Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: April 7, 2003
Author: A. NiwinskiPhone: 604-871-6007
RTS No. 3197CC File No. 2051
Meeting: April 24, 2003
TO:
Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:
Director, Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:
Reconsideration of 2003 Cultural Grant Application
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council not approve a 2003 Project grant to Basil and Thyme Jazz Society.
COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community services presents the foregoing for Council's CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
On November 22, 1994, City Council established the policy that reconsideration of cultural grant recommendations can occur only if the reconsideration request is based on one or both of the following premises: (1) eligibility criteria have not been properly applied; or (2) the applicant's financial situation has not been accurately assessed or understood.
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.
PURPOSE
The report conveys the results of the reconsideration process requested by one Cultural grant applicant, and makes a recommendation based on the outcome of this process.
BACKGROUND
In November 1994, City Council approved a grant reconsideration process for Community Services and Cultural grant applicants who disagree with staff recommendations regarding their applications. As described in the Council Policy section, a key feature of this process is that there are two specified grounds for reconsideration: (1) proper application of eligibility criteria, and (2) proper assessment of the applicant's financial situation, based on information supplied during (not after) the initial application review.
The process is not intended to revisit evaluation questions such as artistic merit or organizational development. Moreover, Council policy explicitly states that not all organizations meeting eligibility and evaluation criteria will automatically receive a grant, since requests normally exceed the capacity of the grants budget.
All Operating and Project grant applicants were advised in late February of staff recommendations, along with reasons for recommending reductions or no grants. Information about the reconsideration process was also provided. One Project grant applicant requested reconsideration:
Request
Original Recommendation
# 12 Basil and Thyme Jazz Society
$20,000
Deferral to 2nd Project deadline.
DISCUSSION
On March 25, 2003, Council approved Cultural Affairs staff recommendations for all Operating and Project applications, except for Basil and Thyme Jazz Society. After receiving the society's written request for reconsideration, a staff committee reviewed the original application, support materials, and the information provided in the written reconsideration request. Staff also met with the society's director to discuss the request.
Based on this review, staff are withdrawing their recommendation that the grant application be referred to the June Project deadline, and are not recommending a grant to the applicant in this round. The details of this recommendation, along with background information on the organizations, the applicant's written submission, and staff comments are provided in Appendix A.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
On March 25, 2003 Council approved staff recommendations totalling $1,390,900, for 77 Operating grants and 28 Project grants. This approval leaves a balance of $40,000 for the second Project grant deadline on June 2, 2003, which is generally open to organizations that have not applied for the first deadline. There will be no financial implications if Council approves the staff recommendation for no grant to Basil and Thyme Jazz Society.
CONCLUSION
After a second review of the application for reconsideration, staff have concluded that this application should not be deferred to the second Project grant deadline as originally recommended, and that no grant should be provided.
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