MAILBAG - May 24, 2001

Library’s tactics pits playhouse against the public

I have been a resident of Huntington Beach for only a couple of years.

However, I have been involved with many community and professional

theaters.

Never have I seen a situation filled with political and egotistical

intrigue like the one the Huntington Beach Playhouse faces. Ron Hayden, a

single individual, is evidently a man who can manipulate and twist

figures and words in such a way as to convince many of the City Council

that a relatively small, community-based, nonprofit group such as the

Huntington Beach Playhouse could threaten the livelihood of Huntington

Beach residents by using space and resources that cost residents library

programs and children’s’ books.

Hayden’s agenda is quite clear -- either the Playhouse must become a

profit-generating tool and submit creative control of the playhouse to

him or they should leave.

Hayden spouts artificial figures and inflated projections with ease.

If his motives were so pure he might consider cutting his own salary in

half. That would at least ensure that the children receive their books.

What library officials are doing is tantamount to discrimination. They

are basically saying, why should we rent to a lowly nonprofit group that

we do not control, when we could make lots of money leasing the theater

for meetings to corporations that can pay us full price? Nonprofit groups

exist for a reason. They perform services to the community for a

reasonable price. Sometimes for free. The Playhouse makes enough money to

pay their expenses, and the rest of their income is given back to the

public in the form of scholarships.

The library would have the playhouse raise their prices. What is next?

Should the playhouse begin charging per cookie at their concessions?

Should they tier their seating so that audience seats in closer proximity

to Hayden’s office are of a higher cost? Perhaps the encore personnel,

who volunteer their time as ushers for each show, should also pass around

a collection bucket to benefit the library.

The idea of volunteerism seems to have been lost with Hayden.

Something that Hayden has not yet quantified is the worth of the

playhouse to the library. Many of the playhouse’s audience members may

never have stepped into the library had it not been for the playhouse. As

a result, the outreach of the library has benefited. Those audience

members now use library services, and yes they probably spend some of

their money at food concessions or on media materials and room rentals.

If the playhouse were forced to move to another location, perhaps even a

location outside of Huntington Beach, then that move would definitely

make it less convenient for those dual patrons to visit the library.

Obviously other nonprofit groups are valued. This is evidenced by

their low rents paid as a formality (some as low as a dollar a year.)

What the City Council needs to quantify is the worth of Huntington

Beach Playhouse to Huntington Beach. If they listen to Hayden, then they

will agree that the playhouse’s worth to Huntington Beach is nothing.

But the people of this city and the patrons of the playhouse that

helped elect the council may have a different message.RAY BUFFER

Huntington Beach