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Opera board not provided with information requested
Carol (not Barbara) Lazier has made an incredibly generous gift, and courageously challenges her fellow Board members to do the right thing by exploring options other than dissolution. But sadly, apparently no "planning" committee has yet been named--it is as if the powerful at SDO want to just stand back and let the company die. Where is the urgency? Where are the heartfelt solicitations to the public to make contributions? It is as if Mrs. Cohn and Ian Campbell only want $10,000,000 and from those who are very rich--but they never have really asked us "ordinary folks" to step up--hey, $50 gifts from 100,000 people would equal $5,000,000--not chump change! But SDO has to ASK!— April 4, 2014 11:53 p.m.
Opera board not provided with information requested
Transparency is one of the hallmarks of an excellently-run nonprofit organization. If nothing has been done incorrectly or unethically, then every single document that the Board members requested should have been provided to every single member of the Board. They are the ones with fiduciary responsibility. Why would a lawyer be intervening in terms of what documents "should" be released? All of them should be released! That doesn't mean that they all need to be given to the public, but the Board would be shirking its duties not to have full and transparent knowledge of the back story behind the abrupt closing of our community's 2nd largest performing arts organization. One must wonder: If the opera season had to be cut 20%, from 5 to 4 operas, then the true leader would have cut his or her salary by at least 20% at the same time. From what you are reporting, in fact the Campbell's got a small increase instead. What kind of leadership is that? And what kind of patsys are on that Board, anyhow? Surely they approved those increases while seeing the opera budget drop?— April 2, 2014 9:45 p.m.
Opera board still looking for donors
I wasn't meaning that you didn't report on it. I meant that inside the Opera, all the investigation went on and a report was promised. But then, nothing. I have heard that the staff is completely deflated now, and demoralized. They had hoped that the Board would begin to address leadership changes, but apparently that's off the table. All that's happened is that instead of a 5 week severance, everyone will work for 2 more weeks, then get a 3 week severance--but the result will be the same: the opera closes. Most of the biggest donors don't want to see things done in the same way--they would demand major changes. But those won't happen. Catch-22.— April 1, 2014 9:48 p.m.
Opera board still looking for donors
**It's important to remember the enormous team of people who really make the San Diego Opera what it is: the behind-the-scenes staff.** Here are photos of just a few of them: http://instagram.com/sandiegoopera Remember: thanks to the mismanagement and incompetency of the leadership of SDO, the entire staff will be laid off, and their insurance ended. They were informed in their termination letters that they would be able to enroll in COBRA to extend health care coverage for 18 months, but then it turned out that the lame attorney who wrote up the severance letters was in error: no COBRA will be offered after all. Just one whiplash after another for this poor staff, who have worked so hard. To see the aristocratic, well-heeled Mrs. Cohn on TV, still towing the party line and defending the Campbell's, is making a LOT of people very angry. I wonder if the Cohn's will be contributing $1,000,000 of the $10,000,000 needed? And still, no report on that "Hostile Workplace Environment" legal matter--the staff is waiting!— April 1, 2014 1:23 p.m.
Opera board still looking for donors
One has to wonder about this board. Clearly, there has been mismanagement by the leadership. And after all that has come out, surely some major donors will hang back with commitments unless the Campbell's go. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again." This opera company desperately needs new leadership to take it forward--not the ones who were so ready to dump everything when it got "too difficult." I would willingly donate but not as long as the Campbell's are running the show. I suspect I'm not alone.— March 31, 2014 5:52 p.m.
Letter sent by San Diego Opera board members today
**It's well worth reading this article recently posted on KPBS:** http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/mar/31/opera-drama-… I'm sure that the powers that be at SDO are not happy with the investigative reporting of The Reader, Voice of San Diego, and KPBS. Even the U-T is more inquisitive than usual, although not nearly to the extent of the other journalists in town.— March 31, 2014 12:51 p.m.
Eleven opera board members demand information
KPBS has published a very comprehensive and well-researched piece today, that includes copies of the actual contracts of the Opera's two top staffers. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/mar/31/opera-drama-… I wonder if the rising community outrage and fury will have any impact on the SDO Board at their meeting today? And I wonder how long it will take to leak the meeting's results to the press? I'm sure that the leaks so far have been very distressing to those who wanted this situation whitewashed. Good for the education director Nic Reveles for speaking out and on the record. He has been a key contributor to the opera's success for a long time, and is clearly pained to see what has happened.— March 31, 2014 12:46 p.m.
Opera president denies ugliest rumors
Many people are grateful to you, Don, for pursuing this so doggedly. It truly may be too late, but if the group of disgruntled Board members are able to obtain the documentation they request--and they have a full right to do so--then they might see a different picture than that painted by the SDO leadership all these years. There is no question Ian Campbell is devoted to grand opera, and he has been prescient in finding young talent. But he SHOULD have had a managing director to rein him in. Having him control everything--and his wife (now ex-wife) in charge of all fundraising--was, in retrospect, a real recipe for disaster. I enjoy opera, but would have enjoyed seeing Man of La Mancha as much as I will enjoy Don Quixote. I nearly flew to Chicago just to see that magnificent performance of Oklahoma. And if you look at the Lyric's upcoming schedule, you see a great mix: https://www.lyricopera.org/subscriptions/index.as… -- including Carousel! That I like all music doesn't make me a philistine, just broad-minded! Why couldn't a re-constituted San Diego Opera follow that model?— March 29, 2014 11:12 p.m.
Letter sent by San Diego Opera board members today
Congratulations on getting to the bottom of this story! So much of what has been said by Ian Campbell and Karen Cohn seem laughably illogical or, more sinisterly, lies. Even if only 8 Board Members have the guts to demand the information they are owed, perhaps some of the other meek Board Members will have their eyes opened. The Board has a big fiduciary duty, and a duty to the community. I wonder if those who voted "yes" to close were showing their duty only to Ian Campbell?— March 29, 2014 10:57 p.m.
Opera president denies ugliest rumors
**Lies & Deception?** This entire story is positively operatic in its twists and turns. From the very start, the sudden announcement made no sense at all and in the vacuum of information, everyone starts speculating. Perhaps the Campbell's have spent the past 30 years in such total control of their hand-picked Board that they felt they could take this one last act--shutting down the Company rather than trying to save it--with no questions asked. The story of their contractual golden parachutes has been told far and wide; now that Mrs. Cohen has denied it, one wonders--are they backtracking in the eye of the storm? The Campbells have been so highly compensated that perhaps they forget what it's like to live on a $35,000 salary in San Diego. And that is why the staff is so furious, so wounded, and so scared. No job, no health insurance. Their separation papers promised COBRA, but a few days ago, COBRA was suddenly taken off the table. So in less than a month, all of those hardworking, mostly middle-class San Diegans are in desperate straits. I heard that the Opera bought both Mr. and Mrs. Campbell brand new and expensive cars just a few years ago--BOUGHT, not leased, to the tune of $100,000 total for both. What kind of craziness is that? No one begrudges them that perk but profit and nonprofit groups lease cars for execs, they don't buy them. And what happens to those cars now? Do the Campbell's get to keep them? It is those kinds of stories that are swirling around. And it doesn't appear that the media is doing much investigation. Don, you began your articles a few days ago by admitting that you are friends with the Campbells and have a long history with the opera, including as a donor. Do you really have the objectivity to report? I'm glad to read a bit more skepticism on your part now, but given how you have often eviscerated San Diego politicians and community leaders in other sectors, I have found it troubling to see you as a bit of an "apologist" for what might be real nonprofit malfeasance. The real tragedy, besides what has happened to the opera staff, is that all the music lovers in San Diego will be robbed of something that gives them great joy and solace. Ian Campbell probably should have retired a few years ago, and Ann Campbell too. They should have let new blood take over. Perhaps they are both just way too tired, too ossified in their ways, and probably a little resentful that all their hard work is not being properly appreciated now that it's all unraveling. What a mess. Operatic!!!— March 28, 2014 10:07 a.m.