This is a great idea. Instead of giving tax dollars for a city project—hire a fund raising consultants. If you can’t get enough donations, guess the community did not want the project.
“Los Altos City Council is willing to hire a consultant to ask residents to donate to a new downtown performing arts theater, but the city isn’t ready to pitch in $5 million like the Los Altos Stage Company asked.
At the Nov. 12 council meeting, two members were disappointed that after two consultants and more than three years of study, no major donors have come forward to jumpstart fundraising for a $25 million theater.
This should be taken as a sing, the community does not want this project. And no private developer is willing to risk their money on it, either.
Council declines to give $5 million for theater project, but may hire a fundraising consultant
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT, Daily Post Staff Writer, 11/19/24 https://padailypost.com/2024/11/19/council-declines-to-give-5-million-for-theater-project-but-may-hire-a-fundraising-consultant/
Los Altos City Council is willing to hire a consultant to ask residents to donate to a new downtown performing arts theater, but the city isn’t ready to pitch in $5 million like the Los Altos Stage Company asked.
At the Nov. 12 council meeting, two members were disappointed that after two consultants and more than three years of study, no major donors have come forward to jumpstart fundraising for a $25 million theater.
“I thought we would have some pledges, some commitments. I was disappointed that was not the result,” Councilwoman Neysa Fligor said.
“What we’ve learned is we were kind of naive at the beginning of the process, and we’re in a very different place now, with different obligations,” Councilwoman Sally Meadows said at the Nov. 12 council meeting. Vice Mayor Pete Dailey was ready to approve the full donation because he said private-public partnerships help the city’s money go further. With a $5 million donation, the city can get a $25 million asset, Dailey said.
A consultant should be hired full-time with benefits and no contingencies based on how much he or she raises, Dailey said.
“To think that we could have somebody part-time or on a contract basis or seasonal or work on contingency — no. I won’t support any of that crap. We’re either going to do it and do it right, or I won’t support it,” Dailey said.
Councilwoman Lynette Lee Eng, a theater skeptic from the start, was against hiring a consultant. Lee Eng said she’s worried about the long-term costs of operating a theater taking money away from other priorities, like building a new police station.
“Our public safety infrastructure definitely takes priority,” Lee Eng said.
City Manager Gabriel Engeland said the city hasn’t calculated how much running the theater would cost.
The city could ask voters to approve a tax to fund a new police station, and spending money on a theater without knowing the long-term costs wouldn’t look good, she said.
“I don’t feel we should be writing a blank check right now,” Lee Eng said.
Mayor Jonathan Weinberg said the city should hire a fundraising leader to see what the potential is for getting large donations.
Time for an expert?
That would take some of the load off of Executive Artistic Director Gary Landis and Los Altos Stage Company Board President Vicki Reeder, who have been spending a lot of time and energy on the project even though fundraising isn’t their wheelhouse.
“It’s time for us to get an expert on board,” Weinberg said.
Engeland said he will explore the hiring marketplace for a fundraising consultant and bring his discoveries back to council in the range of $300,000.
Larry Lang, a former member of the Historical Commission, is set to replace Lee Eng on council on Dec. 10.
A majority on council has supported the theater since voting 3-2 in November 2021 to set aside a parking lot between 2nd and 3rd Streets for five years.
The Los Altos Stage Company is planning to focus on major gifts in year one and to finish fundraising in year two, Reeder told council.
The plans
The theater would break ground in three years and take one year to build, Reeder’s presentation said.
The theater would have 160 seats and 23,400 square feet of building space, AMS Planning and Research said. It would replace the Bus Barn Theater where Los Altos Stage Company has been located since 1975.
The Los Altos State Company brought in $300,000 in earned income and $150,000 in donations in 2019, AMS said.
To support the operations of a 160-seat theater, the nonprofit would need to bring in at least $1.7 million per year, AMS said.
Without a large gift to start fundraising, the downtown theater faces an uphill battle in raising enough money, a study by Building Blox Consulting found.
THIS IS SARCASM “They are using your Fing money, so what does it matter”.