GUSTINE - The Al Goman Community Center appears to be waning in popularity with renters, leading city officials to take a closer look at building operations.

Rental revenues at the hall have fallen sharply in recent years, City Manager Margaret Silveira said.

The community building was bringing in more than $20,000 a year in revenues just four years ago, but officials are projecting just $11,000 in rentals during the current fiscal year.

The city’s operating costs run nearly $28,000 a year.

“Four years ago we were close to breaking even,” Silveira noted. “It seems to have lost quite a bit of use since then. We’re going to be doing some research to compare our costs and policies with those of other venues. We will see if we need to bring that back to council to reconsider the policies.”

Two other halls are available for rent in Gustine, the Veterans Memorial Hall and the Gustine Pentecost Society Hall, council members noted in their discussion of the issue.

“The GPS seems to be renting their hall a lot,” Mayor Rich Ford pointed out. “Their hall rental isn’t less than the Goman Center, but it is close and their hall is larger.”

Silveira said she is not sure if the declining rentals are due to economic conditions, competition with other venues or other factors.

The city has tried to keep the hall attractive to users, she added.

“We have done some improvements, but there are more things that we would like to do. But if the rentals are down and the funding is reduced, it makes it difficult to make those other improvements,” Silveira remarked.

With the city mired in its own budget crisis, local leaders do not want to see the center become a further drain on already-limited finances.

“That is a general fund account if we don’t have the rentals in there to offset the cost,” the city manager explained. “It is not the intention of the center to generate revenue, because it is a venue we provide to the community, but our hope would be to get it close to breaking even.”

Council members discussed the building use at their Jan. 19 meeting.

Student representative

In other action at that meeting, the council endorsed a proposal to create a junior, non-voting council member position which would be filled by a Gustine High student.

“I think it is important to get youth involved in local government,” commented council member Pat Nagy, who proposed the idea.

Silveira agreed.

“It is important for the council to hear the youth viewpoint on issues that come up. They are a large segment of our population, and it is important that they have a say,” she commented. “It is also a great opportunity for students to learn about local government and learn how they can make a difference.”

Youth involvement in local government could also take the form of job-shadowing days for interested students.

The junior member will be appointed by the high school.