The Soldotna City Council passed a resolution last month that would have provided $25,000 in ARPA funds to the Triumvirate Theatre. Soldotna’s Mayor Paul Whitney, then, vetoed the resolution, citing the process, saying that every group had an equal opportunity to obtain funds for previous programs like the mini grant program and the CARES grants, but not in this particular case.
A memorandum, then, appeared on the docket for the Soldotna City Council Wednesday night to override the veto. According to state statute, a veto may be overridden by a vote of two-thirds of the authorized membership of governing body within 21 days following the exercise of the veto or at the next regular meeting. So, it was up to Council Member Justin Ruffridge to motion for a vote to override the mayor’s veto, which failed on a 3-2 vote as there was an excused absence in Dave Carey not being in attendance.
Joe Rizzo with the Triumvirate Theatre called out the mayor, who cited the process not being followed. He said that the process was being followed properly in that the resolution was sponsored, he spoke to it, council voted on it, and approved it.
“I fail to understand how this veto, how you can uphold the veto, because we followed the process that was there.”
Additionally, he pled to the council how vetoing this resolution makes it that much harder to secure grants if it shows that the city council is not in support:
“It’s very hard for me, as the Executive Director, to write those grants and persuade these folks to support this partnership with the council or with the city of Soldotna when it’s on the headlines that it’s being vetoed and then, if tonight it’s sustained, that basically tells the people I’m asking for funds from to support this event for the city of Soldotna, it tells them the city is not truly in support of it.”
Ruffridge spoke on his motion to override the veto:
“The intent of bringing forward the override of this veto is we were bringing an opportunity to create a sustainable community arts event to our park and now that’s turned into a difficulty for our friends at Triumvirate Theatre. A veto from a local municipality who previously passed a resolution of support is damaging to the reputation of this nonprofit. In my opinion, this veto has many unintended consequences and negative perceptions towards a local theatre nonprofit group should really never be the outcome that we as a body seek.”
Mayor Whitney, in saying that the process wasn’t followed, stated:
“The process that I would like to see is the same way we’ve done it for the CARES Act money. You apply. It’s evaluated. Everyone have the opportunity to put in an application for those funds.”
He said that the mini grant program was created to do away with groups suddenly coming to the council asking for money.
Click here to view last night’s Soldotna City Council meeting and the full deliberation on Informational Memorandum 2022-001.
Below is additional information (in PDF form):
triumvirateveto
