KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The American Jazz Museum was turned upside down but is making good on a few of its promises to the city, after a scathing report in April from a consulting firm recommending the museum get rid of its leadership and start fresh.
The museum is now looking for a new interim executive director, and the council wants that person to already be employed by the city to avoid spending even more money on the organization.
Members of the museum's board provided an update to the council's finance and governance committee on Wednesday.
"In a very short time period the board was asked to do a number of things, and those things have been executed," Board Chair Michael Gerken said.
The jazz museum's executive director of two years, Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, stepped down Monday and the board has pared down from 22 people to eight interim people. The board still includes third district councilmen Jermaine Reed and Quinton Lucas, who are behind the constant efforts to revive the 18th & Vine District.
The museum has put in place a new operations manager to keep the lights on in the meantime.
Although it seems the museum is taking a step in a more positive direction, there are still many questions and concerns about how it's run.
"We are still very cautious in our optimism that we are beginning to go in the right direction, but right now everything is foundational. What is it going to take to get the right person in to bring that confidence to the community?" Mayor Pro Tem Scott Wagner said.
Kositany-Buckner is walking away with a $77,000 severance package spread over eight months, which is raising some eyebrows.
"It appeared that the very person who was leaving the organization was involved in the very negotiation of the severance package directly with the board, which is a little unusual," Wagner said.
On top of that, jazz museum staff said they may ask the city to help pay for a portion of Kositany-Buckner's severance. Council members are not happy about that.
In the last fiscal year, the museum was $1 million in the hole*. However, a city spokesman said the deficit has been addressed and the museum started a new fiscal year on May 1 with no deficit.
Mismanagement and bad weather caused a fiasco at last year's jazz festival. Performers' checks bounced and the city had to cover it with taxpayer dollars.
"We essentially paid out, over the last fiscal year, $1.6 million," Wagner said. "So we have been much more involved financially with the organization and have a higher level of scrutiny."
Just recently, the city decided to increase its subsidy to the museum from $500,000 a year to $750,000 to help get it on the right foot.
"It's not something that can happen overnight, but I can assure you this is something we're focused on getting right, and get it the right the first time," Reed said. "The budget that board passed for the next year is one that is financially stable and one we approved unanimously as a board."
Reed asks musicians, artists and stakeholders to have patience while the process moves forward.
One local musician spoke at the committee meeting, expressing her distaste at the severance package, and also raising another concern about Kositany-Buckner.
"I can't believe someone who did not do their job is going to get $77,000 for not doing their job and has been touring Europe for the last couple weeks saying they represent the city as a jazz consultant. I was playing jazz in Cuba and I'm hearing this from Germany," the musician said.
Wagner addressed that after the meeting, acknowledging Kositany-Buckner had made a trip to Europe on behalf of another organization, but that no museum or city money was used. What remains yet to be seen is whether she was still on the museum's payroll at the time. If she was, Wagner says she should have been "more forthcoming."
The city manager will pick the interim executive director, which the board hopes will happen in the next 10 days.
*Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story did not clearly indicate the deficit was from a previous year. The story has been updated to indicate the deficit was from a previous fiscal year and has since been paid.
