Even as Gary Mandell was being ordained one more time last night by the Redevelopment Agency as the producer for the summertime concert series in the Courtyard of City Hall, there was a rustling sound out in the bushes.
It happens every late winter:
When some people spot Mr. Mandell — who is nowhere near City Hall the rest of the time — they switch their elbows from side to side. They make noticeable noises. They become almost intolerably restless.
This year, those sounds are emanating from the Cultural Affairs Commission, which spends a large part of its year off-stage. Some members are unhappy about that.
Along with the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Civil Service Commission, the members of Cultural Affairs feel their talents are under-utilized.
Cultural Affairs members would like a voice in choosing the acts that Mr. Mandell exclusively books for the nine Thursday nights in summer.
A Familiar Routine
This is not a novel desire by persons not named Mandell.
Rather, it is a wannabe feeling that has been expressed for years, not coincidentally, each time Mr. Mandell’s shadow hovers over City Hall.
Perhaps it is because the proprietor of Boulevard Music makes the art of booking appealing and widely varied acts look so easy that people constantly are clamoring for his job.
Has Mr. Mandell missed a single music genre with the acts he books each summer:
Swing, jazz, rock, classical, bluegrass, rhythm & blues, zydeco?
Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger is so impressed with Mr. Mandell’s work that he suggested last night making his annual appointment permanent?
But he could not gin up a majority, just Mayor Scott Malsin.
Trying Something Different
Under the direction of Chair Andy Weissman, the Redevelopment Agency agreed to ask city staff to produce recommendations for future summer music concerts, and at a later meeting, a public bid known as a request-for-proposal, would be floated across the Westside.
The aim of such a proposal still is clouded.
There is talk that if the by now almost notorious Project B — indefinitely stalled by the stagnant economy — ever gets built, the concert venue could be shifted down Culver Boulevard to Towne Plaza.
But in 2011, at the earliest.
When the concerts were launched, their purpose was to be “an economic development tool” for City Hall — luring people Downtown by the hundreds. Their main hope was that the concert-goers take their evening meals at one of the many nearby eateries.
Only partially has that scenario worked out.
The people came, in droves, but not the “right kind” of people. These were do-it-yourself types.
In recent years, Mr. Mandell’s Thursday night concerts consistently have attracted capacity crowds in the range of about 600.
The droves of people, it seems, are pretty old-fashioned.
Not only are the concerts free, the many regulars quickly developed their own self-contained routines. Brought their own furniture and their own meals.
Except for Starbucks, across the street, no other Downtown entrepreneur could inspect his Thursday night receipts and notice any bump in traffic.
It was not supposed to turn out this way.
The Cultural Affairs Commission has cocked a few eyes on the goal of raising revenues. They say the Thursday Night Six Hundreds are nice.
Healthy for Culver City’s image.
But image-elevation is not the same as revenues.
If the concert-goers don’t unchain their wallets and spread their money across Downtown, Cultural Affairs Commission members say while trying to not sound cynical, what is the point?
