Writing Shotgun

LEST WE FORGET …

Theo DouglasMon. April 14
 

Electronic billboards would help retire the LB Museum of Art debt–and, really, who doesn’t want to retire?

Much has been said and written about how bad the electronic billboards proposal–which returns to Long Beach City Council on Tuesday night–would be for our city.

But all those scofflaws seem to forget: if the proposal is approved (and our understanding is that approval Tuesday night would merely authorize further study of the matter) it could be the biggest windfall for the arts community since the arrival, nearly a century ago, of Minnie the Whale. (Who wasn’t really an art piece herself, so much as a performance art exhibition–or maybe just a dead whale, depending upon wind direction.)

First, the facts.

A company called Media Management Service is asking the city to enter into an agreement to place six electronic billboards throughout the city: at the San Diego Freeway and Redondo Avenue; at the San Diego Freeway and Temple Avenue; at the San Diego Freeway and and Long Beach Boulevard; at the San Diego Freeway and Hughes Way (near Santa Fe Avenue); at the Artesia Freeway and Paramount Boulevard; and at the Long Beach Freeway and Long Beach Boulevard.

According to LBReport.com, MMS has offered to pay the city $500,000 per year, plus what LBreport.com terms 3 percent “annual escalators to that amount” or 35 percent of the gross annual advertising revenue, “whichever is greater.” MMS also promises to make available to the city 20 percent of all advertising time, or more than 450,000 advertising spots per month, distributed evenly throughout the day.

On the downside, we’ll be getting less billboard with our buck. MMS originally wanted to put up six 30-foot by 30-foot billboards. Now, they’ve reduced the size to the industry standard: 14-foot by 48-foot. That’s not very visionary. The folks at Lucas Automotive, on Temple Avenue just south of the San Diego Freeway, don’t ask for much. That extra 228-square feet of billboard might have meant the world to them.

But we’re losing sight of the big picture (sorry). As newly-minted Long Beach Museum of Art Executive Director Ron Nelson told me last year–before being minted–the museum is hard-pressed to figure out how to pay for a 2000 gallery addition that increased its total exhibition space to 12,000 square feet.

Construction was financed with a $3 million bond guaranteed by the city–but that bond comes due in 2009, and the museum has only been making the $8,300-a-year interest-only payments. This means that in about a year, LBMOA will owe the city–which owns the museum’s land–a balloon payment of $3.1 million.

One way to pay off that debt would be to deed the new gallery over to the city–but another way would be to divide the revenue from these electronic billboards, using LBMOA’s portion to pay down its debt. When I talked to him last year, Nelson was positively … what comes before bullish?

“It’s not the first thing you think of,” Nelson said of the billboards plan. “I agree.”

Arts Council for Long Beach Executive Director Joan Van Hooten seems to be more excited about the proposal. In a three-way split of the billboard money–between Arts Council, LBMOA and the city–her group would, obviously, get the other third.

Earlier today, the Arts Council sent out a mass email urging everyone who supports the idea–regardless of zip code–to attend tomorrow night’s 5 p.m. Council meeting, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

“We hope to show off Long Beach as a city of arts and culture to 750,000 daily drivers.  Promoting all the unique cultural events offered in Long Beach neighborhoods will increase audiences, add tax revenues and collateral business spending and improve the reputation of our city,” Van Hooten wrote in the email. “Imagine what Long Beach could be with a rich source of financial support for these vital community needs!”

Yes, imagine. Imagine, everyone!

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Viewing 4 Comments

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    The fix is in, the dice are loaded and the cards are marked. And, the suckers don't even know what's going on.

    Check the public records of the election campaign contributions received by members of Long Beach City Council and you will find an interesting contributor, Clear Channel.

    Clear Channel Outdoor advertising is a worldwide outdoor advertising specialists. The parent company, Clear Channel Communications Inc., reported revenue of $1.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, a 4% increase over the $1.77 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to their website.

    "We impact customers through a variety of outdoor advertising products designed especially to create the most visual awareness possible. Outdoor advertising is great because you can't turn it off, throw it away, or click on the next page. That means your message is reaching consumers everywhere — all the time, everyday.
    Outdoor advertising is more than just billboards (its)Times Square spectaculars, street furniture, airport displays, mall displays, taxi advertising, mass transit displays and mobile ads are just some of the advertising products Clear Channel Outdoor developed with your needs in mind."

    And something else stinks! I cannot find a listing for the Press-Telegram reported "Orange-based Media Management Services Inc." in yellowbook.com, the online yellow pages. A google search does not show a Media Management Services Inc. in Orange County. Who is Michael Pauls and where is his business located? Maybe lawyer Doug Otto knows where his client's business is located.

    Has Media Management Services Inc. made any election campaign contributions to members of the Long Beach City Council?
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    This certainly will pull LBMA's bacon out of the fire. A once great organizataion has become a cafe with a few perty pictures next door. How's that endowment coming, Ron? Garish freeway ads saving an art museum. What next. The big yellow baby with a coin slot and gum?
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    So anyone who makes contributions to candidates for City Council are not able to participate in the democratic process or have business before the city? Better pull the plug on JetBlue (I know a lot of folks would like that), the public safety personnel, most of the commercial brokers who lease space to public officials/programs. Better check Feinstein and Boxer's contribution lists and determine who should not be having any business with the Federal government, also Dwight, you should make a list of Bonnie's contributors to ensure the state doesn't do any business with any of her donors. We would much rather not save our Art Museum on the crystal-pure moral grounds of Mr. Snider and forego millions of dollars for our city for billboards that will have absolutely no impact on residents. Good visioning!
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    yes its all totally innocent, the people giving the contributions expect nothing in return, they are just exercising their civic rights.
 
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