Input promised in arts planning

L.A.’s arts policy will be under official scrutiny starting Friday as the new Mayor’s Council for the Arts, charged with evaluating the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, begins its work with a 9 a.m. public hearing at City Hall.

Outcry from the arts community over a preliminary proposal to abolish the department led Mayor James K. Hahn to promise it won’t be axed, but he wants savings and possible organizational changes in the face of a large budget shortfall. John Emerson, chairman of the Music Center, is heading the advisory council and says its soon-to-be-named roster of about 25 members will reflect the arts community’s diversity, including the small organizations that often depend heavily on the CAD’s $3.3 million in annual grants.

Emerson has promised a process that will be “very open, very transparent, with lots of opportunity for public input,” ending with a mid-May report of findings and proposals. Though the Cultural Affairs Department is off bureaucratic death row, General Manager Margie J. Reese says the mayor’s fiscal team wants the current $11.8-million budget to be reduced next year by 20% to 30%.

Mike Boehm