Lost faith in board

I have lost faith in the Spokane Symphony board. They had many of their donors in one room for the Symphony Gala and instead of telling us that there was no money to pay the musicians, they asked us to donate to the building. We had no idea that they were asking the musicians to take a 13 percent pay cut.

No matter how you spin the language with “work not performed,” it is still a 13 percent pay cut. We would have given and possibly more than we did for the building. I believe the musicians are the most …

I have lost faith in the Spokane Symphony board. They had many of their donors in one room for the Symphony Gala and instead of telling us that there was no money to pay the musicians, they asked us to donate to the building. We had no idea that they were asking the musicians to take a 13 percent pay cut.

No matter how you spin the language with “work not performed,” it is still a 13 percent pay cut. We would have given and possibly more than we did for the building. I believe the musicians are the most important assets we have in Spokane. To lose even one of the core musicians is a loss to Spokane. Where is the symphony board’s concern for their musicians and the community?

Still, the symphony negotiators have not come to the donors; many of us would still give, but we also would like to see the board do things to bring in more listeners. Why not sell any tickets not sold 30 minutes before a concert to students for the price of a movie ticket? Fill the seats! Let’s work to find a way to keep the musicians’ salaries and the musicians.

Lisa McDaniel

Spokane