If the above title sounds like one of Juan Miro’s paintings, you get my drift. Surrealism became tangible in San Jose this week with multiple manifestations. At least the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors came to their senses and stopped the concert hall project for the fairgrounds. I guess they finally realized that Kevin Costner’s “if you build it, they will come” rationale to spend himself into bankruptcy in the movie wasn’t a good idea in (sur)real life. The intentions may have been good, but the pie-in-the-sky entertainment-center vision and financial plan were fatally flawed. The unfortunate results, had the concert venue gone ahead per the county’s plans, would have made the problems at the Rep Theater seem like a piece of cake by comparison.
Although the county plan is dead-in-the-water for now, let’s not forget the lessons learned. The county and the city powers both acted irrationally and idiotically in this matter, which never had the necessary weight of importance-of-principle for court proceedings between the two. The downtown business interests who pushed the city’s lawsuit ought to get their wrists slapped too. As usual, the big losers were San Jose taxpayers. What I would like to know is: what happened to what was left of our $22 million after a stretch limo–load of members of the Guild of Professional Ambulance Chasers got their presumed 50 percent cut? (Of course, I am sure they did their best to dissuade the parties from pursuing this frivolous waste of the legal system.) Did we spend $22 million to pay ourselves and the other residents of the county $11 million? Of course, paradox is a necessary element of surrealism.
Those of you who see parallels with the defunct San Jose Symphony in the Rep Theater situation would not be wrong. In fact, there are many striking similarities and the outcome will certainly be the same unless there is a very big, immediate change of management style and structure on all levels at the Rep. To develop a perspective on the Rep’s problems, I highly recommend reading the short book “And the Band Played On: The Rise and Fall of the San Jose Symphony” by Dr. Thomas Wolf and Nancy Glaze. This excellent analysis is available for free download online (link)
The secret to running a successful arts institution is maintaining a balance within and between all levels of the organization—artistic, financial and oversight/governance—and the application of good, old-fashioned common sense in daily management. The artistic managers must be constantly aware of their demographic context and financial limits, balancing these with the aesthetic judgments they apply to their selection process and production decisions. The financial management must be highly skilled and able to balance the spending needs necessary to present a quality program with the funds coming in, shifting the entire organization’s gears when required in constantly evolving circumstances. The board needs to take ultimate responsibility, make sure it is well-informed of all aspects of the institution and govern through constant, strict oversight. Everyone must be prepared and able to make immediate adjustments. If all of these players are in harmony, the institution will thrive and survive. If not, as in the case of the San Jose Symphony—and most likely the Rep Theater—demise is assured. The symphony is dead and buried, but the Rep can be revived—and should be if it is reorganized according to a successful model. It is a valuable part of our city’s cultural life and we would be much the worse without it.
How could this happen? The Rep has a high-powered Board made up of people with all kinds of business experience yet we find out they were all apparently asleep at the switch.
And what was going on with the City? They have a system of checks and balances that are supposed to be in place to review those organizations that receive city funds. Was anybody doing their job?
Another sad chapter in the little city that wishes it was a big city.
Jim Beall for Mayor!!
#3, I understand and appreciate your elation over ummmm. . . Mr. . . .ummmm. . . .Beall’s position re: the . . .ummmmm . . . concert hall, but PLEASE step back and get a grip!
Jack,
You nailed it! But who’s to follow up?
You know, San Jose is a Pluto of city-no respect! You might as well call it cow-town since the city is losing theater and international flights. The Tokyo flight is one example. The city tries to be bigger than it really is: no downtown , no theater district, no culture, no major airport and no major-league team. Hell, it can’t even support the Rep, let alone symphony. San Diego is everything San Jose wants to be. San Jose is a real failure! It’s a very sick, sick city.
The article in the Mercury News this morning, detailing the report on the Rep’s problems prepared by the Hewett Foundation several months ago, makes it clear that things are even worse than what I thought yesterday when I wrote the piece above. The debt is more than $2.2 million and, unless there is something afoot that we don’t know about, it appears the only thing that will save the theater from bankruptcy liquidation will be the miraculous appearance of a financial angel on the stage or a public bailout. It’s very discouraging and I think we should prepare ourselves for the worst, but still hope for some solution that makes sense.
Dear Smurf (#6)
San Jose is not a failure or a “sick city,” it’s simply in the throws of a corrupt administration that will soon be out of office.
The responsibility for San Jose’s problems rest at the feet of its citizenry. They, for some unknown reason, allowed their civic institutions to be hijacked by an inept egomaniac who used the public trust as a vehicle for his self-promotion. (Most of the councilmembers stood with him).
You see Smurf, for years, the people of San Jose accepted the lie that San Jose is a well
run city. They also embraced the myth (for too long) that San Jose lacks what only Gonzales and his council can provide.
All we have to do is get back to basics. Fill the potholes, fix the parks, keep the libraries open. It’s really not that difficult. It’s about setting priorities. San Jose’s priorities are out of whack. Re-set the priorities with the needs of the people in mind, and our city will recover.
Pete Campbell
Nice job smurf, I agree 100%.
And I like San Diego a lot; it has SJ beat pretty much across the board. That’s not to say I wasn’t a little disappointed with SD the first time I went there. You know why? Because too many of its neighborhoods and business districts along with an intrusive airport reminded me of San Jose. Downtown is where SD is in the big leagues and to its credit, that’s where any similarity to SJ can’t be found.
It’s easy to understand why these problems happen. The people chosen to oversee these operations and to govern them are not really interested in getting thier hands durity and getting involved but in only the PR. There was a time when people would take on these responsibilities at low wage compared to private industry. Now everyone has to be paid on the same basis as the corporate thieves (referring to the rape of shareholders) whose only claim to fame is the messing up the companies. They make a good comparison, one ruins companies the other cultural programs.
All this effort for self promotion is really getting to be too much. We need to change more then a mayor and council!
Jack, it sounds like you should be running the Rep. Seriously!
Pete # 8 says: “All we have to do is get back to basics. Fill the potholes, fix the parks, keep the libraries open.” Well, that’s not ALL we have to do, but it needs to be the starting point.
Smurf and others keep referring to San Ohaze as “a city”. It is not now, nor has it ever been, a city. It is the quinessential suburb. Tom McE and others have a dream for it to be a city; but we’re a good two generations away, at best.
Most people live here because they don’t want “city problems”. We have them anyway, but in no measure like our neighbor to the north, and most big cities east of The Big Muddy.
Beginning with Tom McE and Frank Taylor, the powers that be tried to jump start San Ohaze into big citydom. It’s been a two billion dollar failure so far. Why? because except for those who could profit from that status, pretty much no-one else who lives in San Ohaze cares to make this a city. Until that general attitude changes, no amount of money will confer legitimacy on San Jose as a world class city, or even a city, for that matter.
Hear Hear JMO’C!
As I remember it, Gonzales was elected as the anti-redevelopment candidate. He appealed to those who favored all neighborhoods over downtown. Then he went and created his own redevelopment district and we soon saw what he was all about.
And then…WE RE-ELECTED HIM FOR 4 MORE YEARS!!!
JMO’C hit it spot on. We are not a city. We are a disconnected series of bedroom communities, each with its own “me first” agenda that’s reflected in the electorate.
“I don’t go to the symphony, let it crash.”
“I don’t go to the Rep, no money for it.”
“I don’t go downtown, spend not another dollar there.”
I fear we’re about to become a soul-less city with the best filled potholes in California.
#11 JMO
I have lived in San Jose since 1954. I was educated here, employed here, and started a family here. Until Tom Mc Enery became mayor, little by little, year by year, San Jose lost what made it a great place to live. Tom and his administration not only stopped that trend, they turned it around. I would hate to live in your world, believing that most people are selfish and will only contribute to a community if they can personally profit. With your attitude, I can assure you that if San Jose ever becomes a great city it wil be in spite of you, not because of you.
#13: You need to learn to read and understand better. Perhaps it was your San Jose education that left you bereft of that skill. I did not say this was MY attitude. I said this was the attitude of the majority of folks who live in San Ohaze.
I stand by my statement. 90% of the residents of this town could not care less about downtown. They want pothole-free streets, good police and fire protection, well-kept parks in or near their neighborhoods, available high quality health care.
Personally, I have been partying dowtown since 1976. I have longed for a downtown that would attract more than drunken college rabble, hip-hop hoodlums, and gangbangers. It ain’t happened yet, and it ain’t likely to happen any time soon.
Before you criticize anyone, be sure you have read and UNDERSTOOD what they have to say.
As for not wanting to live in “my world”, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying in that regard, either. That’s not MY world, it’s THE world. The stark reality is that most people are not pollyana-ish, as you seem to be. So keep smokin’ what you’re smokin’, and keep the rose colored glasses on. Meanwhile, most of the rest of us will remain grounded in reality.
Whatever floats your boat.
I’ve enjoyed shows and concerts at the Rep, AMT, and the Symphony. They all are, or were, great institutions.
But I don’t think everyone else needs to subsidize my entertainment.
Remember that, if we took a poll, “free Shakira in the Park” would beat the Symphony all week and twice on Sunday. And, to judge by the crowds, it is more culturally relevant, too.
#14 JMO
What have you done, over the past 30 years, to make the downtown a better place?
#16: I’ve patronized dozens upon dozens of downtown businesses, and left prodigous amounts of money in them. Some have succeeded and some have failed. I keep trying.