Sadly, the Historical Society is currently involved in a dispute with Alpine County over management of the Museum.
What’s the Beef About?
In short, the County wants to wash its hands of its legal duties under a written contract it signed with the Historical Society in 1990. Under that 1990 Agreement, the County and the Historical Society have shared operation of the Museum for more than 30 years: the Society owned and cared for the artifacts, while the County maintained the buildings and grounds, and provided part-time employees to keep the doors open to the public and run the Museum store.
Now, the County is insisting that the Society agree to replace the 1990 Agreement with one of two options: either the County operates the Museum completely (the Society would still technically “own” but would not control the artifacts); or the Society takes over Museum operations, including hiring its own employees, while the County only maintains the building and exterior grounds. The Historical Society does not agree, and contends that the 1990 Agreement can only be altered by mutual agreement.
What’s Wrong with the County’s Proposals?
They’re simply not realistic. The Historical Society is not a business. We’re an all-volunteer, non-profit community service organization, pure and simple. We don’t have the resources, the expertise, the time, the money, or the necessary volunteers to run the museum ourselves or to hire and manage employees.
The Historical Society built the Museum buildings, beginning in 1970. We also added large additions to the Museum complex over time, including a new wing of the building and the Carriage Shed. Volunteers moved the Old Jail building, the stamp mill, and the large, brick Basque Oven to the site. We also completely restored and refurbished the Old School (built in 1883) through volunteer labor and donations. This is not like other counties, where the County “gave” a building to the organization to serve as a Museum. Here, the Historically Society literally built it. Since 1987, the County has provided paid staff to keep the doors open to the public. And the 1990 Agreement has been in place for over 30 years. The Society has made big improvements to the grounds, in reliance on the Agreement remaining in place. It’s simply unfair to allow the County to back out now.
The County contends that “other counties do it differently” and that other counties give less money to their museums. That’s undoubtedly true. But Alpine County is not in similar circumstances. Alpine is the smallest county by population of 58 counties in California. We are tiny. We are not like Douglas County, NV or Amador County, CA where thousands of people live, and volunteers can be found to sit at the front desk for 2-4 hours at a time on a regular basis. Here in Alpine, people typically volunteer for short projects, like flower-planting. Getting folks to volunteer REGULARLY to keep the doors of the Museum open to visitors simply isn’t going to happen. Which is exactly why the 1990 Agreement was written the way it was, requiring the County to provide staff.
By the way, other counties charge an entrance fee. Amador charges $5 a head, for example. Our museum does not, because we have found that when we try to charge, people don’t come in the door. They just walk around the grounds. So we operate on strictly a donation basis.
But Couldn’t You Hire People?
That’s what some folks have blithely suggested. But hiring staff would mean the Historical Society would become an employer, with all the attendant responsibilities, duties and liabilities: W2s, withholding, payroll, insurance, reports to the state, and on and on. Sure, a bookkeeper could help with some of those tasks, for a fee. But bookkeeping isn’t the only issue. Employer responsibilities embrace far more than that. This tiny, all-volunteer Society would have to recruit, hire, train, and manage those employees. Those are duties it’s impossible for a small non-profit community service group to realistically shoulder. That’s exactly why the 1990 Agreement was written the way it was, with the County (which already has the necessary infrastructure in place) employing the part-time, seasonal staff.
Like we said, Alpine is tiny. The Society has a tiny core group of active volunteers. We’re all retired, and we already handle a great many tasks — from artifact care and accessioning, to creating and sending out newsletters, locating speakers, keeping up the membership list and other duties. Our volunteers are busy now — even more so, now that the County’s breach of the written 1990 Agreement has forced us into dealing with lawyers. It’s simply not practical for us to add the duties of becoming an employer on top of everything else.
So, What’s the Solution?
It isn’t rocket science. The County already has a binding written contract with the Society (the 1990 Agreement) that obligates it to provide staff. That was the original agreement. It has worked for over 30 years.
Honor that agreement, and transfer management of County staff to Community Development, which currently handles county buildings and grounds, which would be a better fit. We would be happy to work with the County to clarify any issues with job descriptions so there is no dispute over who does what, going forward.
That is fair, it’s reasonable, and we believe would quickly end the current dispute.
Thank You for Caring About the Museum!
It was dedicated, determined Historical Society volunteers who brought the Museum into being in the first place, and it remains dedicated, determined volunteers today who keep local history alive and the Museum functioning. The Historical Society and its committed volunteers should be appreciated, and supported. The County must honor its long-term contractual agreement if the Alpine Museum is to continue its 50-year history of welcoming the public.