The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District owes Jefferson and five other metro counties $670,000 for its share of the cost of administering the successful Nov. 2 reauthorization initiative. The victory allows the SCFD to continue awarding $35 million each October to arts groups from sales-tax revenues.
But when you bring an initiative, you have to help pay for the election. And the Jefferson County commissioners took a severe step last week in declaring that until it gets the $163,000 it has billed SCFD, the county’s 75 smallest arts organizations won’t get a dime of the $880,000 they have coming.
That means small theaters such as the Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden are being held hostage in a dispute they are legally powerless to help resolve.
“We don’t have anything to do with it,” said MAP artistic director Rick Bernstein, whose company would be crippled by a protracted dispute. Last year it received $65,000 from SCFD – 25 percent of its operating budget. “That definitely compromises our ability to function.”
The way the SCFD statute was written, it may spend no more than three-fourths of 1 percent of its budget on administrative costs. The other 99.25 percent must be spent on grant distributions. So even though companies like MAP would happily absorb a small cut to help the SCFD wipe out the debt, the money can’t come from grants. The SCFD must pursue loans or outside contributions instead.
“I don’t think the commissioners are totally out of turn, but I think they are taking the wrong hostages in the battle,” Bernstein said.
The dispute only threatens the little guys. The biggest Jeffco arts groups are protected. The Arvada Center received $1,017,457 from SCFD in 2004, but because of how the statute is written, county officials only control the flow of money to the Tier III – or smallest – groups.
Jeffco is the only county threatening to withhold grants (Boulder has been paid in full). Jeffco board chair Jim Congrove earlier told The Post: “We need to get this all worked out before we pay this.”
But first Bernstein and SCFD administrator Mary Ellen Williams question whether it is appropriate or even legal for county commissioners to withhold voter-approved funding.
“It’s not only the arts organizations but the taxpayers who are being punished,” said Williams. “They are the ones who pay for and ultimately benefit from the services these arts groups provide.”
One naturally wonders how the SCFD got caught so unaware of its election-tab responsibilities. But Williams said she requested pre-election estimates from every county but either got nothing back or, in the case of Douglas, got an estimate that was half the total of the eventual bill. “There are some charges we have questions about whether it’s appropriate for us to pay for,” she said.
And yes, “it is a very real possibility” that grant distributions will be delayed in October.
“My advice to these arts groups would be to call your county commissioners and let them know just how important these SCFD funds are to their communities,” Williams said.
Where there’s a Will
…
Christopher Sergeeff is home from New York and starring in “Oklahoma!” at the Country Dinner Playhouse – and he has Sandy Duncan to thank for it. Not that he’s ever met her.
New York-based director Joel Ferrell mentioned to Duncan he needed a Will Parker. Duncan then called her friend Guy Stroman, the original Frankie in “Forever Plaid,” for input. Stroman recommended Sergeeff, who had just auditioned for him in Pennsylvania. None of the three knew Sergeeff appeared often at CDP from 2000-03.
“It’s serendipitous,” said Sergeeff, whose big break was getting cast in 2001’s “West Side Story” at CDP before being seriously injured in an auto accident the night before opening. He came back to star there in “Forever Plaid” and “Footloose.” Now he’s most happy to be back because he gets to perform with his sister Michelle, who plays the Dream Laurey.
Subscribers speak
Many DCA subscribers responded to last week’s report on declining Broadway series season subscriber totals. Their most cited additional reason: the lack of leg room at the Buell Theatre. “Many of us aren’t likely to opt for a steady dose of being a pretzel and will (instead) opt for the occasional ‘not to miss’ production,” wrote Steve Cain of Centennial.
Briefly
Theatre Night Out, the most popular initiative in the Colorado Theatre Guild’s history, launches its five-show summer/fall campaign this week. Every third Friday through November, subscribers can choose a play from a list of 12 for a total cost of $92. Call 303-778-7724. …
The Avenue will bring back A.R. Gurney’s “The Fourth Wall,” directed by Billie McBride and starring Edith Weiss and Scott McLean, starting Aug. 27. That show likely will go down as the last great show at Boulder’s Nomad, where it was first mounted last September. …
The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is literally giving away seats for the next four days of shows. Anyone who calls the box office (303-492-0554) and utters the password “lift off” will be assigned one free ticket.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
