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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2015)
PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 17, 2015 SPARED, continued from Page A1 but didn’t know we needed $9,000 cut from the budget tonight. Now you’re asking me where to cut? I’m sup- posed to look through here and make that decision? I don’t think anyone here will blindly jump at what you sug- gest.” Lawyer said technically Parks Board members have until next June 30 to make the cuts, as that’s the end of the 2015-16 fi scal year. Upon an- other request, Lawyer spelled out some options. “The least desirable is you don’t redo the Willamette ART, continued from Page A1 to put it on their property as public art.” City Councilor Amy Ripp, the council liaison to KPAC, opined the issue needed to be Manor tennis court,” Lawyer said of the projected $11,000 project. “I don’t support that, because that means a $40,000 to $50,000 project in the fu- ture. More realistically, we could cut a little here and a little there.” Lawyer said that could in- clude cutting about $3,000 in materials and supplies, be- tween $3,000 and $5,000 for Keizer Little League Park maintenance and reducing contractual services by $2,000. Lawyer also suggested letting staff keep a close eye on the budget and make cuts as nec- essary. “So your recommenda- tion is to cut a little here and there?” Richard Walsh asked. “So just holding the purse strings a little tighter?” Lawyer replied affi rma- tively. “The public won’t notice the cuts, but we’ll feel it,” Lawyer said. Walsh noticed leftover money not spent in categories like materials gets put into the ending fund balance and is re- allocated in the general fund budget the following year. “I say move that back into parks,” Walsh said. “I’m saying not moving that into the end- ing fund budget. I make a mo- tion to reallocate the $9,000 back into the parks budget, to give us time to fi gure it out.” Lawyer said it was too early to tell if there would be $9,000 once all expenses from 2014- 15 fi scal year were accounted for. Hager supported Walsh’s motion but predicted a lack of success at the council level. “I understand the high probability it won’t fl y,” Hager said. “But it’s prudent of us to at least make the effort. It be- hooves us to assume it won’t work. For us, $9,000 is a lot to cut out. It’s just insane. We have to try this, but at the same time we’ll put our heads together to see where we can fi nd more money.” Walsh’s motion was ap- proved unanimously. Several Parks Board mem- bers expressed displeasure about having to make any cuts, with Clint Holland be- ing the most vocal. “I think the problem goes back to city council,” Holland said. “They knew the potential was there. Why should parks suffer for what is happening? Why can’t council fi nd some- where else? Put it back to the council, see where else they can cut. We have a tight bud- get anyway. That’s my recom- mendation, to cut from some- where else.” Lawyer noted he’s already had discussions with city man- ager Chris Eppley about the budget. “There’s nowhere else to cut,” Lawyer said. “There’s no more money. This revenue (from the orchard lease) was specifi cally given to parks. If it was specifi cally given to parks, why should another part make it up?” Council liaison Brandon Smith, who was the Parks Board chair until rejoining the Keizer City Council in Janu- ary, suggested board members come up with a place to cut the budget. “There’s a lot of passion for putting it back on council,” Smith said. “I can appreciate it and would probably be saying the same thing if I was still in your position. But that $9,000 was dedicated specifi cally for parks. A majority of the money is to the grant program, which I have been in favor of since it was started. I’ve gone through the entire budget. There’s not any extra money. If you send this to council (with no rec- ommendation), I suspect they will deal with it in the grant program.” decided elsewhere. “I think it needs to go to council,” Ripp said. “There needs to be an interpretation of what’s art.” Nate Brown, director of Community Development for Keizer, expanded upon that. “What Councilor Ripp is concerned about is getting too far down the road and then having legal issues raised,” Brown said. “She wants a pol- icy decision. You might want to cross all the t’s.” Ripp summed up her main concern. “I think it will be seen as advertising, not as art,” Ripp said. Christopher didn’t see the issue, but fellow KPAC mem- ber Kim Steen did. “This committee was formed so council didn’t have to decide about the interpre- tation of art,” Christopher said. “(City Attorney) Shan- non Johnson told me about the murals we can have any- thing on it as long as there’s no business name, slogan or contact information. I’ll fi ght that battle. Will the ring bring more business to Boucher? I hope so. Will having a dog (sculpture) bring more busi- ness for Kim Steen’s dog grooming business? I hope so.” Steen joined Ripp and Brown in worrying about is- sues down the road. “It seems like a slippery slope,” Steen said. “Are you going to have a pizza place with a big pizza in front? It seems like it could go crazy.” In a June 22 e-mail to KPAC members, Johnson not- ed the confl ict with city code. “The (public art) program is for art work, not for adver- tising,” the city attorney wrote in part. “The main reason the murals and the sculptures can be allowed without violat- ing the sign code is that the city (not an individual) has approved and placed the art- work for the public’s enjoy- ment. For example, if a mural was proposed for this location, it would be inappropriate to allow depictions of diamonds or watches on the mural. We also do not allow logos for the same reason. If this was permitted in this location, I would be concerned that the (art program) would slowly be transformed into a disguised marketing program.” Like others, Johnson also mentioned the precedent that would be set with the ring sculpture. “If this request is allowed, I think the city would have diffi culty turning down other businesses that wish to have this type of advertising,” John- son wrote. “I am concerned that the sculpture/mural pro- gram could be challenged if we turn down a future request if this request is granted.” Grace Karschnia’s Peaseblossom snickers as Lyndon Zaitz’s Puck rants in rehearsals for KHT’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. KEIZERTIMES/ Eric A. Howald DREAM, continued from Page A1 “We’re still working it out, but I’m one of the fairies and play when called upon,” Lan- ning said. Not only does the produc- tion include some veteran Keizer actors, but many of their children are featured as fairies. There is also a bit with a dog. “It’s probably one of Shakespeare’s most approach- able plays and accessible for people who don’t like theatre or Shakespeare, specifi cally,” Zaitz said. The production is KHT’s fourth Shakespeare in the Park and productions have grown every summer. “Every year, our audience continues to grow, and people who have never gotten Shake- speare fi nally get it,” Baker said. Zaitz added, “It’s a good evening to go out be enter- tained by people who care a lot about what they are do- ing.”