Elected-in-charge: Carmen Rubio
Bureau or Office Director: Madison Cairo
We are tracking one report and five recommendations
RecommendationsThe Chief Administrative Office had one implemented recommendation and four in process recommendations.
Highlight from Last Year
No activity in 2021.
To Do
Our audit recommended the Regional Arts and Culture Council set clear goals for arts and culture, meet contract obligations, and have effective oversight. The agency has made modest progress but the pandemic has delayed its work. It has work left to do to assess the state of arts and culture, identify needs, develop clear goals, conduct a strategic planning process, and revise an intergovernmental agreement and contract.
Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services
Report published May 22, 2018 | Follow-up report | Contact Jenny Scott
The City has contracted with the Regional Arts and Culture Council for more than 20 years for services. In 2018, we audited to determine if the City had clear goals for arts and culture, if the Arts Council’s services met City goals and contract obligations, and if City oversight was effective. The City and the Arts Council have continued to make modest progress in implementing our five audit recommendations from two years ago. The cancelations, closures and physical distancing requirements of COVID-19 have affected Portland’s artists and stalled or changed the Arts Council’s and City’s work to address recommendations. The City reduced funding to the Arts Council as part of pandemic-related budget cuts. Additionally, the Arts Council halted projects related to arts and culture planning and long-term strategic planning to help address the effects of the pandemic on the arts community. Work remains for the City to assess needs and goals for arts and culture, and for the Arts Council to complete its strategic planning process.
On this audit there was one recommendation implemented and four in process.
In Process Recommendation Details
We recommended that the Arts Commissioner and the Mayor work with stakeholders to: assess the state of arts and culture; identify needs; develop clear goals, vision, and strategy for arts and culture. The City Arts Manager synthesized goals from past plans to create current arts and culture draft goals, and City Council allocated $35,000 for the initial phase of a cultural mapping project last year. The City and Arts Council said in 2019 that based on the mapping project, a community-driven cultural planning process to identify needs and articulate a strategy for arts and culture would begin in 2021. Phase one of the cultural mapping project was completed in December 2019. The Arts Council created an interactive map with locations of Arts Council funded organizations, arts venues, and City and County-owned public art. The Arts Council delayed the two remaining elements of the mapping project to address the effects of COVID-19 on the arts community. The City rejected a budget request for one-time funding for the community-driven cultural planning project slated to start in 2021. The City Arts Manager and the Arts Council still plan to start the cultural arts plan development in 2021 by identifying funding and assessing the effects of COVID-19 on local artists, venues and audiences. (Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services)
We recommended that the Arts Council conduct a strategic planning process. The Arts Council completed strategic planning research in 2019, and as a result, reorganized in early 2020. The Arts Council plans to complete a two-year strategic plan by the end of June 2020, as opposed to the long-range plan originally envisioned. The Arts Council intends to set short-term priorities and understand the effect of COVID-19 on local arts before completing its long-range strategic plan. (Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services)
We recommended that City Council review the intergovernmental agreement with the Arts Council, and recommend changes. The City Arts Manager and the Arts Commissioner reviewed the agreement last year. They decided to revise the intergovernmental agreement as part of the cultural planning process, because that may help identify changes needed to the agreement. The City Arts Manager confirmed that this is still their plan, but the timeline will be extended. The City and the Arts Council intend to revisit the intergovernmental agreement with the other jurisdictions later this year, after they secure funding and City Council support for the Cultural Arts Plan. In the interim, the Arts Council updated its bylaws to reflect the addition of two non-voting board members representing the City. (Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services)
We recommended that the Arts Commissioner, Mayor, and the Arts Council's Executive Director update the contract consistent with the City's goals for arts and culture. The contract between the City and the Arts Council reflects work done in 2019 to define current services, performance measures and reporting requirements, and to restructure the Arts Council’s largest grant program to be more equitable. Work that the Arts Council and City Arts Manager have done to define arts education and arts valuation responsibilities have not been included in the City’s contract with the Arts Council. Doing so will help ensure that parties to the agreement are clear on their responsibilities over time. (Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services)
Implemented Recommendation Details
We recommended that the Arts Commissioner and Mayor appoint a contract administration professional. The City created a Project Manager position in 2018 responsible for administration of the City’s contract with the Arts Council and program oversight. The City Arts Manager is working with the Arts Council to delineate and track funding and Arts Council time spent on City programs to help align services with contract requirements. The Arts Council has not yet submitted their FY2020-21 budget, but the Arts Manager said they review the Arts Council’s financial statements regularly. All City Percent for Art projects are now routed through the Arts Manager, and the City is creating a cost center for bureaus to use for these projects. Additionally, the Arts Manager and the Arts Council anticipate having streamlined the Arts Council’s performance reporting to the City by August 2020. (Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services)
Data Notes
At the end of every audit report, we issue a series of recommendations intended to make programs work even better. This report includes the status of Bureau recommendations since 2018, which was the beginning of our new follow-up process. We prepared it with a few audiences in mind:
- City Council can use it to identify bureaus that may need additional resources or support in order to implement recommendations.
- Bureau directors can use it to assess bureau performance and to determine if any changes in policy or procedure are necessary.
- Bureau management and staff can use it to track recommendation status across audits to develop work plans and priorities.
- General public can use it to monitor the status of recommendations related to topics of interest and to compare performance across bureaus.
This report includes recommendation status as of December 31, 2021.
Translated reports
Reports from this year and most of 2021 are available in four languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russian. We are translating new reports as they’re released, but older reports may not be available in a language other than English. If you would like to request a translated version of a report, please contact Leslie Chaires.
Links
Regional Arts and Culture Council: Clear city goals aligned with strong Arts Council strategy will improve arts and culture services