Professor Elam

Sunday April 11, 2010

It is near impossible to stop a bad idea cloaked in good intentions

Professor Elam

Mary Anglin reports on the current state of Museo Alameda in her column today. Is is, alas, even worse than she feared. Perhaps Mary should have been tracking our coverage of this non profit. We started reporting last November, apparently the museum was completely broke, having run through the money the Ford Foundation provided. We are big museum fans, and San Antonio has many of them, which was our point originally. 

Many of our college grads here at Texas A & M San Antonio will be asked to sit on some non profit board at some time in their careers. We urge you to read the financial statements and projections carefully. Here is the short list of questions about new proposals. 

Is this proposal being done somewhere else already (hint, most are, and yes see Texas Institute of Cultures).

Is this proposal a totally new approach or does it have  a different expected outcome?

If the answer to the above is yes someone else is doing this, would it be better to assist them or go it alone. (The multiple chambers of commerce that have blossomed in many cities would do well to ask this question.)

Are the outcome expectations realistic?  In the case of Museo Alameda, 400,000 viewers, the first year,  were expected to tour a museum devoted solely to Latin culture. There was already a museum of Texas culture, doing well, in San Antonio.

Are there written outcome measures at specified times to monitor progress?  If the outcomes fall short, will there be sufficient remedy and original thinking to save or alter the project?  Such outcomes should also include rigorous budget requirements and safeguards against spending grant money in unauthorized fashion. 

Are there indications that the proposed location will be among other successful ventures?  In this case, Market Square, a struggling City Sponsored project was chosen. Rarely do multiple weak projects combine to make one strong one, think Chrysler. 

At what point is this project a no go?  It is near impossible to get a Board to address this question. Most will gush at new project possibilities, yet the world is awash in failed projects lacking realistic vision even with great funding (Amtrak and the Post Office come to mind)

In the case of the Museo, the City has asked for a realistic plan. Yet this plan will be drawn up by the project's backers that have yet to have a successful year. The project should be evaluated by an outsider, particularly one that understands sunk costs…..