While Allen County Commissioners were “instructing” Mandy Moyer on how to do her job as executive director of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, what became clear Tuesday morning is that advice comes easy.
For the better part of two hours the commissioners advised Moyer on how she could make up the difference of their $50,000 reduction to her 2026-27 budget by doing everything short of setting up a lemonade stand.
More fundraisers, they suggested, as well as going hat in hand to the Moran and Humboldt school districts, the community college, and asking more from Iola’s schools and the City of Iola.
The county, its commissioners contended, was carrying an undue share of the burden.
Yes, the 1 mill in funding, which brought in almost $200,000 last year, is generous. But it’s provided by a lot of people and covers a lot of bases, saving the schools from looking for money they don’t have.
And, not to make light of the county’s needs, that 1 mill is less than 1 percent — 0.8 percent, to be exact — of the county’s $25 million annual budget.
Also of concern is the commissioners’ decision to stop dedicating the single mill, which fluctuates according to how well the county is doing as a whole, and instead give the Bowlus a set dollar amount, meaning that as inflation rises Moyer will have to fight harder and harder for the Bowlus’s share of the pie.
The commissioners defended the change, saying we’re all having to tighten our belts these days and pointed to some deferred purchases by department heads.
Moyer nodded her head in acknowledgment.
But what she didn’t say is that when she accepted the position as executive director of the Bowlus in January 2025, she asked that her salary be less than what the previous director, Daniel Kays, had received so that others would have more.
There’s a difference between deferring purchases and volunteering to take a pay cut so others can have more.
It’s that public spirit that is so commendable.
And it’s in that spirit that Mr. Thomas Bowlus left the bulk of his estate to create the fine arts center more than 60 years ago.
These days it’s so easy to look for what we can cut, rather than what we can build, negligent in our consideration of the possible consequences.
When prospective businesses come to town, the Bowlus is a must-see under the “quality of life” category, which is every bit as important to their employees as a town’s schools, healthcare and recreational facilities.
Time and again, outsiders tell us how lucky Allen County is to have such a venue. We know from restaurants, motels and retailers that with every performance at the Bowlus is an uptick in their sales.
