Commissions say fundraising is key

GLENDALE — The projected $9.7-million budget deficit should only minimally affect the three city commissions that promote everything from art exhibits to women’s social issues since they already rely mostly on fundraising, city officials said.

The Committee for a Clean & Beautiful Glendale, which promotes neighborhood quality-of-life issues, used to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in city funding, but in recent years has come to rely almost entirely on fundraising, said Sam Engel, neighborhood services administrator for the city.

“We are in a little bit better place,” Engel said. “As funds get tighter, we already have the mechanism in place to help us get through.”

The citizen’s committee organizes beautification, community outreach and education programs, such as graffiti prevention and removal, Adopt-a-Block programs and litter prevention, among others.

Historically, the city funded the committee through Community Development Block Grants, but in the past eight years that block funding has dwindled from nearly $200,000 to none, Engel said.

Last year, the City Council appropriated $35,000 for graffiti removal. The committee raised an additional $140,000 to augment its programming. It is tentatively set to receive $35,000 for graffiti removal next year as well, barring any financial incursions from the governor’s office.

The Arts & Culture Commission’s annual operating budget of about $20,000 is not scheduled to take a hit in next year’s budget, said George Chapjian, director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services. Last year, the commission raised $15,000 to support additional programming.

The commission supports events like the citywide open studio tour, the Diamond Awards for the Arts, and the recent “Man’s Inhumanity to Man” exhibit at the Brand Library Art Galleries.

The Commission on the Status of Women, the third of the three community programming-oriented commissions, has always raised its own money through fundraising, sponsors and grants, said Lana Haddad, the city analyst who works with the commission. Last year, the organization raised nearly $40,000, including a $15,000 Community Development Block Grant approved by the City Council.

Over the past five years, the commission has accumulated a $40,000 reserve.

The five-year-old commission plays a key role in organizing and promoting domestic violence awareness events, financial literacy forums, and voter outreach.