By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Slightly more than $200,000 in federal pandemic-relief money for local arts organizations has been endorsed by the Board of Finance, but only after a long discussion Wednesday.

Unlike other local funding requests from the $8.4 million Westport expects under the American Rescue Plan Act, the arts groups are not governmental entities.

That was on the mind of Board of Finance member Brian Stern, who urged caution and clear communications about the organizations’ missions, where they are located and how they plan to use the money. 

Scrutinizing private groups seeking public money

Stern also warned that allocation of the federal money will face particularly close scrutiny. The request for ARPA money from the arts groups totals $200,643.

“When one funds private institutions, one has to be very careful,” he said. “These are not town bodies. These are bodies that have their own financials and it’s very difficult.”

“My bottom line is, we have to make sure that whatever package we have here, we are comfortable communicating to the public.”

Arts groups suffer pandemic setbacks

Nancy Diamond, chairwoman of the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, explained how the requests from 12 of the 16 arts-oriented organizations in town were vetted. Many asked for the maximum amount of $20,000, but some requested less. 

“As Brian [Stern] so aptly said in October, these organizations have been whacked,” Diamond said of the impact COVID has had on many of the arts groups. “And not recovering so quickly, especially now with the virus looming large before us.”

“Performances are being canceled, gatherings are being canceled and everybody’s taking a giant step backwards again.”

Lee Goldstein, the Board of Education chairwoman, spoke to the Board of Finance as an Arts Advisory Committee member.

“We can’t just say, ‘Oh, Westport’s an art town,’ and kind of use that to feather our caps …” she said. “That’s the story here. Westport is an arts town and we all love and appreciate the arts.”

Stern said he’s a supporter of the arts, and that he has no problem allocating money to support the arts.

“I do have some issues with the individual projects themselves,” he added. 

“This is federal funding, it will come under a different level of scrutiny,” Stern said. “When you spend federal money, you have to be very careful.”

Some of the funding requests appeared somewhat abstract, and Stern also worried about activities such as scavenger hunts on private property.

Is it really MoCA Norwalk?

He also questioned whether MoCA Westport is really in Westport.

“I’m not sure they’re resident in Westport,” Stern said of the museum. “When I spoke to the tax assessor, I just wanted to make sure in my own mind whether they were a Westport entity or a Norwalk entity, and at some point, we need to explain whether they are or not.”

MoCA’s driveway is in Westport and it uses a Westport address on Newtown Turnpike, but the museum’s building lies mostly in the Cranbury neighborhood of Norwalk. The building’s northeast corner dips a toe across the Westport town line.

Stern said critics will be closely watching such spending.

“We’ll be open to ridicule if we are not careful,” Stern said, referring to more than just the MoCA request. “So, we have to make sure that whatever we are doing here is sound. Because what we don’t want is a $20,000 investment to ruin an $8.4 million plan,” referring to the overall ARPA funding allocated to Westport.

“We are in Westport,” said Ruth Mannes, executive director of MoCA Westport. “We pay taxes to Westport … we are in Westport, Connecticut.”

In the end, the board’s vote was unanimous to approve the spending. 

The Representative Town Meeting, however, has final say on the ARPA spending proposals.