Tag Archive for 'mediator'

Letter to Tony Beadle from Bob & Pat Nichols

Published
by
dtclarinet
on May 9, 2008
in Behind the Scenes and Our Supporters
. 0 Comments

I met Bob and Pat through email exchanges after one of my mass email letters. They attended both my recitals and have contributed enthusiastically to the brainstorming about or Symphony crisis.

Pat is presently an active volunteer in two WACSO units and Bob is a retired Architect. They have lived in Columbus enjoying the CSO for 52 years and have a daughter who studied flute with both Phyllis and Randy Hester, was a winner in piano in the Symphony Junior Youth Competition, placed second in the Senior Concerto competition and has a music degree from Indiana University.

Dear Mr. Beadle…

The action of the board/administration [canceling the summer season] is very, very sad, and I will add, shocking, indeed…..

Someday, I am positive, the real motives and circumstances determining these bizarre results will be known. They certainly are NOT what you, or someone, articulated in the “Statement of the Board and Administration” dated May 8 I first saw posted on the musicians’ web site, and I assume to be in the Dispatch tomorrow morning, if not later.. this has to be, it seems clear to me, a battle between some mysterious and hidden to the public (and I might add destructive) personalities, on or off of the board, that are determining these results.

I feel sorry for all of the sincere people trying to fulfill their responsibilities (musicians, administrators, and board members) caught here in the crossfire of others.

The most shocking thing to me, however, is the audacity in the referenced release to again lay responsibility for the circumstances and this FAILURE on the musicians. The ONLY entity here with any “bottom line” control or responsibility for the Columbus Symphony management, and accordingly this situation, both for the past leading up to and creating the present conditions, and for resolving now the problems, is the board and/or administration - I do not know which.

I can’t even imagine what happens now with “galas” (so called), and already scheduled, and some held, fund raising events, educational youth programs, public confidence, etc….. the community will not easily overcome this, I assume you understood that!

And, really, what logic is there in canceling, what I understand is, a consistently profitable venture - like the “outdoor” season - UNLESS the motivation (whose?) IS simply to cease operations?

Tony, if in your judgment there is ANY spark of hope or optimism here (or even if not), please - please, as quickly as possible, lead the board/administration to employ a mediator/consultant to guide the parties through to a resolution! It is ultimately clear a resolution will NOT come from any other means. Failure to do so implies to me the board/administration goals have already been met - please think about it, again!

Bob Nichols

CSO Management Losing Public Respect

Published
by
dtclarinet
on May 8, 2008
in Behind the Scenes and Off the Record
. 3 Comments

Most of you may know the distressing news by now; the CSO board and management has canceled the lucrative summer Picnic with the Pops series, citing lack of funds.

It should be known that the Summer Pops pays for itself in revenue. So why cancel it? Whatever the twisted intent, it has little to do with “saving the Symphony”.

The move may be an attempt to corner the musicians into signing an insulting contract which sends the Columbus Symphony back to the dark ages.

My guess is that the public already senses the perfidious deception behind Buzz Trafford’s public pontificating that the board’s hands are tied and the musicians just refuse to cooperate. This drastic and defeatist move will further weaken public respect for the current Symphony Board of Trustees.

I had lunch today with a few reporters from the Dispatch who listened intently to my point of view. I emphasized that the musicians are VERY interested in negotiating, but not in being told what they MUST accept without question or DIE.

Among other things, these reporters have been informed that the musicians initiated “good faith” bargaining steps by offering to take some pay cuts, but were rebuffed; they have been told that we called for a mutually chosen mediator, an unbiased third party professional to monitor the negotiations, to which the answer came back from management, “NO!”.

We’ll see if the Dispatch squeaks any balanced truth in tomorrow’s paper.

I told them that if they Symphony dies, it won’t be the musicians fault. These gentlemen were baffled by our unanimous rejection of management’s insulting demands. Our solidarity truly perplexed them.

I believe the musicians’ consciences are clear. We are rational people. We’ve been reasonable. We’ve been patient. We’ve been polite and considerate. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, we have communicated our intent to compromise and our desire for professional mediation.

But we are not dealing with reasonable people, or being given fair and balanced coverage. So, what do we do now?

I will not presume to speak further for my colleagues. But I think many of them would agree with the following thoughts:

For years now, the Columbus Symphony has existed as two very different organizations.

One has been the actual orchestra itself, which has developed into a world class musical organization with an outstanding conductor and players. The Symphony Chorus has risen with the orchestra. Through education and outreach, thousands of lives have been enriched. Concert reviews have been rave, and audiences love them.

The other less visible part of the Columbus Symphony has been its Board of Directors and executive management. Unlike the orchestra, the board and management have been a dismal failure, unable to reach their own stated goals and mismanaging the administration and budget, resulting in losses.

Each time this has happened, rather than doing some soul searching about its own shortcomings and ongoing inability to maintain this pristine jewel in the crown of Columbus’ fine culture, the board and management have instead sought to dump their failures onto the backs of the musicians themselves. In the last contract go-around, management had a 15% loss, and the orchestra accepted 15% pay cuts with promises that management would do better this time. That hasn’t happened. Yet, the Columbus Museum raised an $80 million endowment and Nationwide Arena was built without tax funding. Columbus can accomplish great things with the right leadership.

This year seems to be no different, only management has gone public trying to brand the musicians as offenders that “don’t understand the reality of the situation.” Instead of self-selecting and leaving so that others may succeed where they have failed, they have entrenched themselves in a senseless campaign to crush the orchestra. The only reality here is that Buzz Trafford and the board and management don’t know how to run an orchestra, and instead are trying to point the blame somewhere else.

When a baseball team is losing, who gets fired - the players or the manager?