By Julie BUTCHER

“Talk is cheap. You get what you pay for,” commented Glendale City Councilmember Dan Brotman who advocated for the city to bargain exclusively with Glendale Arts to manage the historic Alex Theatre during an afternoon meeting of the Glendale City Council on Tuesday. “We hired a consultant to study the operations of the Alex Theatre, spent $35,000. If they had come back and told us there were problems, I’d be urging change. But they didn’t. They said that Glendale Arts has strong operational functions that have improved in recent years, a solid financial competency, unusually low staff turnover, and good management/board relations. Here we have a solid organization totally focused on the Alex – SAS would not be; it’d be one of the venues they manage.”

Miles Williams of SAS Entertainment said that the Alex theatre “has been underutilized.”

“We do see imminent possibilities of engagement with the larger music industry and performing arts industry and, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.,” Williams said. “If that’s not what you want, then we’re probably not the right choice because that’s all we really know how to do – we take venues, the Orpheum when it started, there was nothing downtown. The renaissance down there began in the historic core with the Orpheum Theatre.”

SAS Entertainment was vying for the management contract of the Alex Theatre.

“It really isn’t that exciting,” Williams said of the current operations of the Alex. “They’re not putting audiences in the seats. Thirty-five percent capacity is an astounding number. It’s not a grand success story. If you want change, that’s what we represent.”

Rick Lemmo, president of the Downtown Glendale Business Association, called in to the meeting to support resuming exclusive negotiations with Glendale Arts.

“We have a wonderfully professional relationship with Glendale Arts and it will be many years before we’ll be able to support a third-party money-maker,” said Lemmo. “The city can get what they need from Glendale Arts.”

Gilles Chiasson detailed the benefits of choosing his company, General Admission Venue & Production Management.

“We’re your best bet. We understand the city wants a community-driven theater and a financially profitable venue and we will deliver on both fronts,” he said. “Our sole focus would be the Alex, working to increase attendance and the number of events, working to reestablish the theater in the Los Angeles landscape. We want the city to be a vibrant hub. The history was grand – but the focus needs to be not on the last hundred years but on the next hundred years.”

Glendale Arts CEO Nina Crowe advised the council that the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has moved all but one of its planned dates to the Ambassador in Pasadena based on the “Alex’s uncertain future,” taking 3,300 ticket-buyers and $50,000 in estimated economic impact.

“We have extensive knowledge and experience in both Glendale and the greater LA area. Choosing another operator to manage the Alex Theatre puts an end to a small business success story,” Crowe said.

It also endangers $1.2 million in secured grant funds, the ability to take advantage of the organization’s non-profit status, institutional knowledge, donor and ticket-buyer data and liquor license, Crowe added.

“It is an unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars to have to rebuild the Alex’s business and reputation from scratch,” she said.

Escott Norton called to comment as a “former resident, lifelong Alex patron, and historic theater consultant.”

“As the former executive director of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation, I interacted with Glendale Arts frequently and am intimately familiar with all the other historic theaters in Los Angeles County – there is no comparison. There is not another venue management equal to what Glendale Arts has created,” he said.

“Glendale Arts built the Alex into what it is today, a nationally-known and respected home to the arts. They have managed the restoration of this historic venue and have maintained it impeccably – in the hundreds of theaters I’ve visited, the Alex is one of the cleanest and best organized both backstage and in front of the curtain. Managing an historic theater like the Alex is more than just booking shows and running the technical aspects. The constant care needed for a century-old building is a unique responsibility and one that Glendale Arts have proven they can take on.”

“Glendale Arts has done everything we’ve asked – we need to look inward and be clear what we want,” Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian added. “My preference is to support a local non-profit.”

Speaking as a businessperson and the leader of various community groups, Councilmember Vrej Agajanian shared his experiences booking the Alex: “It was very difficult to rent the place.”

“We have spent millions on this theater and, when I first became a councilman, it was $450 – $500K a year and we’ve been wanting the theater to be self-sufficient. Glendalians were paying every year. It’s time to do something different, to see what’s out there,” Agajanian said, moving to bargain exclusively with SAS.

Councilmember Ara Najarian agreed.

“For years – as long as I’ve been on the council – we’ve been urging a smaller management fee. The Alex is not an exciting venue; it’s not bringing in exciting acts – then we heard some complaints that organizations were not able to get stage time, so we put it out for RFP.”

The top priority was to stabilize finances to reduce the theater’s reliance on financial support from the city, Najarian continued.

“I think they’re tone deaf. We were clear we wanted to reduce the management fee and here they come and propose $250K a year. SAS is doing it for zero. What does that mean? It gives them the incentive to get out there and book the acts.”

“It’s time for a change,” Najarian asserted.

“Our goal is to maintain the sustainability and stability of the Alex,” Mayor Paula Devine weighed in. “Change is difficult. As leaders, we need to be creative. Progress is made by people who think outside the lines.

“When we talk about the Americana and the library, our theater is not a destination. I understand the passion and how hard it is to change, especially for those people who are involved, but I have to look at what’s best for the theater, best for our residents. I think I’m going to think outside the box today – and this is taking, if I may say, some courage – I’m going to cast my vote for SAS to take over the Alex Theatre to move it in another direction.”

With that, Mayor Devine cast the deciding vote in favor of SAS, ending the city’s relationship with Glendale Arts at the conclusion of negotiations. Councilmembers Brotman and Kassakhian voted no.