With public art master plan pending, Huntington Beach council moves to dissolve art board

The Huntington Beach City Council took steps Monday to dissolve the city’s Allied Arts Board in anticipation of a pending public art master plan.

With a unanimous vote, the council passed the first reading of an ordinance to disband the board. The nine-member advisory panel will officially dissolve 30 days after the council finalizes the ordinance at a future meeting.

The Allied Arts Board was established in 1979 to help promote local art and cultural activities and “played a significant role in the development of a cultural vision” for Huntington Beach, according to the city’s website.

However, there are now other local groups with that same mission, including the Huntington Beach Art League and the Huntington Beach Art Center’s Artist Council.

Monday’s vote comes amid Mayor Pro Tem Lyn Semeta’s pitch to develop an art master plan that would outline procedures for management, funding, public engagement and site selection.

The council previously voiced support for developing a strategy for art in public places or on public property in 2018.

On Monday, Director of Community Services Marie Knight said city staff anticipates presenting the draft master plan at a study session in six months to collect feedback.

Knight said researching art master plans in other cities, reviewing consultants and contract negotiations are reasons why the process is taking so long. She said city staff also plans to meet with some of the Allied Arts Board members who are moving on to help with the new plan.

Semeta and Councilwoman Kim Carr asked to receive monthly updates about the draft master plan.

“I’m concerned about the pacing of this,” Carr said. “We’re already getting requests from the community to serve on [the] next project and we don’t know what that’s going to be.”

City takes next step to exit PCTA

The council also approved a resolution Monday to withdraw from the Public Cable Television Authority, as the city plans to introduce its own cable channel called Surf City 3.

PCTA provides local programming for Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Stanton and Westminster, but Surf City bankrolled 67% — $755,615 — of the group’s 2018-19 budget while the other cities collectively contributed $356,257.

Huntington Beach started the process of cutting the cord with PCTA to save money and produce local programming in 2018. The city plans to officially terminate its membership in PCTA on Monday and anticipates going live with its new channel the next day.

The city is currently seeking input on what programming the community would like to see. To take the survey, visit bit.ly/2XM9Fkk.