Those sounds you aren’t hearing? Richmond’s city council candidates talking about the “hole in the ground.”
Those words you aren’t reading on campaign literature and candidate websites? Missing details that would clearly spell out what city council candidates propose to do about the boarded-up Carpenter Center, and whether or not they support the continued funding of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation with city tax money and resources.
And y’know what? Unless you press them on their views, most city politicians aren’t going to address the issue at all before the November election. And if they do, their responses will no doubt be framed in terms of “supporting an arts center” while the actual concerns about fairness, competence, access, feasibility, waste, oversight and the VAPAF’s past performance history will never be broached.
I realized all of this last week while attempting to get a particular council candidate on the record about where he stood on the performing arts debacle. The frustrating correspondence reminded me more of a slippery pig catching contest than a serious dialogue about the final resting place of millions in city tax money and the future of Richmond’s premier performing arts venue. [So far, the only council candidates to speak out, even in passing, about the arts center are 1st district pols Tom Vance and Paul Goldman - others have been convieniently missing in action or furiously dodging].
Why is getting a definitive statement on “the hole” so hard? Well, because doing something constructive and speaking out on the issue would mean pissing off very powerful people who give lots of money to city council campaigns (many of them give so much, apparantly, that they don’t have any extra dough to donate to an arts center). As we’ve learned at Save Richmond, it’s far more important for the area’s politicians to keep the businesspeople behind the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation happy and exclusive than to make sure Richmond has a functioning Carpenter Center and a fair and workable plan. It’s just that simple.
In a few cases, candidates will actually break out into shared hives if you bring up the subject. In the second district, we find VAPAF’s chief enabler Bill “Fundraising Momentum” Pantele pitted against Patrick Kjellberg, a former member of VAPAF’s youth squad, OPUS (an organization last seen offering free drinks to “young professionals” in exchange for writing letters to the State Senate on behalf of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation). Anyone out there wanna bet that neither of these gentlemen will be bringing up the Foundation’s last private fundraising figure ($20,000) during their next debate or making much of a public show out of their close associations with the controversial project?
Luckily, candidates can’t duck and run forever. Did you know that we, the people, get to ask these folks specific questions about what they intend to do once they get in office, or if they get re-elected? This includes questions about things they would rather not talk about unbelievable, isn’t it? Why not give this Democratic process a try by Asking About the Art Center during the next candidate forum, debate or community baby-kissing photo op? The answers and/or the elaborate dodges may surprise you. To help out, Save Richmond has compiled an all-purpose questionaire for those lucky few who can manage to corral the potential representatives and get them on the record.
If elected (please circle either YES or NO):
1. Do you intend on making a definitive statement about where you stand on the arts center situation BEFORE the election? Any public statement at all? YES NO
2. Do you intend on making a definitive statement about where you stand on the Performing Arts Committee’s approach when the next interim report is released in September? Any public statement at all? YES NO
3. Do you intend to make it a priority to introduce public oversight into the publicly-financed, privately-run arts center project? YES NO
What are your specific plans? _____________________________
4. Do you intend on calling for an independent feasibility study of the current arts center plan being circulated and OK’d by the Performing Arts Committee? [Followup: Do you intend on asking for a feasibility study if the Shockoe Bottom baseball stadium plan comes before you?] YES NO
5. Do you intend on holding the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation accountable in any way for the millions in tax money they have wasted including the simple act of decreasing their influence and role in the arts center project? And will you be announcing this specific plan for accountability before the election? YES NO
6. Given all the facts now in, would you consider extending the VAPAF’s fundraising deadline again to ensure that the private organization be given still more time to raise the private funds they’ve promised to raise since 2003? (If you would consider doing this, vote yes. If you feel that they’ve had enough time, vote no) YES NO
7. Choose one or more of the following options to tell voters what you will do, specifically, about the arts center mess. (CIRCLE A LETTER)
A. I will wait until I’m elected and the Performing Arts Committee final report is released and then figure out what to do.
B. I will propose that Joel Katz be reinstated as head of the Carpenter Center to help oversee its renovation.
C. I will propose that a multi-member community review board be set up to help determine programming and increase access into the project and the process. The board would consist of prominent arts-related administrators, entertainment promoters, gallery owners and well-known non- and for-profit performing artists not lawyers, bankers, real estate moguls and venture capitalists.
D. I will call for an investigation to determine if the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation and performing arts committee are using public money properly in their current funding of out-of-town consultants, awarding of bonuses and funneling of kickback money to former VAPAF employees.
E. I will call for an independent feasibility study to determine if this project is workable and worth the city’s considerable time and money - like Richmond would with any other project.
F. If a combination of the above, please list the letters: _____________
G. For now, I intend on trusting the people behind the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation and will not attempt to alter their plans in any way if elected.
8. Do you think that the future of the Carpenter Center is (choose one):
A. Very important
B. Important
C. Not important at all
D. It is beneath me to even discuss its future
9. If you discover, while in office, that a group of city employees has embezzled $7 million dollars of consumption tax money, will you propose:
A. Giving this group $20 million more and moving them into new swanky offices
B. Firing this group and seeking criminal charges
C. Nothing. Since my constituents haven’t talked about the embezzlement by this group, it’s not my concern.
D. It depends on who, and how powerful, this group is.
10. Would you, as a city councilperson, advocate eliminating the meals tax hike that city council passed in July 2003? YES NO
Why or why not? _______________