Elks Opera House shake-up prompts city investigation
Cindy's story on the blow-up at the Elks Theatre* carries about a quarter of what's circulating in the theatre community, and some of the 'facts' presented are in dispute. Tip: Dawn Castaneda is not necessarily the target of the City's legal "investigations," despite the implication in the story. If there's any justice in this process, Mic Fenech has some 'splaining to do.
(He's the Director of Administrative Services, a mini-empire created by Norwood just for him some years ago. It appears an editing error cut out his first reference.)
I love that the City Manager is quoted as commenting on a personnel matter, then says that City officials do not comment on personnel matters. This is just the sort of snaky/incompetent move that drives so many people crazy in dealing with Norwood.
As background, Castaneda had taken on a job that paid a part-time salary for the work of what would normally be five skilled full-timers. Everyone who's seen the RFP on the job and knows anything about theatre management agrees it's an awful deal that sets the employee up for failure. City staff has been living in la-la land for years about the theatre's revenue possibilities, and no one in City Hall has a clue about how theatres are managed since Bob Bell left the building.
*: Is not, never has been and never could be an opera house.
2 comments:
I don't think the city has a clue on running a business. Look at what they plan to do with the clubhouse. $275,000 of taxpayer money is being dumped into something that benefits very few--all we hear is some vague talk about weddings and reunions and upgraded restrooms. For a tea party town like Prescott, the city fathers sure like spending our money on things that should be run by private enterprise. Where are all the complaints about socialism?
I covered the clubhouse project in May, run a search for "clubhouse." It's only socialism when Democrats do it.
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