Belmont artists fighting for space

Although the council has yet to decide how it will bridge its structural deficit, both Mayor Christine Wozniak and Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach have indicated the artists should not be evicted from 1870 Art Center at Barrett.

The Belmont City Council meets tonight to discuss the budget.

"There's no way that I'd vote to 'reclaim the classrooms' for a long-term renter, such as a school," Wozniak said.

The Parks and Recreation Department proposed to reclaim the classrooms at the old school artists currently occupy to raise about $25,200 annually.

A rent increase is also proposed for both the Manor Building at Twin Pines Park and 1870 Art Center to raise about $75,000 a year.

Ruth Waters, the founder of the 1870 Art Center and Peninsula Museum of Art, expects to have rents increased, but would like to see other sectors of the public who access city facilities see their user fees increased as well.

A 5 percent fee increase has been proposed for the Community Learning Center by staff.

"If a 5 percent increase were imposed across the board (at the Senior Center, cottage, Lodge building, Sports Complex, athletic fields, etc.) we would consider that affordable and fair. To balance the budget by hugely increasing the rent for the 1870 Art Center and the Manor Building will mean empty buildings," Waters wrote in an e-mail to city staff.

Feierbach would also like to see out-of-town artists who rent studios at Barrett pay more for the space than Belmont residents do.

But Waters does not like that idea either.

"It would hit us hard and ignores the purpose of having a supportive environment for the arts," Waters said.

A staff report indicated rents have been steady at the art center for seven years and that the city pays for the utilities.

But studio space at 1870 Art Center goes for about $275 a month for its current 27 artists who pay annual rent increases based on the consumer-price index, Waters said. The artists also pay for their own gas and telephone service.

The city faces a $1.3 million ongoing structural deficit and has proposed a 7.5 percent reduction to city departments to help balance its roughly $16 million budget.

Department heads have proposed some strategies to increase revenue in the city by more than $432,000 including selling off city-owned vehicles and not filling vacant positions.

The city is in the midst of doing mid-year budget corrections and staff has identified about $2 million in potential savings as it prepares next year's fiscal budget.

The biggest impact would be to the city's police department. Nearly $600,000 in budget reductions has been identified for the police department for the remainder of this year and for fiscal year 2011. The city will save about $360,000 by not filling a vacant police officer position and lead dispatcher position.

Belmont has conducted several public hearings and study sessions regarding the needed cuts, with most public comment related to saving the artist centers.

"Artists give flavor to the community. They just aren't paying enough," Feierbach said.

The Belmont City Council meets at 7:30 p.m., tonight, City Hall, 1 Twin Pines Lane, Belmont.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.