 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Oldsmar won't open exit door for arts group
By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer OLDSMAR -- A cultural arts foundation that wants to back out of its contract with the city will have a tough time doing so. The city's attorney says the agreement requires the Oldsmar Cultural Arts Foundation to stick it out. And City Council members say they aren't ready to jettison the city's partnership with the arts foundation. At their meeting Tuesday night, they called for an end to the bickering that has strained the relationship. The city pays the group $6,000 a month to provide community arts programs. "Fighting, we all lose," City Council member Don Bohr said. In a May 10 letter, the foundation said it would rather give up its monthly stipend from the city than deal with what it described as growing hostility from Mayor Jerry Beverland. The group also told the city to consider the letter a "30-day notice of the foundation's exercise of its option to terminate the service agreement and lease" with the city. There's just one problem. "There is not a 30-day out clause for the foundation," City Attorney Tom Trask said. "There is a 30-day out clause for the city. It's not reciprocal." The council voted 3-2 to have Trask inform the foundation that it cannot pull out of the contract. "I think there are some personality issues here that we need to keep separate from our contract with them and our support of them," said council member David Tilki. "We need to do everything we can to resolve this rift right now and we need to continue supporting them." Beverland said the problem was not with him and read a list of things he has done for the foundation and items he has donated to the group for its fundraising, including his own artwork and his son's paintings. "The arts are very important to me," Beverland said. "To say that I have hindered them, I have tried to do everything I can to help them." The foundation was incorporated in December 1998 to strengthen the city's arts programs and to raise money for a cultural arts building. In January 2001, the group began receiving $6,000 a month to stage art exhibits and receptions, symphonies, concerts, dance lessons and art classes. Since January, the foundation has held three art receptions, two symphonies, a concert, and art and dance classes, according to a city report. Beverland said all he has done is reminded the group not to forget about its primary goal of raising money for an arts building. -- Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or quioco@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
