CALL TO ORDER
The Budget Subcommittee was called to order at 6:01.
 
ROLL CALL

Rosenthal, Keil, Voison, Slattery, Stebbins, Morris, and Heimann were present.

 
Stebbins spoke to the process from the previous night. She spoke to the confusion regarding the wording in the Memo that accompanied the Application. There were 4 applicants that weren’t present the previous night and she allowed them the opportunity to give a brief presentation and answer any questions that the subcommittee had.
 
Ellen Campbell, Chair of the marketing for the Ashland Bed and Breakfast briefly spoke to the application and offered to answer any questions.
Slattery asked how well last year went. Ellen said that the tourism video that they have been working on is almost done and they want to continue to work on that.
Voison said she liked the video and was glad that the video didn’t only focus on the bed and breakfasts but also showed Ashland as a whole. Ellen said that they would like to do more marketing on the next video to focus on the wineries in and around Ashland.
 
Discussion was had regarding the process that the subcommittee would use to determine the allocations. The group decided to start with the zero allocations first and then work their way through the applicants. The minimum award amount of $5,000 was reiterated.
 

ALLOCATIONS

 
Ashland Art Center-dropped the high & low & majority agreed on $10,000.
 
Ashland Bed & Breakfast-dropped the high & the low & majority agreed on $10,000.
 
Ashland Gallery Association-dropped the high & low & majority agreed on $10,000.
 
Ashland Historic Railroad-majority agreed on $8,000.
 
Ashland New Plays Festival-majority agreed on $5,000.
 
Ballet Diane Hyrst-majority agreed on zero.
 
Brava!-majority agreed on zero.
 
Chamber Music Concerts-majority agreed on zero.
 
Dancing People-majority agreed on $5,000.
 
Klamath Bird Observatory-majority agreed on $15,000.
 
 
 
Roberta felt that it was a very solid presentation and brings a new population of tourists and she liked the idea of a onetime request.
Keil spoke to the same feeling. It would bring a new group of people to the Valley.
Heimann thought it meets all of the Economic goals and it is a solid organization.
Slattery said it was a great organization and idea but it is in June which is in the heat of the already developed tourism season. He said he understands that the timing is due to the proper timing for the birds.
Rosenthal is leery in believing they can pull this off in such a short timeline.
Voison believe they can pull this off and is very supportive of the addition to Ashland’s tourism.
Morris said there wasn’t enough offseason in the proposal. He wanted to allocate start up money for them to get them started and wants them to come back next time.
 
Heimann m/s to award $30,000. Motion died for lack of a second.
 
Discussion was had regarding whether the organization would be able to do anything with less than what they requested.
They would do a feasibility study to see what they could do with whatever funds are awarded. If they are awarded the requested amount they will be able to do exactly what the application states. If they are awarded less they will still put on a great show but it may not be to the full extent.
 
Lomakatsi Restoration Project-majority agreed on $12,000.
 
Multicultural Association-majority agreed on zero.
Slattery feels they bring something to the community that isn’t there without them.
Voison fully supports this. She feels it really contributes to the culture of Ashland.
Morris doesn’t agree with the money that would be going toward operating expenses.
Rosenthal feels like the City would be underwriting the content of the station and he isn’t comfortable funding this.
 
Keil/Rosenthal m/s to set the allocation to zero. Roll Call Vote: Rosenthal, Keil, Stebbins, Morris, Heimann YES; Voison and Slattery NO.
 
Rogue Farm Corps-majority agreed on zero.
Voison feels that we need to invest in our farmers no matter where they come from. It is a great program & we have an opportunity.
 
Rogue Valley Farm to School-majority agreed on $7,500.
 
Rogue Valley Symphony Association-majority agreed on $5,000.
 
Science Works-majority agreed on $30,000.
Stebbins thinks it is a great program. She has 6 grandsons and she has been to ScienceWorks several times. She has been very impressed by the mentors. She likes that it is a year round, ever changing center. She likes that they have such a tight run program that is very sound.
Heimann thinks that their return on investment is very high and agrees with Stebbins.
 
Siskiyou Violins-majority agreed on zero.
Stebbins likes the program but she wanted to give Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon for them to distribute the scholarships. She couldn’t see how the request fits the criteria.
Keil stated that he read through their whole application and did a little research and feels like it was a great program worthy of full funding.
Heimann agreed with Stebbins that it doesn’t fit the criteria.
Slattery stated that this is one of the Organizations that are definitely worthy of the money but it ends up being a matter of how it fits the criteria and how much money is available.
 
 
SO Pride, Inc.-majority agreed on $5,000.
 
Southern Oregon Film Society-majority agreed on $31,000.
 
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy-majority agreed on $8,000.
Heimann isn’t comfortable funding a fundraiser. He doesn’t think that meets the criteria.
Slattery said he would agree with that if it was just to fund a fundraiser but they provide a solid educational component.
Keil feels it is more of an outreach program than a fundraiser.
 
Southern Oregon Repertory-majority agreed on zero.
 
St. Clair Productions-
Rosenthal said that the strength is that it is a series of concerts that would happen during the shoulder season. The weakness was that they are going to put the series on regardless of funding.
Slattery would like to award them money if there are funds left after they complete the rest of the allocations.
Heimann agrees with the shoulder season.
 
Morris/Voison m/s to set the allocation to $5,000. Roll Call Vote: Rosenthal, Voison, Morris, Heimann YES; Keil, Slattery and Stebbins NO.
 
Sustainability Valley Technology Group-majority agreed $8,750.
Stebbins spoke to the fact that their tax returns show that they make a lot of money and feels like they don’t really need for additional funding.
Rosenthal thinks that the event has a lot of promise. Not only is it economic but it also has a tourism element.
Keil likes the whole package and that they are so successful. He feels like they have the best chance of producing jobs that pay more than minimum wage.
Slattery likes the idea of micro loans.
Heimann struggled with whether or not they are truly not for profit.
Stebbins said they do have a not profit status so that stands for something.
 
Thrive-majority agreed on $30,000.
Stebbins pointed out that they asked for exactly what they need.
 
Youth symphony of Southern Oregon-majority agreed on $5,000.
 
They are over allocated so far by $3,140. They decided to leave the original $5,000 allocations alone and deduct the rest by an equal percentage.
 
The group discussed the minimum tourism allocation requirement of $55,236. They decided to use Heimann’s formula which was specific to each Organization’s application. The total Tourism allocation is $69,033.
 
Discussion was had regarding the grant reporting and the city’s recognition of funding. It was determined that this is likely a process that needs to be discussed and further reviewed by Council. But based on the authority that the Finance department has we will make any necessary adjustments to the wording in the contracts to clarify the requirements.
 
Keil/Voison m/s to recommend that the budget committee accept the proposed allocations. ALL AYES.
 
 
 
 
 
Keil/Slattery m/s that the subcommittee recommends to the budget committee who then recommends to the City Council that a procedure be established regarding grant presentations and set a time limit.
Heimann thinks that it is more of a subcommittee level issue that can be decided amongst the group.
Keil disagrees with Heimann and does believe it is a decision for Council to make.
Roll Call Vote: Rosenthal, Keil, Voison, Slattery, Stebbins, Morris YES; Heimann NO.
 
Tuneberg thanked the subcommittee for their time spent and the subcommittee thanked staff for their hard work.
 
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
 
 
Respectfully submitted,
Tami De Mille-Campos
Administrative Assistant