Foothills’ board committed to serving community

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The foothills performing arts center is seen in this January 6th file photo. Photo by Brit Worgan.

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February 15, 2010

Anonymous The Daily Star Mon Feb 15, 2010, 12:38 PM EST

BY THE FOOTHILLS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Recent events have called into question the management of Foothills Performing Arts Center by its board of directors and even perhaps the value of the project to the greater Oneonta community.

In the wake of the unfortunate and emotionally charged allegations by former staff, members of the board have weighed the desire to be forthcoming against the possible down side of answering what we believe and know to be unfounded charges.

Should we chase public relations fires, putting out one after another? Do we risk ceaseless rounds of backand- forth accusations and defensive posturing? It might make good press, but is it a valuable use of time when we consider the far more pressing and serious financial challenges we are now encountering?

As members of the board of directors, we believe it is the right of the community to have access to factual information about our conduct as well as the fiscal and physical condition of Foothills Performing Arts Center. It is a matter of public trust. It is important to the future of this significant effort.

The board of directors of any not-for-profit acts as the governing body of the organization. They guide the resources and the management of the organization to ensure that they are in keeping with the organizational mission. It is their responsibility to represent the vision and the goals of the organization to the community.

Let’s not forget that a board of directors is composed of volunteers who have agreed to commit resources of time, expertise and financial contribution for the betterment of a project. The day-to-day activities of every board member will vary depending upon their professional and personal commitments. Certainly at Foothills Performing Arts Center, this has been the case over the years, as board members have confronted serious health issues and personal demands, as well as professional challenges and opportunities. Still, our collective commitment has remained steadfast as we continue to work toward the successful completion of an ambitious project designed to benefit the community.

Consider the following:

For many years, board members of Foothills worked closely with government leaders in Albany and Washington, D.C., to raise more than $9 million to pay for the construction of the Foothills building.

Board members have collectively donated in excess of $1.1 million in cash, and more in goods and services.

Board members have volunteered many hundreds of hours consulting, advising and supervising the building project.

These contributions have, by and large, remained quiet and even anonymous. They have been made in tribute to those we loved who believed in this project, and in support of a vision of a brighter future for downtown Oneonta and surrounding communities.

The scope of the Foothills Performance Arts Center project is substantial.

Before Foothills, Market Street was a sorry sight, with the abandoned West-Nesbitt feed mill. The Foothills team worked with the city of Oneonta to raze the building and to create the existing facility. The project has been adjusted in scope over the years to conform to financial realities, but we have never lost sight of the civic, cultural and educational components of our original mission. Foothills is a community gathering place, a space for local arts groups of all sorts to perform, and a magnet for visiting artists and performance groups.

Now, consider all that we have accomplished in the past five years. Erecting a building of such proportion is a tremendous challenge. We are 95 percent of the way there. Two performance/gathering spaces accommodating 125 and 250 people are complete, as is the beautiful and expansive atrium space. The focus of our work now is completing the main-stage theater, which will have seating for 624 with room for expansion.

Quite frankly, we feel a deep sense of pride over our accomplishments. We are proud that Foothills is a “green” building with many state-of-the-art elements.

In terms of construction-related issues, the main stage is under construction and will be completed when the necessary funds are raised. There has been discussion about a report commissioned by the former executive director of Foothills that is critical of the project. Ideally, the authors of such a report would have spent time with the architect and project managers to review concerns and ask questions.

That did not happen.

As a result, the report is completely inaccurate. Many of the issues raised could have been resolved by understanding the status of the project. Indeed, the board and anyone associated with the construction of the project were unaware that Foothills requested and paid for the study until former employees went to the press.

Developing vibrant arts programming that attracts audiences and funding enough to sustain the effort is, again, an extraordinary goal. Admittedly, it has been a challenge for our board to maintain the necessary effort to complete the Foothills structure while supporting developing programming. We looked to management to curate a performance season that was self-sustaining through box office revenue and donated support.

The board of directors gave management creative freedom to schedule any and all performances it deemed worthwhile.

In support of artistic efforts, the board even paid for some of these events personally. Unfortunately, as wonderful as so much of the programming was, it did not attract significant enough audience attendance, sponsorship or grant support. Our request that a business plan in support of artistic programming be implemented was not fulfilled by management. Instead, operating capital was used to support artistic endeavors and the expansion of staff without board knowledge.

The most difficult aspect of board service is being forced into unfortunate situations in which tough decisions must be made.

For our part, we recognize that it is time to conduct a thorough strategic review and develop a plan for the next phase of governance and management. We are working with not-for-profit advisers on that effort, while interviews for an interim director are under way. In the meantime, scheduled programming and events continue, as we work through the new fiscal challenges we must resolve. Foothills has a busy winter and spring calendar, and more events are being booked daily.

It is our hope that this article helps to convey the truth about our effort and our commitment as a board of directors. We recognize that everyone expressing an opinion cares deeply about the future of Foothills Performing Arts Center. We hope that any future dialogue will be based in fact and conducted in a constructive manner.

We welcome community members with open arms to come and support the work and vision of Foothills. Help with our fundraising drive. Volunteer at events. Serve on our board of directors or our volunteer guild. We need your help and participation A special thank-you to everyone who has come forward to support the work of Foothills in recent weeks.

The board of directors has taken recent events very seriously. We are financially, intellectually, emotionally and even physically invested in this project. We plan to work diligently to see it through.

THE FOOTHILLS Board of Directors members are Rev. Ken Baldwin of Oneonta, Gene Bettiol of Oneonta, Cal Chase of Oneonta, Jason Curley of Oneonta, Arnie Drogen of Oneonta, Charlotte Hill of Delhi, Tasi Karabinis of Oneonta, Sarah Patterson of Oneonta, Brenda Reeser of Andes, Doug Reeser of Andes and David Wawro of Oneonta.