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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2019)
6A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS PAC from page 1A While Henry has repeat- edly stated his support for the arts and participates in many public art activities, most recently attending the sale and installation of piec- es by Florence area artist Pancho Clark at Old Town Park, he has taken the lead in questioning the fund- ing mechanisms, decision making and leadership of the PAC. His dissatisfaction with the process, and the individuals engaged in that process, has been apparent. This dissatisfaction has also led the PAC to what many in the arts communi- ty fear is the brink of disso- lution. The questions of “if and how” public art might bet- ter work as a function of the city became a point of contention, discussion and eventually acrimony which ultimately led to the removal of Councilor Josh- ua Greene as the ex-officio representative of the city council to the PAC. Greene has been replaced by Councilor Woody Woodbury, who was ap- pointed by Henry to fill the ex-officio position on PAC. The volatile nature of the controversy has also led to a situation where the PAC was given an ultimatum to significantly change the manner in which they op- erated or face termination as a city supported commit- tee. Monday’s work session was the latest step towards reestablishing a civil and productive discourse sur- rounding this issue, as an agreement was reached on initial acceptance of a proposal delivered by PAC Chairperson Harlen Springer to the council. Springer presented a heavily edited and modi- fied Public Arts Committee Work plan, based on the original document created in 2015, that significantly alters the input and over- sight the city council has in the public art process. The new plan calls for an added member of the city council, in addition to the ex-officio mem- ber of the council, to sit on the selection subcom- mittee. The other major changes were evening pub- lic meetings for the purpose of allowing more people to provide feedback to the committee and city council. Perhaps most meaningful, the new workplan clearly recognizes that final ap- proval for all public art in- stallation rests with the city council. Springer has been a light- ening rod for criticism di- rected towards the PAC and he has worked diligently over the last few months to avert the dissolution of the PAC by addressing many of the concerns shared by the councilors. During Monday’s meet- ing, Springer was first asked by Henry about recent res- ignations from the com- mittee as he directed atten- tion of the participants to resignation letters received from PAC members Ron Hildenbrand and Winette Tomeny. Springer acknowledged the committee has had some turnover, explaining some change is to be ex- pected as volunteers often have other commitments that require their atten- tion, which was reportedly the case with former PAC member Tomeny. “One thing that makes the Public Art Committee successful is that we have a very robust subcommit- tee system and that means when you come on the committee, we have other work that you need to do on these subcommittees, to make the whole thing work, and sometimes people real- ize they just don’t have the time, ” Springer said. The workplan discussed Monday was created with the help of city staff, pri- marily City Recorder Kelly Weese, the city’s ex-officio PAC member, and City Manager Erin Reynolds, who recapped the purpose of the session. “This meeting is really to frame a discussion regard- ing what the city council has shared of their thoughts on the Public Art Guide- lines and the workplan proposed by the Public Art Committee,” Reynolds said. Reynolds and Weese have been placed in the difficult position of incorporating the comments provided by councilors generated at pri- or work sessions, into the new guidelines for the PAC, while working to retain the committee both have been involved with over the past few years. Springer was clear during his remarks to assure coun- cilors that the PAC has heard the concerns of the public, and the council, and has taken dramatic steps to respond to those concerns. “We want this to be an open discussion. We want to work with the city coun- cil, and we want to respond to the questions and poten- tial revisions that have been made,” Springer said. “We have in fact made signifi- cant revisions to the guide- lines that we think improve the committee. We want to share those with you in an open fashion and, most im- portantly, we want this to work.” Councilor Ron Preisler has been a supporter of the PAC and he made a brief statement in that regard. “I believe the PAC has made, and will continue to make, a strong economic contribution to our great community if we choose to support them. We are unquestionably a leading tourist destination in our state and the more points of interest that can capture the attention of our visitors will prolong their stay in our city. We have made a great start and we need to contin- ue the momentum,” he said. Springer then went through many of the sug- gested changes to the PAC workplan, providing in- sight and reasoning behind their inclusion in the new workplan. He fielded a few questions from the coun- cilors before finishing his comments. The response from the councilors was positive once the details of the changes were clarified, and so was the tone of the dis- cussion. The new guide- lines that will serve as the template for the PAC are as follows. Public Arts Guidelines: • Reaffirm and solidify city council’s control of the public art program regard- ing the budget and the or- ganizational structure • Update and extend the requirements of com- mittee’s public outreach process, including the addition of three flow charts simplifying the See WORKPLAN 10A DENTURE SERVICES INC. LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Open 4 days a week! 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