executive director of the Fresno Arts Council which administers the Measure P program for the city, has signaled it will hold public meetings to solicit public input “on ideas for improving the process.”

“I do feel a level of frustration because the process has been delayed,” said Gonzáles Chávez. “It’s not the process related to the application itself, it’s the commission actions every year.”

The commission, last year and this year, should have made sure the money went out as quickly as possible to the grant winners. Instead, that process was held up by complaints of lack of transparency, a commissioner’s request that the grants be divided equally among the seven council districts, or grumblings that well-established groups like Valley Public Television, Arte Américas and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (each getting $400,000) received the lion’s share of Measure P.

It should be noted that those large organizations have overhead costs like utilities, maintenance, rent or mortgage and staffing. Established groups received $3.1 million for general operating support. Another $2 million went to support established projects, while a little over $1 million was given to emerging projects.

What should to be done

City Attorney Andrew Janz allowed the commission’s subcommittee, which had previously met behind closed doors, to hold an open public meeting Oct. 6 to comply with the state’s Brown Act.

That was a step in the right direction.

Officials should consider bringing in outside members to review grant applications, or at least blend them in with local members. There were 32 who reviewed and scored the grants this year. A small stipend would add to the credibility of the process.

The grant reviews should allow for public recordings to remove any doubt about biased judging. All sessions should be open to the public.

The grant review calendar should be posted on the commission’s website.

Most of all, we would like the Fresno Arts Council or the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission to post a schedule of events funded by Measure P.

The public would love to see the completion of the Easton Trail benches at Woodward Park, performances by Compañía de Danza El Sol, the open mic comedy show with The Smiley G, Care Fresno’s celebration of Fresno cultures and other cultural events — and it’s the commission’s fault that they can’t.