Starting next year, a new city commission will take its place in the structure of local government—an Arts and Culture Commission, to join the Planning Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission and Senior Citizens Advisory Commission as an advisory body to review policies and programs under its purview.
The City Council evaluated the final draft of a proposed structure for the body from Mark Themig, the community services director, at the Monday, Aug. 19, meeting. The development of the commission took five years, dating to 2019 when the city launched an “arts and culture master planning process,” led by a community-based Creative Leadership Team, an ad hoc group of almost 30 members. A consultant, the Cultural Planning Group, also helped develop the master plan.
That Creative Leadership Team, or CLT, held a number of community meetings and discussions in 2019 into 2021, leading to the City Council’s adoption of the Arts and Culture Master Plan in August 2021. Since that time, city staff continued to work with the CLT to develop an implementation plan. The proposal for the Arts and Culture Commission represents the latest step by the CLT and city in this implementation.
At the Monday meeting, three members of the CLT rose to give endorsements of the plan—Linus Lancaster, Gayle Okumura Sullivan and Mark McMullen. “The CLT consists of six or seven remaining members who have kept things moving,” Lancaster told the Tribune. “We have met semi-regularly for the past few years.”
Commission Structure
The make-up of a commission-level body to review arts and culture in Healdsburg, as presented by Themig, was for a seven-member body comprised of residents of Healdsburg, each to fill three-year terms. Initially, the duration of the terms would be staggered to allow for a periodic refreshment of the commission. The first four appointments will be for three-year terms, while the other three will serve two-year terms. Thereafter, all terms will be for three years; commissioners will serve until reappointed or a replacement is named to take their place.
The three-year term is standard for both the Parks & Recreation Commission and the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission. Planning commissioners serve four-year terms.
One of the positions is designated as “youth commissioner,” either a student 18 years or younger (presumably for local secondary school) or a full-time student under the age of 21. This requirement came under some discussion by Councilmember Ariel Kelley, who questioned why it must be a “full-time” student under 21, since many in that age bracket must divide work and school to provide for their families.
“A lot of our economically disadvantaged families in our community, they have to work while they’re going to school because they can’t afford to just be a full-time student” Kelley said. “And so I wouldn’t want to exclude those young people from applying to be on the commission if they happen to only be a part-time student.”
Councilmember Chris Herrod addressed extending the boundary of eligible commissioners to the boundaries of the Healdsburg Unified School District, which extends beyond city limits, which is true of the Parks & Recreation Commission upon which Herrod formerly served. “I think having a broader pool is helpful, and certainly people outside the city limits are very deeply engaged in the city,” he said.
Purpose
The purpose of the commission is to “carry out the vision, goals and strategies” of the city’s Arts and Culture Master Plan, a document finalized about a year ago. Per the Master Plan, commission duties include acting in an advisory capacity to the City Council and staff “on matters pertaining to the enrichment of the community through fine arts…”
Among the specific tasks, it will “serve as an advocate for cultural activities, community cultural programs and events… encourage the integration of art, cultural programs, and cultural events into the fabric of the City… promote arts and cultural activities of and in the city to broaden opportunities for residents, businesses and visitors” and the like.
The complete Master Plan is found on the city’s website at www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us/891/Arts-and-Culture-Master-Plan.
“The Plan is the impetus for the commission, it’s the horse they’re going to ride on,” Herrod said. “It has all we need in it, and there’s never been any discussion at this point that something is lacking in there.”
Kelley said, “I don’t think that we only want this to be focused on, you know, high-priced ticketed events for the well heeled travelers. We want this to really be a diverse group of cultural experiences that are exhibited throughout the community.”
The budget for the commission was set at $50,000 “to facilitate implementation of the A&C Master Plan,” with an additional $25,000 for a part-time Arts and Culture program administrator. Those amounts are in the current budget.
The program administrator position is currently listed on the city website (governmentjobs.com/careers/healdsburgca) and described as “a unique opportunity to help carry out the vision, goals, and strategies of the City’s Arts and Culture Master Plan.”
The timeline that Themig outlined was, pending approval by the City Council, selection of the commissioners in November of this year, with the first meeting in January 2025. The Arts and Culture Commission will meet the fourth Wednesday of each month, in City Council chambers at 6pm.
