In today’s Albany Herald, guest columnist Alicia Croxton lays outa series of services anyone renting the Albany Municipal Auditorium. One must pay a “deckhand” $25 per hour for a four hour minimum (totaling $100 of course) to just open and close a curtain, as well as many other required positions that must be filled. What the city apparently doesn’t get is that this hurts the taxpayers more than anyone.
You see, when people are using the auditorium, they are paying those fees. That brings in a little bit of money to help offset the expenses caused by the city owning that building. But by laying out jobs that mustbe hired with approved staff, you’re increasing the expenses for anyone who wants to use the auditorium. It’s basic math here. Croxton mentions that the local non-profit rate is only $300. Pretty reasonable. Then she outlines other positions that have to be filled.*
$ 68.00 Lighting Tech
$100.00 Deck Hand
$ 72.00 Sound Tech
$100.00 Building Steward
$168.00 Three Security Guards
Now, coupled with the $300 fee, this results in a grand total of $808 to use the auditorium. For many non-profits, this is more than they can really afford. In addition, this is apparently per day. So, if you have two days of rehearsal in the space, plus one day of show, that raises your expenses to $2424.00 with zero having gone yet to marketing your show. This drastically raises the “break even” point for a non-profit group.
What Croxton seems to be lamenting, and I have to agree with, is that there are no provisions for providing your own personnel. Perhaps your group has several off-duty police officers who are willing to provide security. Perhaps your church group already has people familiar with the sound and light boards. Basically, is it necessary to require those positions be filled by people of the Auditorium’s choosing?
Now, don’t get me wrong, the City should have people available to fill those needs if desired. I once worked as the sound and lighting tech at Darton College for their auditorium. As a result, I was occasionally contracted to do sound and lighting for people renting the Darton auditorium, but it was never required. It worked out well for those who wanted someone, but for those who already had their own people who could do it, there was no added expense.
By requiring these positions to be filled (and really, do we need one person to open the door and another to manage the curtain?), we keep an magnificent facility closed much of the time when it could well be used by all kinds of groups. Open up the opportunities for groups to use the facility, and that $300 (assuming they’re non-profits) will help off-set the amount of tax dollars being spent to maintain the facility…if not eliminate the need for tax dollars all together. And since many groups who may want to use it wouldn’t warrant that $300 figure, they’ll actually pay more. That’s even more of an offset.
Besides, if you want more people going to downtown Albany in the evening hours, you might as well start with what’s already available and try to expand it’s use. The Albany Municipal Auditorium would make a hell of a start.
Every citizen of Albany should be required to read this HERALD ARTICLE. I mirrors what is wrong with this city. New businesses trying to locate here face this same kind of crap.
It’s hardly surprising. The city is ready to spend money to bring people here, but don’t realize that just easing up on their stupid rules would probably do the trick and not put us in debt!
Having rented the civic center and the veterans’ park amphitheater in the past much of this required personnel is required because of insurance lliability. The city needs to make sure that they have people they know and trust running light and sound boards the own. Same with security and other techs. This is not say these fees could not be lowered. If you really want to jack costs up on an event, just imagine if you had to hire union members based on union shop rules. The city required fees wouldn’t even pay the deposit on a union contrat.
This is a perfect example as to why our government should not be in the business of entertaining the public. Had that auditorium been privately owned, the owners have every right to demand such high payments, or they will adjust their prices in order to keep the schedule full. The government running the facility, ensures the taxpayers will be on the hook for the shortfalls.
CC: I’m sorry, but liability is often a reason people give to force decisions on other folks. Most folks would opt for professional sound and lighting techs if given the chance, but the Herald piece also points out that they got one “tech” who was fresh out of jail and had never seen the lighting board before.
If, and I mean only if, they were going to require their personnel in some of these roles, then why not combine some of these things. The building steward apparently does nothing but unlock and lock the doors. First, that’s hardly worth $25 per hour. Why not have a tech handle that? That’s a $68 minimum out of that $800 minimum gone. At the auditorium, a lot of shows don’t even require the sound board at all. Why not say “no using the sound board without our people there” and there. When coupled with the designated lighting tech, you’re down $140 out of that $800 for many shows. Require certified police officers instead of their security guards? That’s another $168 if they can get volunteers. So now we have $308 out of the total of $808 and all needs are met without “amateurs” touching the precious equipment. $500 is much more manageable for a lot of people.
Brad: I agree. The City has no real incentive to keep these venues booked except for elections, and no one will lose office over whether or not the Civic Center is booked on a weekly basis.
Sadly, local demographics dictate that nothing will change in the forseeable future, if ever.
I am very familar with Croxton’s efforts and the benefits young folks are getting from her group. My goodness, this is a real non-profit that could use some help–this isn’t a promoter setting up a concert/show to make money.
After all, the City doesn’t mind subsidizing the Wildcats who are a for profit venture–using taxpayer money to buy tickets. (Who do they give the tickets to anyway? ) Why not give Croxton and the kids a break–they need it!
It’s my understanding that Croxton’s efforts are geared toward helping kids develop a love for the theater and the arts in general. As a child actor at what was then the Albany Little Theater, I learned skills that have benefited me for years, including speaking at two tea parties so far. Of all the things to subsidize, our city officials have this jones for subsidizing profit making and are ready to leave real charitable organizations out in the cold.
If that’s not true, then I’d like for those in charge to step up and prove it. After all, talk is cheap.