Paul Thompson
Northeast News

Without a $225,000 cash infusion from City Hall, the American Jazz Museum would be weeks away from closing.

That was the message at City Hall last week, as an ordinance designed to salvage operations at the museum passed through the Finance and Governance committee before being approved by the full City Council on Thursday, October 26. Ordinance No. 170856 calls for a $225,000 payment from City contingency funds to underwrite ongoing operations at the museum through the fiscal year, which concludes in April. In addition, the ordinance asks the City’s Parks and Recreation department to conduct an organizational overview of the American Jazz Museum, with the goal of identifying a viable management solution by May 1, 2018.

“They are not financially stable. They are quickly running out of cash,” said 1st District Councilman Scott Wagner after the October 25 committee meeting. “My expectation is, but for this ordinance and its discussion, they will have to close their doors within weeks. That suggests there is a problem here.”

So how did things get to the point where the City Council had to intervene?

The museum has roughly a million dollars in debt and receivables on the books, and it recently let go a trio of long-time staffers in the midst of the budget crunch. A significant source of the financial duress was the museum’s Memorial Day weekend Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was marred by premature performance announcements, bad weather, and bounced checks. Ultimately, the event lost $467,000. Though the City of Kansas City, Missouri provides a $500,000 annual subsidy for museum operations, City leaders also acknowledged that the museum has exhausted a $300,000 credit line.

According to Wagner, the chair of the Finance and Governance committee, the latest financial news stands in stark contrast to a presentation delivered to the committee by American Jazz Museum Executive Director Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner in July.

“My frustration with what was presented back in July was, although I understood there to be greater financial issues, they weren’t presented,” said Wagner. “I don’t know if it was intentional, or if there was fear that if other things were exposed, that it would cause issues.”

Despite the financial issues, 3rd District Councilman Jermaine Reed expressed optimism that the museum can be guided to prosperity.

“My interests are to work with the community and sustain the American Jazz Museum organization, stepping in to assist with the heavy lifting and to keep the Museum’s treasured doors open,” Reed said. “Between now and the beginning of the City’s next fiscal year, we will work to analyze and assess the governance structure, operations, financials, and programming of the assets, and we will suggest business and funding plan objectives, based on available best practices, for the ongoing management of these City assets.”

On October 16, Reed sent a memo to 18th and Vine District stakeholders informing them of his intention to sponsor an ordinance that would keep the museum open. Though the memo doesn’t dive into the specifics related to the American Jazz Museum board’s financial woes, it does lay out a plan for Director Kositany-Bucker to undergo leadership-focused professional development.

“For the challenges facing the AJM, Director Kositany-Buckner needs the benefits of a structured relationship with a seasoned executive coach, with whom to work closely across a specified period of time,” Reed wrote. “Through a solutions-based approach, she can enhance her professional awareness, business results, and be better able to identify the actions she needs to take, and fine-tune her skills and behaviors to achieve success.”

In both the memo and in the initial draft of the proposed ordinance, Reed included language that would transfer control of Museum operations to Parks and Recreation. The department has successfully taken over management of the Kansas City Museum in the Historic Northeast, and it operates the Black Archives of Mid-America, Gregg-Klice Community Center, and the Urban Youth Academy (baseball complex in the 18th and Vine District already.

“The Parks department owns most of the assets down in the 18th and Vine area,” said Reed.
In the end, Reed and ordinance co-sponsors Scott Wagner (1st District) and Quinton Lucas (3rd District) adjusted the language to instruct Parks and Recreation to conduct an organizational overview, rather than taking over operations immediately.

“There’s a real opportunity for us to retool and strengthen the museum as a city asset,” said Reed. “It’s clear that business as usual is not sufficient. This is abundantly clear.”

Former Councilwoman Carol Coe came to the Finance and Governance meeting to voice her support of Reed’s plan for the museum, citing the city’s longstanding support of its operations.

“You all can’t afford to not have the jazz museum succeed,” Coe said. “We have paid millions of dollars for that with City money.”

Other attendees called for the change for the sake of removing an American Jazz Museum power structure that has led the museum into dire financial straits. Charles Williams is a musician who had his check bounce after performing at the Jazz and Heritage Festival. Though he eventually received payment, he nevertheless expressed concern with the direction of the museum.

“I understand that things happened, but things have been happening so long,” Williams said. “I’m just tired of it.”

Anita Dixon described an organization that’s in well over its head, particularly with the recent firing of three long-time employees.

“The firing of the three people that we’re talking about was a travesty, not just unfortunate,” Dixon said. “You have a system that is totally falling apart because nobody at the top knows what’s going on.”
One of the women who was fired, former Executive Administrative Assistant Karen Anderson, said that the board should have fired Kositany-Buckner once it realized how much debt the organization had piled up under her leadership.

“They are too afraid to demand the director’s resignation once it came to light that the organization was in debt more than $1 million,” Anderson said.

Kositany-Buckner also spoke during the committee meeting, stating her intention to work hand-in-hand with the parks department as it conducts its overview of museum operations.

“I pledge to do my part in this important time-sensitive process,” Kositany Buckner said.

After the Finance and Governance meeting, Reed acknowledged that there were some concerning elements within the organization’s detailed financials, though he declined to jump into specifics.

“I don’t want to get bogged down in those details, however I can tell you that we are aggressively working to rectify a wrong,” Reed said. “It’s unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation, but we have a responsibility as elected officials to make sure that we are protecting public resources.”

Wagner was more specific on what the City Council has learned, relaying his “frustration” at how the events unfolded.

“What we’ve discovered is that programmatic income has hidden what is a systemic financial problem,” Wagner said. “Because of the event, and how poorly it performed, it has been the match that has lit and brought to light all of the underlying financial issues.”

Ordinance No. 170856 was unanimously approved by the City Council during its Thursday, October 26 legislative session. As of November 1, the Parks and Recreation department will have six months to propose a solution for the museum. Wagner knows there will be a lot of attention to the process.
“People care about the American Jazz Museum, both in terms of its operation and what it represents,” Wagner said. “I think that amplifies that frustration.”