Council narrowly OKs moving forward with one-year MACC funding agreement

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) Executive Director Kristine Kienzle stands before the city council on Monday evening to request funding for the facility. The council voted 4-3 to move forward with a one-year, $125,000 agreement.
Almost a year after a similar debate played out inside city hall and resulted in the narrow rejection of a $100,000 funding request for the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC), the facility’s executive director Kristine Kienzle came before the council during Monday night’s special budget meeting and presented a new request. This time, the council voted 4-3 to proceed with a one-year, $125,000 funding agreement out of the council-designated Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) fund, but not before hearing from several commenters both for and against the proposal.
Last February, the council initially voted 4-3 in favor of the funding request, but when it came back in the form of a formal resolution the following month, Fourth Ward Councilor Al Hoop switched his vote and opposed it. He subsequently died on March 20.
As Kienzle stepped forward, she laid out the primary goals for the MACC under the proposed agreement: being a cornerstone for community growth, providing free space for nonprofits, schools and veterans organizations during business hours, cultural events and educational workshops promoting diversity and inclusion and enhancing civic pride, promoting tourism and enriching the cultural and economic vitality through the completion of the Martha-Ellen Tye Playhouse renovations in 2025.
She promised to provide semi-annual reports to the council and diversify the MACC’s revenue sources by the end of the three-year agreement she originally requested. As she opened up the conversation for questions, Councilor Greg Nichols asked how many nonprofits have been able to use the MACC in recent months, and Mark Mitchell expressed confusion about a lack of available funding for the Homelessness Task Force when the council was able to find money for the Arts+Culture Alliance and now the MACC.
“Now you’re coming back and wanting us to guarantee for three years. I don’t know anybody here who has a crystal ball to see if we can afford that. So I’m gonna have to vote no,” he said.
Conversely, Councilor Jeff Schneider, communicating remotely, said the city “needed” to support the MACC because of all of the things Marshalltown residents lament not having any longer.
“This is our opportunity to not lose the MACC, not lose the wonderful, world class art museum there. The Linn Creek District project, it’s part of our whole effort for that. We need that theater project to succeed. The MACC needs a runway, and I think we should offer that,” he said.
Citing the news of Marshalltown losing the state swimming meet earlier in the day, Councilor Barry Kell stressed the need for the community to invest in itself.
“This is a great opportunity for us to honor the history and the legacy of Marshalltown, its founders, this great gift we’ve been given. It helps ensure its longer term success or viability, and it’s something no one else has. This is uniquely Marshalltown, just as we thought the baseball tournament, just as we thought the girls state swim meet was just Marshalltown,” he said. “I supported it the first time, and I support it again here.”
Councilor Melisa Fonseca asked about the plans to achieve the “ambitious” goals laid out in the agreement, how the MACC has sustained itself without city funding for the last year after previously benefiting from a standalone voter approved levy before the passage of House File 718 consolidated them into the city’s general fund, and how it would be used to benefit historically marginalized groups of residents.
Councilor Gary Thompson said he wished Kienzle “all the luck in the world” but couldn’t vote for the proposal because he felt the MACC’s offerings would be in direct competition with two city-owned buildings — the Marshalltown Public Library and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He suggested the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation as a more logical choice to fund the MACC.
Kienzle responded that she didn’t view it as a competition, but rather an enhancement.
Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff shared that he had been impressed with the new direction of the MACC’s programming under Kienzle’s leadership and planned to support the request, though he ultimately motioned to fund it for one year as opposed to the originally proposed three years.
With a motion and a second on the table, Mayor Joel Greer opened up the floor for public comments, and Jim Shaw, who came forward first, wondered how the council could be considering the request with some of the proposed budget cuts on the table they had previously discussed, and he also cited the fact that the Third Ward polling location was moved from the MACC to Our Savior Lutheran Church last year after the funding request was denied when the MACC demanded a much higher rent to use the space.
Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall, who sits on the MACC board of directors, said they could use PlacerAI to help track the use of the facility, and he felt that providing a “runway” for the MACC could pave the way for the MET Foundation to support it in the future. He suggested compromising and funding the facility for two years to help Kienzle get her feet under her and lay the groundwork for future success.
Lonnie Hogeland praised the council for being “rockstars” and taking a serious look at the budget, but also suggested giving money to the little league fields.
“You’re trying to figure out what you should fund and what you shouldn’t fund, and I am proud of every one of you guys. I can’t tell you because I can’t speak to each one of you, but you’re doing good,” he said.
Leigh Bauder echoed Hogeland’s praises but, like Mitchell, wondered how the council could declare that they don’t have money for the Homelessness Task Force while granting this funding request. She suggested making the MACC a warming center and several potential fundraising opportunities including a “food tour.”
“I’m going to urge council to say no on MACC funding with taxpayer but yes, a resounding yes, on willing(ness) to help with fundraising ideas, making it happen, so this is truly a win for all of us,” she said.
Cynthia Ragland, a fellow MACC board member, said the denial of funding last year gave the facility’s leadership a chance to reassess goals for the future, and she also praised Kienzle for her efforts since taking over the job while echoing the call for a “runway” to help her get off the ground.
Mark Eaton noted the large endowments of organizations like the Martha-Ellen Tye Foundation and how much they are required to give away annually.
“I know they’ve invested heavily in the facility. What I’m trying to figure out is why they always hold their money until they get taxpayer money squeezed out of us. Why don’t they just invest?” he asked. “They can cover this.”
The foundation funded the now-defunct nonprofit organization Vision Marshalltown for five years at $150,000 per year, Eaton added, He also described the struggle Hoop faced in eventually voting down MACC funding last year and speculated that it may have been what killed him.
“There’s no reason that we need to fund this. We just argued about furloughing staff. This is ridiculous priorities. I don’t know why we’re fighting about it because we have smart influencers that sit on the board and donate money to the community,” Eaton said. “And they know that we can do it without the taxpayer money, but why spend our money if we can spend yours? So I’m not for funding this, and that’s why I’m here.”
Linda Clark offered her opposition and said the taxpayers were “not a nonprofit” and wouldn’t be able to use the MACC anyway. Doris Kinnick said she was “torn” because of the price tag, but she loved the Martha-Ellen Tye Playhouse and hoped to see it back up and running. She also supported the call to use the MACC as a warming center.
Maria Gonzalez highlighted her volunteer work in the community and said the MACC has been a valuable resource for various local nonprofits and the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) but also a beautiful wedding venue. She made the case that the Homelessness Task Force and the MACC are “two different entities,” and she didn’t see any reason why both couldn’t be supported.
Carrie Barr said she took the MACC for granted as she had assumed it would always be around, recalling many positive experiences from her childhood and adulthood using the facility.
“It’s always a struggle between the haves and the have nots. It’s really hard to say no to needy places, but on the other hand, within a full community, you have your needy, but you have to have the arts and the culture and the future,” she said. “We need to think about the future. We love our kids. We love them learning. We don’t want them homeless, but it takes special things at every level for that.”
Barr’s husband Paul then came forward and offered his support for the request, utilizing the cliches “it takes money to make money” and “you can’t cut your way to prosperity.” From there, Councilor Melisa Fonseca motioned for an amendment to require quarterly reports on the measurables as opposed to semi-annual, and that amendment passed by a 4-3 tally with Schneider, Mitchell and Thompson opposed.
The amended motion for a one-year agreement then passed by a 4-3 tally, with Fonseca, Schneider, Kell and Ladehoff in favor and Thompson, Nichols and Mitchell opposed.