It's the second time this month the Grand Jury has slammed city leadership for poorly thought-out financial decisions -- first at Granite Park and now the Met.
The museum sits empty as a giant reminder of Fresno's $15-million failure. It closed in January, 2 1/2 years after the city's big loan made sure it could reopen as the centerpiece of the downtown cultural arts district.
"If this had worked out, we would've been the heroes," said Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd. "Unfortunately, it didn't and now we have what we have."
The Grand Jury report says the city never should've tried to rescue the Met. It says the city didn't deliberate whether it was worth the $15-million risk to get the Met reopened just six months earlier than otherwise possible.
There was no business plan, no appraisal on the property -- which appraised last year at $10.5 million -- and no investigation into why the project was already 100% over budget by the time the city came to the rescue.
It blames former Mayor Alan Autry, the city council, and the city manager's office for the lack of oversight. But some council members and the assistant city manager say the museum's board of directors also deserves some of the blame.
"They led a lot of people to believe that they had the financing in place, it would just be a matter of months and unfortunately with the economy, we saw a significant downturn in the economy," said Rudd. "It was a perfect storm."
Council member Lee Brand wasn't on the council that unanimously approved the loan, but he's dealing with the drag on the city's budget today.
He created the Better Business Act, which makes sure the city doesn't invest in a project without heavy scrutiny, even a very popular project like the Met.
"When you're making financial decisions with taxpayer money, you have to take the emotions out," he said. "It's got to be strictly a business decision."
The Grand Jury report and the assistant city manager were critical of the Better Business Act, saying it's too confining.
Rudd said the city might not have been able to help keep alive the Chaffee Zoo and Playland/Storyland with those restrictions.
But Brand said the city has usually failed when it bailed out private enterprises. "Hopefully we've learned our lesson here," he said. "Fresno has a legacy of mistakes in public-private ventures and I think the people are fed up with it."
The Grand Jury is still looking for a little more transparency. It's requested responses to its report from the current mayor and city council, as well as former city manager Andy Souza.
Those responses are due in two months.
