Mayor delivers break for TPAC; council reverses decision not to fund venue
12:23 p.m. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The day is a little bit brighter and a little less stressful for Topeka Performing Arts Executive Director Barbara Wiggins.
Tuesday night, the city council voted to give TPAC $250,000.
But, Wiggins said that's not what the center needs to be successful.
It needs the $300,000 it asked for.
“We're still going to be seeking an additional $50,000,” she said. “We're going to be seeking it either publicly or privately.7.53"
Wiggins said the center is not being greedy.
She said TPAC needs the $50,000 to maintain its level of services, and accepting less money means taking a step backwards.
“We've done some really great community outreach programs and you don't just say to yourself, well they gave us less money, so we'll just cut back on those things,” she said.
“It can't stand on its own at this point in time, perhaps it will at some time,” said Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten.
Mayor Bill Bunten presented the plan to fund TPAC with money from the helicopter unit.
It's been grounded since the chopper crash in April.
The money transfer is a move the police chief was willing make, and Bunten said he's thankful the council decided to make the move too.
“We can't not have those things, if we're going to have a good quality of life in this city,” he said.
“Robbing Peter to pay Paul is difficult for everybody,” Wiggins said. “If we want this community to stop shrinking, if we want people to stop leaving here, we have to do whatever it takes to keep them here, keep them entertained.”
Wiggins said she and TPAC board members are working to come up with a plan on how to get the remaining $50,000, and she's confident TPAC will get it.
Its also working on a plan to avoid being put in this situation each budget year, that includes making changes to how it requests funding and how it gets funding.
The idea to take money from the helicopter unit to fund TPAC was suggested last week.
So why did the council say yes this time?
Mayor Bunten said last week's session was nearly eight hours long, and with all the different proposals on the table, he said were getting lost.
He said revisiting it a second time allowed the council to have a clear head to decide what was best.
Related story: TPAC fights for funding, not taking no for an answer
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