Art Donation Bypasses All the Rules

The city bypassed the Cahoon Memorial Park Trustees. This summer a sculpture donated to the city was erected by the pool. The city has a process for accepting gifts and donations. It came as a surprise to some council members that this process was not adhered to. The city could claim that the value of the gift does not exceed $100 per the ordinance; therefore it did not need to go before council or Cahoon Memorial Park Trustees. Gary Ebert commented “We are not the people going to make the dollar value determination.” The wooden sculpture stands almost 6 feet plus a cement base. The artist puts the value on the work. Would the artist say the value exceeded $100?

Paul Koomar stated that normally we give approval prior to things being installed “but this popped up over the summer, so with the timing and so…” However, the mayor commented she knew about the gift for a year and a half; ample time to put it before council per the ordinance. When asked who placed the statue, the mayor said our service department did. Scott Thomas (Director of Public Services & Properties, & Safety Director) was unaware that his staff set the sculpture.

Karen Lieske questioned the terms of the process and the great pride and care we take regarding signage, etc in keeping with the Bay Village theme. She asked if someone came and presented any type of drawing before the sculpture was installed. Sutherland: “No.” She stated the artist created it and offered to donate it to the city and we went to look at it and tried to find an appropriate location for it and “the pool is the lucky winner.” Karen was also concerned about what this might mean if someone else came forth and wanted to put something in the park. Concerns were raised over the safety, the hollow base.

Tom Henderson asked if we have a normal process for accepting art. The mayor said “Um well we have a process for accepting donations.”The deed of gift will be presented next week when council will vote on acceptance only, not whether to keep it or not. The vote is merely a formality at this point since the sculpture is already set in stone – literally.

The ordinance reads: 103.05 ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS AND GIFTS. (a) All offers of property and/or services to be donated to the City having a value in excess of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be submitted to Council by the donor or forwarded to Council by the boards or agencies receiving such offer for acceptance by Council on behalf of the City. (b) Satisfactory assurance must be received by Council that the donor has the power to make such a donation and that, if property is involved, it is fully paid for or satisfactory arrangements have been made for payment. (Ord. 66-161. Passed 2-20-67.)