Editor’s note: The print version of this story contained an inaccurate reference to the conditions imposed on the Nassau Park developer when it agreed to provide $30,000 a year in funding for the arts in West Windsor. The corrected version appears below.
With the opening of the West Windsor Arts Council’s new facility coming on Saturday, September 25, many questions have been raised about the art council’s funding sources.
Allegations have been made that the township’s taxpayers are funding the council’s events, the food provided at its events, and the salaries of its staff.
But aside from the agreement that the township would contribute $800,000 needed to bring the old firehouse on Alexander Road up to code, West Windsor taxpayers actually pay for none of those things.
Both township and arts council officials maintain that the township does not contribute any money to the West Windsor Arts Council. As a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the West Windsor Arts Council independently raises its own money through fundraising and donations.
“We do not receive any money from the township,” says Ilene Dube, the president of the West Windsor Arts Council.
Responding to allegations that the township is paying for other operations and administrative costs for the Arts Council, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said: “There is no other account paying for it; we only tried to bring the whole building up to code — and nothing more.” There is no administrative support, he said, and because the Arts Council is its own organization independent of the township, how it operates is entirely up to the members of the organization.
Questions about the township’s alleged contributions to the arts council — particularly its executive director — have picked up since the formal lease agreement with the township was approved for the use of the former Princeton Junction firehouse last month.
Under the 10-year agreement, the Arts Council will pay the township $250 a month in rent for the first two years. In the third year and successive years, the rent will be $500 and increase by 10 percent each year. So, in the fourth year, the arts council will pay $550 a month and so on.
According to Arts Council officials, the organization has contributed $300,000 to the renovation of the building itself — a building it does not own — as well as years of work from its volunteers, and would have been using the money it has raised to establish its programming.
“The only money that we got from the township was to get the building up to code,” Dube explained. “We raised the money to turn it into an arts center.”
The Arts Council also raises its own money through its capital campaign.
Some critics alleged that all the arts council’s staff members are paid township employees — all of which is untrue, officials said. Its executive director — Eduardo Garcia — is a part-time employee. He does not receive pensions nor does he receive benefits, and his $31,500 salary is paid through an arrangement the arts council has with land developer DDR.
Just as any other non-township organization operates, the Arts Council has the right to determine how it will run its organization, including determining Garcia’s salary. “Just like any 501(c)3 in West Windsor, we don’t get involved in how they run it,” said Hsueh.
When Hsueh ran for mayor nine years ago, his platform included creating an Arts Council and facility for the township. Hsueh said he and Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner had secured annual contributions to the arts council from DDR, the firm that owns and manages the Nassau Park shopping center.
Gardner sheds some light on this matter in his letter (see page 4), in which he explains the agreement. At the time when Nassau Pavilion came before the Planning Board for its third phase of development, Gardner found that the original developer failed to meet its obligation to provide an area for community use in the earlier phases of construction. The responsibility carried over to the successor developer, he wrote.
Gardner explained that he and the mayor recognized that the West Windsor Arts Council was a “fledgling organization” and saw it as an opportunity to bring arts to the township. The agreement — which became a condition of approval — was that the Arts Council would provide a minimum of three performances at the Nassau Pavilion in exchange for an annual payment of $30,000 — to be paid directly to the Arts Council from DDR. That amount would be increased annually by the cost of living over the prior year — based on the consumer price index. Eventually the Arts Council decided to use the funds to pay for an executive director (see the letter in this issue from Arts Council board member Richard Snedeker).
“It is important to note that not one penny of tax revenues was directed to the West Windsor Arts Council,” Gardner wrote.
Dube called the agreement a “very forward-thinking move” on part of Gardner and Hsueh. “With the cost of living, it’s gone up over the years to approximately what Eduardo’s salary is,” she said. “That gives us a nice chunk of change to help pay for a part-time executive director.”
“Because Eduardo is a contractual employee, he gets no benefits and no pension,” added Dube. “He works a lot more than part time. He probably works a lot more than full time, but he is paid part time.”
So where does the Arts Council get its money? From donations and money its raises during events, which include summer concerts and the Autumn Arts Afternoon (see story page 23).
“Our fundraisers have been well attended,” Dube said.
As for food provided at the events the Arts Council holds, Dube said many times, local vendors and businesses will donate their food. In other cases, the Arts Council paid for those events to be catered. For the grand opening of the new firehouse facility later this month, the process is similar, and Dube said Arts Council officials are working with local businesses.
Dube also said that donors have also been gracious. “It’s a tough economy, but we have pursued donors who believe in what we’re doing and have graciously funded it.”
