HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 10/06/201181MV 89as u10
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Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
Advisory Committee Meeting q
October 6, 2011 ! 1►
The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room at Noon
on Thursday, October 6, 2011. Members Present: Jonda Halcomb, Tom Kimes, Shannon
Madden, Jim Moloney, and Luci Sosa.
- Upon motion by Tom Kimes and seconded by Shannon Madden the minutes of the
September 8, 2011 regular meeting were approved as presented.
- Upon motion by Tom Kimes and seconded by Shannon Madden the absences of
JimMoloney and Jonda Halcomb were excused for good cause.
Business:
A. Report on the plan for venue signage in S.E.A District
Charlie Cardenas, City Traffic Engineer, gave a presentation on the design and plans for
implementation of new venue signage in the S.E.A. District. Signs meeting the new
specifications have recently been installed in Bayfront Park. There is no funding for a full
installation throughout the District, but it will be possible for the installation of signs for various
venues to be funded by those venues. The cost of the signs is expected to be in the range of
$4,000 each. In response to a question regarding funding, Mr. Cardenas said that funds left over
from bond projects in the area might be available to begin installation of the signs. Upon motion
by Jim Moloney and seconded by Shannon Madden, the Committee unanimously asked Mr.
Stryker to convey to City Engineer Pete Anaya their request that as much funding as possible be
found to implement the long neglected way- finding plan.
New signage will be part of the Port Avenue Project but probably not be sufficient to fund the
new, and more expensive, signage. Mr. Stryker was asked to talk with representatives of
Hurricane Alley to determine whether the Museum could cooperate with their effort to obtain
venue signage. Mr. Cardenas indicated that they would be working with Development Services
to determine what signs would be appropriate for their project and would likely fund their signs
themselves.
B. Discussion of what should be considered in a business plan for the Museum
At the September meeting members reviewed and approved a revised version of the Appelbaum
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exhibit master plan based on this concept now passes to the Friends who must raise the funds to
hire an exhibit design consultant. The responsibility of the Advisory Committee follows a
different track which is to provide input into a business plan for the Museum.
Evaluating hey Ordinance Role of the Committee
There was a discussion regarding the City Ordinance defining the functions of the Committee.
The Committee:
a) "Serves as an advisor to the museum department and to the city council in
matters of support and development of the Museum."
The Committee very effectively advises the Museum Director. No proposed fee or
operational policy is sent to the City Manager for approval/implementation without
review and adoption by the Committee.
There is no effective way to advise the City Council. Over the past decade "advice" to
the Mayor and Council has rarely even been acknowledged and Committee input is not a
factor in Council deliberations. The major policies impacting the Museum are imbedded
in the budget. The Committee responsibility to inform the City Council about the
implications from continuous reductions in staff have been unheeded as reflected by a
reduction of Museum staffing by one third over the past decade.
The Advisory Committee once had purview over an array of City held trust funds. Those
funds have been transferred to the Friends. The Committee once had considerable
engagement in the development of educational programs, exhibits and other services
offered by the Museum. For over 20 years funding for all such museum services has
become the sole responsibility of the Friends. While their input is always solicited,
Committee review has become perfunctory and redundant to the weightier funding
decisions made by the Friend Board.
The Committee:
b) "may adopt comprehensive policies relating to the
1) Management of collections;
2) Acquisition for the collections;
3) Dispositions and the deacquisition of objects in and for the collection;
4) Use of the museum facilities"
In 2005 a new mission was adopted that eliminated collecting as a part of the mission.
While collecting remains a strategic objective to fulfill the mission, the Committee is
limited to reviewing deaccessions from the collection and tweaking the policy to keep it
current with evolving museum standards. This is a vastly diminished role from that
which was once the central mission of the Museum.
The Committee continues to serve an important function in the review and adoption of
fees including admission fees and various other rental charges and fees. However, this is
typically a responsibility that is done once annually.
In conclusion the Ordinance based role of the Advisory Committee is seriously diminished
leaving the Committee's actions redundant to those of the Friends.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Advisory Committee
There are significant indications that the current business plan for the Museum is not working.
The question before the Committee was how effective the Committee has been dealing with the
major issues impacting the Museum business plan in the last decade.
a) Funding — There are two sides to the funding equation. On the expenditure side the
Committee annually warned the City Council about the cumulative consequences of
reductions in the Museum operating budget. In the past decade budget reductions have
resulted in cutting the Museum staff by one -third including a disproportionate and
draconian cut in FY 2012. On the revenue side, the Committee monitored the drop in
paid attendance by more than 50 %. It was the Committee's frequently expressed concern
that while expenditures were being reduced no strategy was being employed to market
the Museum in a manner that would maximize admission revenue. There seemed to be a
disconnect between the City Council's desire to adopt strategies that would lead to
economic growth and the potential impact that the Museum might have in growing the
tourism economy.
b) Columbus ships — The Committee supported the reopening of the Columbus ships as a
part of the Museum, first on a temporary basis, and later on a "permanent" basis. The
Committee developed and adopted a new mission for the Museum to accommodate the
Columbus ships. The Friends funded a Visualized Concept Study for new exhibits
including the ships which the Committee approved and recommended to the City
Council. The minimal level of funding needed for ship maintenance was not provided
and ultimately the City Council chose to follow a plan to lease /donate the ships to the
Columbus Sailing Association.
The consensus of those present agreed that the services of the Advisory Committee are not
optimized under the current business plan. Committee members brainstormed elements that
need to be addressed in a new business plan that would better serve the Museum and the
community:
a) A formal relationship needs to be developed with the Friends
b) The Advisory Committee is largely ineffective and their responsibilities should be
transferred to the Friends, merging the two bodies
c) The Museum should be integrated into the City's tourism business plan
d) Authority should be delegated to the Museum to reward entrepreneurship on the part
of the museum director and Friends Board
e) The Museum's business plan should focus on the potential for earning revenue from
tourism. Marketing and advertising should be funded directly through the Museum
and/or the Museum should be given a voting seat on the CVB board.
f) The Museum needs to be rebranded to distinguish it from the Columbus ships giving it
a greater presence along with other cultural entities in the S.E.A.District
All members of the Committee were asked to carefully consider these issues and what elements
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present that there should be an action item on next month's agenda recommending the
elimination of the Advisory Committee and transferring their responsibilities to the Friends of
the Museum. They also requested that ACM Rudy Garza be present for the discussion.
1. Staff Reports : Ashley Henderson's demonstration of the online database was tabled
The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
2011 Meeting Schedule: Thursdays, November 3 and December 1