Festival Place and Council decorum
Published May 1, 2009
In April, Council decided to make some fundamental changes to the governance of Festival Place. The facility was and is owned by the County; however, the day-to-day operations were assigned to the Festival Place Society, a not-for-profit private organisation charged with programming and operations of the building. This approach is similar to that used by the County for community halls and for smaller, simpler facilities such as these; it works reasonably well in most cases. Programming at Festival Place has been excellent over the past few years; the venue has attracted world-class acts that have been welcomed with great enthusiasm by the community.
A number of factors led to Council's decision to revisit the operational side. The facility is starting to show its age. It is a large and complex building. It will clearly benefit from the attention of a professional property manager such as the County. It always seemed unfair to me to saddle the General Manager of the facility with artistic direction, revenue generation and the technical work of maintaining the building. We would like him to focus on the attraction of quality acts - something he does extremely well - and leave the problem of who changes the light bulbs to someone else.
Another factor in the decision is the imminent completion of the new Community Centre. It was always intended to integrate the operation of Festival Place into the new complex with its library, council chambers, retail space, and other amenities. It makes sense to have the entire complex under common management.
The transition is proceeding quite smoothly. The Festival Place Society Board of Directors understands the need for the change and is being very helpful in handing over the reins. This is not surprising as these folks have always shown dedication and enthusiasm for Festival Place. They, like all of us, want the best for this premium performance centre. The society will eventually morph into one supportive of Festival Place in a variety of ways, though not involved with the nuts and bolts of the operation.
Employees of the society are being absorbed into the county structure with no significant changes in their duties and responsibilities. It is in our interest to keep the expertise that has served us so well.
This entire process has been almost seamless - a well thought out plan, executed with care. The only flaw, if it can be called that, is the angry reaction of some members of Council. The violent fulminations in the press and intemperate language baffle me. This is, after all, simply an administrative decision and not one that challenges fundamental beliefs or ideologies. I would expect such emotional excess to be reserved for more earth-shattering issues than who vacuums the carpets in a community theatre.
This is not a question of whether or not we all agree on the issues. The democratic process depends upon a variety of opinions and points of view. Disagreement is therefore inevitable and healthy. However, for the process to work efficiently, all participants must follow certain rules of decorum and order. When some do not, this job becomes much more difficult and stressful. I can only speculate as to what motivates someone to be disrespectful of their colleagues, but I know that it is not in the best interests of the community.
Alan Dunn
Councillor, Ward 6
780-464-8206
dunn@strathcona.ab.ca
Last updated: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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