While the city of Escondido recently contemplated finding a new manager to run the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, the nonprofit already at the helm has taken the venue from years of deficits to turning a profit.
Gina Lopez was hired as the new top executive at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Foundation in 2023, a time when the center was facing significant financial challenges. She attributes much of the turn-around with severing its relationship with Theatricals as its in-house theater company in August 2023.
According to the foundation’s financial statement posted on its website, the organization would have faced insolvency by Aug. 31, 2024, if it continued to retain the program, which had consistently incurred $1 million in annual loses.
Likewise, the city itself has faced a structural deficit and was looking to find ways to balance its budget. Last June, the city issued requests for proposal to manage the arts center, but the only applicant at the Jan. 15 deadline was the foundation.
It’s too soon to tell if the city will scrap any plans to have a new manager of the arts center, but Escondido’s financial outlook has brightened. In November, local voters approved Measure I, a one-cent sales tax to address the city’s deficit, which is projected to generate $28 million annually for 20 years.
The new revenue is more than enough to cover the city’s $2.6 million share of operating the arts center, and the venue itself has seen it’s own budget turn around from a $480,000 deficit in fiscal year 2022-23 to $752,000 in reserves in fiscal year 2023-24. Lopez said the arts center is on track to again be in the black in the new fiscal year.
“So this year, my first full year, we were able to stay within that budget and actually increase and expand our free programming to the community as well,” Lopez said.
Escondido City Clerk Zack Beck said the decision to search for a new manager was made at a time when the city was looking at ways to control its deficit and was not a reflection of how the center was being run. Funding for the arts center and the library had been moved from the general fund to money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act distributed in response to the pandemic, but that would only fund the library for two years and the arts center for one.
“Gina Lopez has demonstrated proficient leadership in managing the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Foundation (CCAEF) by strengthening its operations and establishing a more stable financial foundation for the organization,” he wrote in an email.
The city’s cost to run the arts center in the last fiscal year included $660,000 for the management fee, 7.6% of the venue’s annual revenue, which was $8.6 million in fiscal year 2023-24.
Other center expenses paid by the city include about $835,000 for SDG&E, $826,000 for public works maintenance staff, repairs and facility contracts, $115,000 for liability insurance, $90,000 for water and wastewater and $33,000 for information technology and systems.
Beck said the rationale for considering another manager for the venue wasn’t about how it was being run by the foundation, but rather about exploring other ways to fund its expenses to help balance the budget.
“That’s why we’re in a slightly different dynamic now,” Beck said, adding that the city has new Measure I revenue to address its deficit.
The City Council will hold a vision workshop at noon Feb. 12 to discuss the new revenue and establish key priorities for the city’s future.
Over the past two fiscal years, the center made significant reductions in professional fees and contract labor, program expenses, hospitality and travel, equipment rental and advertising and marketing.
In all, total expenses in the last two years were reduced from $3.5 million to $2.6 million and total expenses dropped from $7.9 million to $7 million while revenue increased from $8.3 million to $8.6 million
“We did really great with grants and promoting our projects and programs we had,” Lopez said, adding that community support and partnerships with outside groups also helped the bottom line.
A few director positions were eliminated, including the director of performing arts position who left to continue working with Theatricals, she said.
While the foundation was the only entity to submit a request for proposal to run the arts center, Cal State San Marcus University at one time expressed interest in the job.
“Cal State San Marcos greatly values its relationships with both the City of Escondido and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido Foundation,” CSUSM Chief Financial Officer and Finance and Administrative Services Vice President Leon Wyden, Jr. said in an email. “The Center is a cultural treasure with a rich history of bringing exceptional performances and community programs to our region, and we deeply appreciate its impact on local arts and education.
“At this time, while the operational future of the Center is being evaluated, the university is not pursuing management of the facility,” his statement continued. “However, we are enthusiastic about exploring opportunities for expanded programming and partnerships in the future — collaborations that would mutually benefit our students, the community, and the Center itself.”
