The Santa Fe 400th Anniversary Committee released its 2009 annual report today. Tomorrow's headline will doubtless focus on the non-profit organization's dismal financials, buried toward the end of the 29-page report.Those numbers show that the non-profit organization has succeed in raising a mere $57,000 from private sources—or 3.6 percent of its budget. Most of the 400th funds—$1.3 million—have come from government. The largest single expense—$574,000—has been for "contract services," which SFR detailed some months ago here.
For all that public investment, the 400th Committee claims to have created "nearly $700,000" in "TOTAL IMPACT" for local businesses, including advertising in local newspapers, "floral arrangements" from Artichokes and Pomegranates and "replacement carpet for office" (the 400th's landlord is Gerald Peters, in the form of Southwest Asset Management) from Discount Carpet. The "TOTAL IMPACT" also includes "hiring/payroll of temporary staff " via the Marcia Owen Employment Agency and "legal advice" from Montgomery and Andrews, a "politically active" Santa Fe law firm.
Paltry impact aside, there's another issue with the annual report: It feels like a rush job by a Santa Fe High student with a chronic case of senioritis.
Look at all the creative ways they stretched a 6,000-word report across 29 pages, creating a document just thick enough to feel substantial.
There are lots of pictures, like this one:
(The responsible parties)
There are pages upon pages taken up with lists that could've fit into a paragraph, or simply been crammed into an appendix:
There are lengthy, flowery quotes from The New York Times thrown in for no apparent reason:
And there are several pages filled with screengrabs of Santa Fe City Councilors' biographies, taken from the city's website:
Why? Maybe an attempt to shift some attention back to the people who approved the expense of public money for this "great success," to borrow the words of His Royal Highness, The Prince of Asturias, who visited Santa Fe last year. Remember that?
Read the full report by downloading this PDF file. We promise—it'll only take a few minutes of your time.
