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Q&A
Council Member Brannan questions DCLA on federal funding impacts, staffing, and capital projects
2:17:46
·
8 min
Council Member Justin Brannan engages in a Q&A session with DCLA Commissioner Laurie Cumbo and General Counsel Lance Polivy. The discussion covers the impact of federal funding cuts on NYC cultural organizations, DCLA's efforts to support the sector, staffing issues, and questions about the capital commitment plan.
- Brannan inquires about the effects of Trump administration funding cuts on cultural organizations and DCLA's response.
- The conversation touches on labor issues within the cultural sector and DCLA's approach to addressing them.
- Questions are raised about DCLA's staffing levels, current vacancies, and the reasons behind changes in headcount.
- The Q&A concludes with a discussion about DCLA's capital commitment plan and apparent decreases in funding from the preliminary plan.
Justin Brannan
2:17:46
All these hearings have been sort of shadow has been cast over them by cuts from the Trump administration.
2:17:55
So does DCLA know how any of the city cultural organizations have been impacted by funding policies of the Trump administration?
2:18:03
Are you hearing concerns from folks?
2:18:05
Are they reaching out to you asking for contingency plans?
2:18:09
What what are you what are you hearing on the ground?
2:18:12
According
Lauri Cumbo
2:18:13
to an analysis by the city's independent budget office, two hundred and sixty eight nonprofits in New York City received grants from the NEA totaling more than 7,500,000.0 in the current fiscal year.
2:18:27
Another 27 groups got 6,700,000.0 from IMLS.
2:18:33
Thirty five groups got 8,900,000.0 from the NEH.
2:18:38
That's more than 23,000,000 for hundreds of groups across the city.
2:18:43
Coming at such a precarious time, while we do not have an analysis of how many of these might be affected by the NEA's latest actions, we recognize that our cultural community is facing unprecedented challenges on a number of fronts.
2:18:57
While the city can't address the sector's needs alone, we are proud of the $45,000,000 in baseline funding we've provided in the executive budget, a major long term investment in the sector.
2:19:09
We've also put out a collection of resources for groups that receive notices of NEA grant terminations so they have the info they need to submit appeals, find legal support if needed, and advocate for the value of culture here in New York City and across the country.
Justin Brannan
2:19:24
Are you aware of any cultural organizations that are in danger of closing because of elimination or reduction of federal funding?
Lauri Cumbo
2:19:33
Many organizations come to us through a program called Create in Place.
2:19:38
This was an initiative that was set up in order to help sustain and support organizations during this time.
2:19:46
So what I would say to that question is we are consistently working, if you can also say triaging, with dozens of organizations to make sure that we help them and connect them to resources on the state level with other foundations, other support partners that can help them navigate these very challenging times.
2:20:07
But anyone can see when they're reading the papers that many organizations are facing layoffs, furloughs, terminations of positions, and it is inevitably a difficult and challenging time.
2:20:21
Tourism levels that were rebounding are also starting to take a hit as well as many of our partners and other cities and countries are not coming to The US at the same frequency.
2:20:34
So there is a lot to manage at this time, but I believe that the city's strong commitment through this executive budget signals to the community that we are here for them.
2:20:45
We recognize that art and culture is the lifeline of the city of New York and we're going to continue to support it.
Justin Brannan
2:20:52
And thank you.
2:20:53
And how is DCLA addressing labor issues within the cultural sector?
2:20:58
Fair pay, job security for artists and cultural workers?
Lauri Cumbo
2:21:02
We've had conversations with DC thirty seven.
2:21:05
We've had conversations to navigate some really challenging circumstances and situations that have arisen particularly within our cultural institutions group.
2:21:16
We've met with Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carreon.
2:21:20
We've also brought these challenges that the cultural community is facing as a result of labor negotiations and contracts.
2:21:28
So it's something that we are actively working on in terms of making sure that we are providing long term solutions to really make sure that we don't find ourselves in the same positions that we found ourselves in this year, particularly when labor negotiation contracts are negotiated.
2:21:47
We want to make sure that we are working more in tandem to make sure that there is a support mechanism when those increases happen.
Justin Brannan
2:21:57
I'll talk about headcount.
2:21:59
So TCLA's FY twenty six budget provides for 58 full time positions across all divisions.
2:22:07
But that's actually two less positions from the headcount in FY '20 '5.
2:22:12
Could you tell us what positions were eliminated and why?
Lauri Cumbo
2:22:16
So last year DCLA committed to hiring more staff but the agency is still below its budgeted headcount.
2:22:24
What is your budgeted headcount right now?
2:22:28
Our budgeted headcount at this time is
Lance Polivy
2:22:36
Councilmember Brannan, for FY '20 '5, our budgeted headcount is still 60 full time positions and 10 full time vacancies.
2:22:47
For FY '26 in the out years, the headcount is 58, and that's because of two federal FEMA positions.
Justin Brannan
2:22:53
Okay.
2:22:54
So the two that were eliminated were federally funded?
2:22:56
Exactly.
2:22:57
Now did you eliminate those sort of preemptively or are they no longer funded or what's the story there?
Lance Polivy
2:23:04
No.
2:23:04
One of them is an active opening that's posted on the City Jobs website that we're actively trying to.
Justin Brannan
2:23:11
And what positions are those that are funded by FEMA?
Lance Polivy
2:23:14
We have, we had one FEMA expert who sat within the agency to help arts and culture organizations that were making FEMA claims as a result of Sandy and
Justin Brannan
2:23:27
Oh, okay.
2:23:28
Got
Lance Polivy
2:23:28
it.
2:23:28
And storms to help them get FEMA claims.
Justin Brannan
2:23:30
That's great.
2:23:31
Okay.
2:23:31
So what are your current vacancies there right now?
Lance Polivy
2:23:38
Our current vacancies that we're hiring for are our chief of staff position and the FEMA position.
Justin Brannan
2:23:43
So it's just two?
2:23:44
Correct.
2:23:45
Just those two spots.
2:23:46
Okay.
2:23:47
Are you and you're having any challenges filling those?
2:23:49
How long have you been looking?
Lance Polivy
2:23:51
No we're not having challenges.
2:23:52
We have strong applicants for both positions.
2:23:55
We've actively been interviewing for both positions.
2:23:58
And we hope to be able to make an announcement about hiring for both as quickly as possible.
Gale A. Brewer
2:24:03
Okay.
Justin Brannan
2:24:04
All right.
2:24:04
I just want to ask about the capital commitment plan.
2:24:07
DCLA's five year capital commitment plan for FY twenty five to twenty nine is $1,200,000,000 It's almost a 6.5% decrease when compared to the preliminary plan.
2:24:20
Could you tell us what projects have been delayed and pushed out to the out years?
2:24:31
And I assume there's not one general reason for the project delays.
2:24:34
Could you talk maybe about some of the the common reasons why these projects get pushed out?
Lauri Cumbo
2:24:40
If you can start that.
2:24:43
I'm not I'm not as aware of delays that you're referring to in the way that you're referring to delays.
2:24:51
Our projects are on track.
2:24:53
Some projects take longer than other projects to either put a shovel in the ground or to complete.
2:25:01
Lance can probably give you a bit more detail on those projects that you may potentially been referring to.
Lance Polivy
2:25:11
I would say there are no particular delays that we want to highlight today in general.
2:25:17
The city capital process is one that takes a lot of time and that has a lot of safeguards.
2:25:22
And in large part, that's because it's funded by municipal bonds and we take that responsibility very seriously as do our two construction agency partners, the Department of Design and Construction and the Economic Development Corporation.
2:25:37
So we manage any active capital construction.
2:25:44
We're a funding agency that then partners with one of those two agencies to execute the projects.
2:25:49
And we're proud of the work that we do with those agencies.
2:25:52
We know that these projects can take time, but we also know that these city investments can make an enormous difference for a cultural organization that would otherwise be unable to fundraise.
Justin Brannan
2:26:01
I guess we're just trying to understand why there's a $1,200,000,000 decrease from January's preliminary plan.
Lance Polivy
2:26:14
We'll take a look and get back to you council member.
Justin Brannan
2:26:17
Okay.
2:26:17
Mhmm.
2:26:21
Okay.
2:26:21
Chair Rivera.