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| 5/28/2009 | Email this article • Print this article | Museum funding removed from Amsterdam's budget
Linda Kellett
Recorder News Staff
In a move that Amsterdam Mayor Ann Thane said would cause the Walter Elwood Museum to "go under" and Aldermen Joseph Isabel and Daniel Roth also both opposed, Amsterdam City officials voted 4 to 3 Tuesday night to remove funding from the city's 2009-10 final budget for a contract for recreational services with the local museum.
As noted by museum board President Jacki Meola on Wednesday, the money was to be used for programming for the children.
Fourth Ward Alderman William Wills, who sponsored the resolution during a special meeting Tuesday night, called for the removal of $25,000 in funding based on the "almost-2-to-1 vote taken recently in the school district that basically states people don't want their tax dollars spent on a not-for-profit organization."
Besides Wills, Controller Heather Reynicke, and Aldermen Richard Leggiero and Kim Brumley voted to remove the funding.
By city charter, both the mayor and the city controller are permitted to vote on budget-related resolutions.
The museum has been funded through a contract with the city for $25,000 for each of the last two years; but it's not the only not-for-profit with which the city has contracts.
Since at least 1997, the city has contracted on an annual basis for services with the Amsterdam Library, which receives $83,000 a year, and the Inman Center, which gets $2,400 per year. Both of those contracts expire June 30; however no effort was made Tuesday night to end those funding agreements.
Following the vote to remove the Elwood funding from the budget, Wills proposed using the $25,000 to further reduce the overall budget amount (and the related tax rate). That failed to fly, however; and the money was retained in the budget's contingency fund with no impact on the bottom line.
In a year of stressful changes - including the museum's "eviction" from its longtime Guy Park Avenue home, the preparation for a major and expensive move to new quarters, and the crippling loss of school and city funding - Meola on Wednesday was completely nonplussed by the Common Council's budget vote.
She said, "I don't know how we would possibly maintain any programming based on this decision. That's my own personal opinion ... I'm not sure what's going to happen. It would be very tenuous from here, at best."
She called on those in the community who support the museum to speak out and to contact their elected officials.
Meola said, "If people want the museum to stay in the community, they have to have a voice. ... It would be up to the constituents if they want the tax levy to pass, otherwise we need to rely" on grants and fundraisers.
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Contact Linda Kellett at linda.kellett@recordernews.com.
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