September 12, 2013
Shé:kon Kahnawa’kehró:non,
This letter is intended to provide information to the community on the situation regarding the temporary suspension of the KSCS Drama Project.
Up until now KSCS has remained silent as we have been meeting with the Turtle Island Theatre Company Fundraising Committee (the ‘Committee’) and both parties agreed to continue to meet to address concerns. So we were taken aback when the Committee and the Turtle Island Theatre Company (‘TITC’) continued to use local and social media to cloud the issues. KSCS believes we now have no choice but to provide the community with information on why we made the decision to temporarily suspend the KSCS Drama Project and to do so in the manner we did.
I would first like to emphasize that in all our communication we have stated this decision is temporary in nature. Many community members have reacted with the belief that we intend to close down this project for good and have written me, or made public statements, to justify why it needs to remain open. I want to reassure everyone: KSCS wants to keep the Drama Project open, enhance it as we align it to the community health plan, mental health priority, where it could create the most impact. We always have seen it as a valuable project and we intend to maintain it.
There have been operational and partnership issues that we have been unable to resolve through other efforts and processes and felt an evaluation of the project would best serve to help all those involved. I became the Executive Director of KSCS in April 2012. As early as May 2012, I tried working towards clarifying lines of accountability between KSCS and TITC, to strategize if and how to direct more resources to this project so they have the greatest impact, and to plan for long term sustainability of this project. I had met with the Committee in July 2012 to get their cooperation and support in how to improve the drama programming and to clarify things between us. They stated they would discuss and get back to me. Until this recent suspension occurred, they have failed to respond to me regarding what KSCS needed to do in order to move forward. These same efforts were attempted by the previous KSCS Executive Director with the same disappointing results.
Why do we keep calling it a 'project' if we intend on keeping it long term? Ultimately, the primary reason is that it is funded through Brighter Futures which funds 'projects', and so that is the official title, KSCS Drama Project. I have no problem calling it a program from now on, assuming it remains with KSCS’ involvement.
Why suspend it now and not previously? There are a few reasons for this timing. In May, we entered into the beginning stages of summer programming and unfortunately, our Artistic Director had to go on leave. We had intended to launch the evaluation at that time but in consideration of the families who depend on this programming during the summer and Mr. Saylor’s leave, we elected to delay it to the fall. The Artistic Director then recommended we hire Mr. Frayne McCarthy to be the Interim Artistic Director for the summer programming; he is a 16-year veteran of the TITC, is very familiar with the programming, is a member of the Committee so he is familiar with reporting requirements and accessing funding and has been a long-time supporter of the theatre in our community. Once Les Miserables ended, we had to start planning for the fall programming but both the Artistic Director and his replacement were insisting that KSCS again selectively recruit Mr. McCarthy as Interim Artistic Director. Given that programming hadn't even started yet, the Artistic Director was due back soon, but time was passing quickly, and we didn't feel comfortable to not publicly post the interim position this time, we decided to temporarily suspend services to plan better and conduct the evaluation.
In addition to this, the Interim Artistic Director refused to remit box office proceeds from the summer programming productions to KSCS as is the practice. To be clear, the four elements of the Drama Project that the KSCS Artistic Director has determined are the children’s drama club, children’s summer drama camp program, the Musical Entertainers and the Turtle Island Players. When each of these activities puts on a show, admission is charged and the snack bar sells goods to the audience. This revenue directly goes back into supporting the next production of the KSCS Drama Project and it has always been under the management of the Artistic Director and his supervisor. This is not a Turtle Island Theatre Company or Turtle Island Theatre Company Fundraising Committee revenue generating activity. So just prior to the ending of Les Miserables, we received a message from the Committee that they intended to take this money over because they felt it was theirs.
In November 2012, I had directed that all outside bank accounts that KSCS programs were operating should be re-directed to KSCS financing, including the drama program box office. The whole purpose is to have more effective accountability and planning for these community assets and they would be covered by our audit. I made this clear, to the Committee as well, at that time and had not received any indication they objected until their letter in July 2013. Since the Artistic Director was on leave, and this needed more dialogue, I directed Terry Young to continue to request the money go thru KSCS Finances. The Interim Artistic Director refused, giving the money to the Committee's care taking, with no accounting to KSCS of what was collected, or what else was available. We attempted to resolve the issue with him several times and asked for a meeting, which he refused. Our options were limited, so we decided to send a letter to identify possible consequences of not turning this money in.
The Artistic Director who was still on leave began petitioning us to not proceed with the possible consequences and was advocating we again hire Mr. McCarthy for the fall programming session, this contrary to KSCS hiring practices. So, we were now in a position of being asked to hire someone, who adamantly refused to follow the direction of his supervisor or follow KSCS policies and procedures. We had to consider what to do, particularly with the Artistic Director still on leave. So, the natural course of action would be to evaluate the program to sort thru all the issues and come up with a strong plan for the future. To be clear, this project has never been previously evaluated. Since becoming Executive Director, I have been requesting directors and managers to review all their programs to determine needs, the Drama Project being no different. We wanted to get input from the community as well to improve all our services and this will be coming in the near future. This is standard good business practices of any organization - review what you are doing to plan for the future and consult around. At the same time, we could align it to the community health plan which is a requirement for continued funding from Health Canada.
In addition to all this, the Artistic Director had been consistently asking for more resources over the years. Previous KSCS Executive Directors had tried defining what was actually needed; to no avail. Other KSCS staff members tried to assist, but this was often rejected. Regardless of the challenges and decisions of previous administrations, I wanted to try to figure a way for KSCS to support the Drama Project better. I assigned Terry Young to try to define and clarify what is needed and if warranted to go to our board of directors to secure more resources. Although we received some preliminary responses from the Artistic Director, it needed much more work. We could not get this additional information from him or the Committee prior to the Artistic Director going on leave.
Why suspend the KSCS Drama Project for 120 days? We were advised that 4 months is standard time frame for this type of activity. This coincided with the fall programming session. So, we decided to suspend programming until after the Holidays, with the hope we can begin fresh and strong with a newly re-vamped and adequately supported drama program.
Why is there a need to inventory everything in the Kateri Hall? We recently stated that this is one of our goals. As can be attested by any member of the TITC, there is a lot of items there. Fundamentally it is good business practice to know what your inventory is; it is a requirement of insurance, it eliminates duplicate purchasing, it allows for replacement/maintenance planning, it assists us in plans if we had to move from the Kateri Hall and it ensures the TITC know what they have available for the future. There is estimated to be over a million dollars in assets there, simply going on how much funding was provided to the program and an estimate of what was purchased or donated. Most of these are community assets, some contributed by KSCS some by committee/company members, others from patrons. Yet there is not an accurate accounting of what's there and this must be done as soon as possible.
Our last thought with the temporary suspension is to plan for the future. Originally called ‘k-stars’ (Kahnawake steering towards a real stage), the Committee had been tasked to raise funds to create a new building for the arts. At some point in their history, they made decisions to use funds they generated from this venture in other areas of need. It is currently unknown what their plan is for realizing the vision for a real stage. Regardless, KSCS has committed to maintaining at the very least children’s drama programming in the community. We are tenants in the Kateri Hall; this is a fact and we are grateful for the long time support of the catholic community members to use their building. But the fact remains this is not our building. Everyone knows that with Kateri becoming a saint, it may change the catholic community's needs regarding the Kateri Hall. The TITC and its Committee are not making any plans that we are aware of to anticipate needing to move from Kateri Hall. If they are not going to do so, then KSCS must plan for this possibility. Where will we store all the assets? Where will we rehearse and perform? KSCS and others have tried several times to get the Artistic Director and the Committee to see opportunities but they have not been taken. We can wait no longer.
There may be more information I can share in the future that can help community members to form their thoughts and opinions about this matter, but I sincerely ask that we all pause, think about things and ask questions that will bring clarity to the situation before arriving at conclusions. Some people have made very big statements, some of which could be considered slanderous, against KSCS, its members and its services, without having all the facts. KSCS is a key community organization intended to create positive change in this community and we have been open to working with anyone to make this happen. KSCS has provided more than $2,000,000 to the KSCS Drama Project since 1994; if we invested this much in a project, why would we want to see it end? Why is there such a resistance to the evaluation? Why is there such a resistance to accountability with finances? Why is there such a resistance to clarifying roles and responsibilities in our partnership? Why so resistant to plan for the future?
I want to thank all of you who have reserved judgment, preferring to wait to hear more of the facts regarding the situation. I also want to thank all of you who offered KSCS support in this very difficult decision. And I also want to thank all the community members and KSCS staff members who have volunteered their time, energy and spirit to making KSCS drama a vital part of the performing arts in Kahnawake. It was a slap in the face of all KSCS collaborators to say or suggest we have not helped the performing arts in Kahnawake and to criticize other areas of our programming.
It is important for all of us to remember that it is paperwork that secured the Brighter Futures funding and all other funding that comes through KSCS to other community partners. It is this same paperwork that helps us to maintain this funding along with the annual audit. This is very gruelling and time consuming work from which we all benefit. To suggest this work is less than others is to discredit those who do it and their efforts. I can assure the community that in addition to this paperwork KSCS and all its collaborators work directly with the community, which can be attested through the 2,675 clients we serve annually and the community partners we work with in other areas.
I hope that we can all work together to improve the KSCS Drama Project and help to ensure we have theatre programming long into the future. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Terry Young at KSCS.
Nia:wen Kowa
Derek Montour
KSCS Executive Director