MOORPARK : Council Won’t Aid Arts Program Study

Moorpark has joined Camarillo in deciding against contributing to a $37,000 study that would determine the kinds of arts programs needed in the county.

The council voted 4 to 1 last week to reject a request from the Ventura County Arts Alliance to donate $2,500 to the study. Councilman Paul Lawrason cast the lone vote in support of the contribution.

Council members said they preferred to contribute the money to the city arts committee, Mayor Bernardo Perez said.

The Ventura County Arts Alliance is attempting to revise a plan adopted by the County Board of Supervisors in 1984 that outlines cultural arts programs to be developed around the county. The alliance’s work is financed by the Ventura County Community Foundation, which grants endowments to promote the arts.

Moorpark’s decision will not prevent the study from going forward, said Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson, an alliance member.

A consultant will begin the study this fall and results will be available by next year, she said.

The city councils of Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Ventura, and the County Board of Supervisors have agreed to fund the study, Henderson said.

Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley are expected to consider the contribution request later this month, Henderson said.