Apr 17 2021
Editorial: Needed Policies for Art Center Leases and Subleases
How does the City Council plan to oversee the use of the City owned property at 801 Magnolia Avenue?
While seniors decry the lack of senior programing and voice a need for a Senior Center in Piedmont, private business use has taken priority over public use limiting public use.
Approval of a new lease with the Art Center Board indicates various Council policies are needed:
- Policy decision authority retained by the Council, the ultimate landlord
- Guaranteed inclusion rather than exclusion of legitimate non-profit uses of the facility
- Council oversight of compliance by all users with local, state, and federal laws including: municipal, state, federal taxes, 501c3 non-profit status, workers compensation, ADA compliance, anti-discrimination, incorporation documentation, valid business licenses and prohibition of political activities on the premises
- Accounting of space utilization and ongoing consideration of lost City revenue
- Evaluation and accountability of liability, risks, and costs to the City by each user and provision of appropriate insurance coverages
- Semi-annual reports to Council on diversity of users, uses, financial statements, compliance with City policies, and City obligations
- Staff Annual reports to Council on building structural integrity, safety measures, maintenance, ADA compliance, and interior and exterior upkeep expenditures
- Required Council approval for all commercial subleases extending over two weeks
- Council adoption of written conditions required for all sublets
- Prohibition of Art Center Board members and advisors to sublet the property for more than two weeks per year
- Prompt staff reports to Council concerning issues arising from the lease or sublets
- Public access to financial records, board meetings, and minutes of Art Center Board
- Adoption of comprehensive Council policies governing the use and rental of all Piedmont public properties
Piedmonters, owners of 801 Magnolia Avenue, have been awaiting invitations to observe Board meetings and receive regular financial reports from their tenant. The Piedmont Center for the Arts Board is composed of well-meaning, generous, local residents of Piedmont and Oakland who may have overlooked their obligation to keep Piedmont citizens informed in a transparent manner of the use of this important public asset.
Those are all valid ideas. I think the most obvious need is a policy on subletting of space to PCA board members. Ethics would normally preclude renting to a board member at below market rates but in the absence of that a city policy or PCA bylaws change are in order.