Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - December 10, 2004
Jo Stanley, Staff Writer
The audience for today's City Hall budget hearing is likely to be an usually talented bunch of performing arts enthusiasts, heading to the supervisors' chambers to sing for their supper as arts funding is on the chopping block.
Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, who chairs the Budet Committee, last week recommended taking roughly $800,000 from the combined budgets of the opera, symphony and ballet in order to keep more social services afloat during mid-year reductions. The sum equates to half The City's current backing, which performing arts supporters point out has already been reduced by 25 percent.
While trying to close a $25 million gap for the remainder of this year due to the failure of two tax measures at the November ballot box, Sandoval has said "fairness" is driving him to look not only at social services for AIDS patients and the homeless but at better-heeled agencies such as the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and the major performing arts groups.
Mayor Gavin Newsom has gone on the record opposing Sandoval's approach as hurting agencies that bring much-needed cash to The City. On Wednesday, mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said his boss is still interested in hearing alternatives to the plan he put forth right after the tax measures were defeated, but isn't going to accept the performing arts cuts.
"We've already cut the fine arts budget dramatically," Ragone said.
The symphony, ballet and opera have other revenue from tickets, grants and donations. The opera, for example, maintains an overall budget of roughly $54 million, according to spokesman Robert Cable. It employs around 100 full-time employees, a number that grows by hundreds more when productions are occurring, and brings its performances to 40,000 seniors and students a year through its outreach efforts.
"We value every dollar we receive and hope for continued support from The City," Cable concluded.
The numbers:
* Current city contribution to ballet, opera and symphony: $1.6M
* Annual audience: Symphony -- 1.5 million, Opera -- 300,000 or more, Ballet -- 250,000 to 300,000
* Audience members' estimated citywide spending: $100M to $150M
* Portion of San Francisco's tourists who take in some sort of cultural event: 37 percent
Sources: Grants for the Arts program San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau
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