CACMIN 11 20 1997
CULTURAL COMMISSION
MINUTES
November 20, 1997
I. CALL TO ORDER
A regular meeting of the Cultural Commission was called to order at 12:00 noon in the West Conference Room
of the La Quinta Civic Center. Chairperson Hull presided over the meeting.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Commissioner Honey Atkins
Commissioner Susan Benay (Arrived at 12=37 PM)
Commissioner John Detlie
Commissioner Kathryn B. Hull (Chairperson)
Commissioner Judy Vossler (Vice Chairperson)
Commissioner Patrick Welch
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Commissioner Roxanne Voigt
STAFF PRESENT:
Mark Weiss, Assistant City Manager
Britt Wilson, Management Assistant
Cristal Spidell, Secretary
It was moved by Commissioner AtkinsNossler to excuse Commissioner Voigt from the meeting. Unanimous.
Commissioner Welch announced that Commissioner Benay would be arriving later.
II. PUBLIC COMMENT
III. CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA
Commissioner Welch asked that Business Item B. Artist of the Month Report be considered after item F.
since Commissioner Benay would be presenting this item, and she was expected to be late to the meeting.
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of Minutes of October 23, 1997 - Regular Meeting
It was moved by Commissioner AtkinsNossler to approve the Minutes as submitted. Unanimous.
B. Approval of Minutes of October 30, 1997 - Special Meeting
Commissioner Detlie asked that "La Quinta Arts Foundation" be changed to "La Quinta Arts Association".
It was moved by Commissioner AtkinsNossler to approve the Minutes as corrected. Unanimous.
C. Monthly Department Report for October 1997 - Received and filed.
V. PUBLIC HEARING
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VI. BUSINESS ITEMS
A. Cultural Plan
Chairperson Hull distributed 3 pages of written material that she had updated due to comments and
suggestions made at the Special Meeting on November 121997. The changes made to pages 2, 10 &
15 were discussed by the Commission.
The Commission then discussed ways to get the Plan reviewed by other organizations. It was determined
that the Commissioners would go to various meetings in the next month and make a presentation.
Commissioner Benay arrived at this time (12:37 PM).
The Commission discussed ideas regarding an outline/script of what the Commissioners will say during
their presentation to the various organizations. Chairperson Hull and Commissioner Welch will work on
the outline/script and submit it to the Commissioners.
Commissioner Vossler suggested additional changes to the Summary. Chairperson Hull and
Commissioner Welch will work on the Summary, and other changes and submit them to staff for
distribution to the Commissioners so they will have updated information on the draft Cultural Plan for their
presentations to other agencies. The Commissioners are asked to attend the various meetings within the
next month, if possible, and report back to the Commission.
C. Web Page Discussion
Staff informed the Commission that the City of La Quinta has a Web page (http://www.la-quinta.org) and
that the page was being implemented and maintained by the Finance Department. Staff suggested that
rather than have a separate page for each Commission, that one page can be used to describe the various
Commissions at City Hall similar to the information that is in the Handbook.
It was moved by Commissioner Welch that the Cultural Commission be a part of the Web page and help
staff in any way possible. Additional discussion ensued regarding the City's Web page. Staff added that
if the Commission wants more space, or something different than what staff has currently described in
regards to sharing a page with other Commissions, this would be the time to discuss it. Commissioner
Welch withdrew his motion at this time.
Commissioner Welch stated that if the Cultural Plan was approved, he would aggressively look to have
it put on the Web site so that groups and individuals can access it. A generic description of the Cultural
Commission is not what Commissioner Welch had in mind on the Web page, and then suggested putting
the Work Plan on the page.
Staff added that the City had just recently initiated the Web page. If the Cultural Commission is looking
to use the page to distribute generic information, that is possible; but to use it as a tool for current events
may be difficult at this time.
It was moved by Commissioner Benay/Welch to authorize staff to investigate putting a paragraph on the
Cultural Commission on the City's Web page, and to encourage all the other Commissions to do the same.
Unanimous. Staff will speak with the Web Master and other Departments, and report back to the
Commission.
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D. Public Relations for Cultural Commission
This item was at the request of Commissioner Welch to get a feel about publicity the Cultural Commission
gets. Commissioner Welch did not feel comfortable calling a reporter to come do a story on the draft
Cultural Plan without first asking the Commissioners for their thoughts. Staff informed the Commission
that press releases are done by city staff in regards to events at City Hall. Press releases are not done
to promote or publicize items on an agenda unless it is significant. Staff further added that there is some
language in the Commission Handbook that talks about interaction between Commissioners and the Press
which suggests that the Chairperson assume that responsibility. No further action was taken on this item.
E. Letters of Commendation
Commissioner Vossler announced that the La Quinta High School Drama Department is doing the play
"Amadeus", and La Quinta On Stage just did workshops at the local schools.
Commissioner Detlie told the Commission that the City Council was impressed with the work the
Commission did in distributing funds for the Community Services Grants.
Commissioner Benay suggested sending a letter of condolence to the La Quinta Open Air Museum.
. F. Support and Recognition of Art Organizations
The Commission discussed combining the "Letters of Commendation" and "Support and Recognition of
Art Organizations". It was moved by Commissioner Welch/Detlie to combine these two items into one item
entitled "Support and Recognition". Unanimous.
It was moved by Commissioner Vossler/Benay to change the title of the newly combined "Support and
Recognition" item to "Commissioner Correspondence". Unanimous.
B. Artist of the Month Report from Subcommittee
The subcommittee has been unable to meet in order to discuss the requirements for Artist of the Month.
After additional discussion it was moved by Commissioner Vossler/Welch to disband the subcommittee
as a standing committee, and refer to it as an ad-hoc committee. Unanimous. Commissioner BenayNoigt
will bring information to the Commission in January for discussion.
VII. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIALS
A. Art in Public Places Commission Minutes for September 8 & October 6, 1997
After reading the above Minutes, Commissioner Atkins cited some concerns whether the Art In Public
Places Commission is operating within their boundaries as described in the Ordinance. Chairperson Hull
expressed the same concerns. Staff will speak with Jerry Herman, Community Services Director regarding
the concerns and report back to the Commission if necessary.
B. Historical Preservation Commission Minutes for September 18, 1997 - Received and filed.
C. Correspondence from Americans for the Arts - Received and filed.
D. Rancho Mirage Letter Regarding Conference - Received and filed.
E. Letter from Chairperson Hull Regarding CALAA Conference in Riverside - Received and filed.
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VIII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS
Commissioner Atkins said that La Quinta On Stage held workshops at La Quinta High School, La Quinta Middle
School, College of the Desert, and Truman School, and that all went well.
Commissioner Atkins told the Commission that she had attended the November 18, 1997 City Council meeting
and said that several criticisms were made regarding the distribution of Community Services Funds.
Commissioner Atkins believes there is a need for definite guidelines from the City Council before doing the task
again. If the City Council wants only La Quinta based organizations to be considered for the funding, as Council
Member Adolph indicated, the Commission needs to know that before hand.
Commissioner Atkins also stated that the Commission was criticized for not paying attention to the applications
that were incomplete, or not up to date. Commissioner Vossler suggested that if an application is incomplete it
should be sent back to the applicant, and this should be handled at the staff level.
Chairperson Hull asked for direction regarding a request by Martin Langer for funding. Staff advised the
Commission that a letter had been sent to Mr. Langer regarding the request for funding process.
IX. ADJOURNMENT
It was moved by Commissioner Atkins/Benay to adjourn the Cultural Commission meeting. Motion carried
unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 2:02 p.m..
NEXT MEETING INFORMATION
Thursday, December 18, 1997 12:00 Noon
La Quinta Civic Center Study Session Room
. Cultural Plan
.
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