Friends of the Zeiss Statement
of
Telephone: 412-561-7876 Allegheny Regional
Electronic Mail: < friendsofthezeiss@planetarium.cc
> Asset
District:
Internet Web Site: < http://www.friendsofthezeiss.org
> 2005 October 24
Good
evening, I am Glenn A. Walsh of
Last
month, Children’s Museum Executive Director Jane Werner boasted about the
success of the expanded Children’s Museum, while showing disinterest in the
Museum’s greatly expanded administrative costs. In a reply to a question asked
by Mr. Griffin regarding the Museum’s jump in administrative costs, she simply
said that the Museum is a “very expensive operation to run.”
She
was equally disinterested when Mr. Pierchalski asked her about the large
depreciation expense. In both cases, she could have said that she would take
the RAD Board’s concerns back to the Children’s Museum Board for consideration.
Instead, her attitude seems to be that this is the way the Children’s Museum is
and will continue to operate. And, with successful attendance figures in the
first year of the expanded Museum’s operation, the attitude seems to be that no
one should question the Museum’s finances.
Attached
to this statement (on the reverse side of page) is a list of the 39 full-time
employees of the Children’s Museum, as published in the expanded Museum’s grand
opening bulletin. Right now, it may seem that the Museum can afford this
administration cost. However, what happens if there is a downturn in the
Museum’s finances, perhaps due to the leveling-off of attendance, or perhaps
loss of attendance due to higher gasoline prices?
Well,
page 17 of their business plan answers that question: “Personnel (expense is high
but also represents a soft cost easily cut if attendance is lower than
projection)”. They specifically plan to cut staffing if they get into a
financial bind a year or two from now. So if there are layoffs in the near
future, full-time staff members, who came to the Children’s Museum fully
expecting long-time employment, will have their lives disrupted due to poor
planning by the Children’s Museum management.
Layoffs
should be unnecessary, if the Children’s Museum was managed properly. We
contend that the administrative staff should have grown incrementally each
year, as it could be paid for by the year’s net revenue, rather than a large
administrative cost increase in the first year of the expanded Museum.
And,
we also contend that the Children’s Museum could achieve increased attendance
and revenue with the return of the historic Buhl Planetarium equipment and
artifacts, particularly the Zeiss II Planetarium Projector and 10-inch
Siderostat-type Refractor Telescope. But as with the responses to the questions
of Mr. Griffin and Mr. Pierchalski, the Children’s Museum management is
disinterested in any ideas which do not fit into their specific agenda.
Friends
of the Zeiss urges the Board of Directors of the Allegheny Regional Asset
District to watch the Children’s Museum closely over the next few years and
hold their management fully accountable, when their wishful-thinking management
decisions come back to haunt them.
Thank
you.
gaw
Attachment
(reverse side): Children’s