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.”