At a meeting held earlier this month, the San Clemente City Council voted in favor of postponing planned discussions over whether to make a donation.
The recipient of the would-be donation is a historical foundation related to the Marine Corps. The board decided to postpone discussions over whether to make the donation and how much to donate until they begin the process of making the budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
The foundation is called the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation. Its goal is to bring a museum that celebrates the former MCAS known as El Toro back to the Great Park in Irvine. Banner printing is commonly used for museum exhibits.
The project is being led by Brigadier General Michael Aguilar, who presented the project to the city council in November. According to Aguilar, the foundation was able to meet its initial fundraising target of $5m. Since then, it has contacted several organizations and cities with the goal of reaching $10m.
The city council was presented with several options. It could donate an unspecified amount taken from the contingency fund or the unassigned fund balance in the General Fund, or wait for the budgeting process to begin and see how much they can afford to donate. Sean Joyce, the city manager, felt it would be a better idea to review the proposal from the context of the budget. Councilmember Gene James concurred, saying that they should wait until the project is officially underway.
