ACTION:
____________________________
Clerk/Secretary
Department: Recreation & Community Services Item No: C13 Prepared by: Sydney Roff, Management Analyst Meeting Date: August 11, 2026 Approved by:
Margaret Hamer, Director
John Conley, City Manager Agenda Location: Consent Calendar S
UBJECT: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH MOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION RE
COMMENDATION: Adopt City Council Resolution No. 2026- , approving a memorandum of understanding with the Moonlight Cultural Foundation.
CO
RRELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS: Parks and Recreation.
P
RIOR ACTION: On September 13, 2022, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2022-136, adopting the first amendment to the agreement between the City of Vista and the Moonlight Cultural Foundation (Vote: 5-0).
S
TATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: The Cultural Arts Division of the Recreation & Community Services Department is responsible for performing arts programming at the Moonlight Amphitheatre, which annually includes five Broadway-style musical productions and nearly a dozen concert performances.
Th
e Moonlight Cultural Foundation (originally the Vista Foundation) formed in 1974 to raise funds for the construction of the Moonlight Amphitheatre. Renamed in 1981, the Moonlight Cultural Foundation (“MCF”) has provided philanthropic support to enhance and sustain the City’s performing arts programs at the amphitheatre. Because revenue from programming and facility rentals does not exceed expenditures, MCF’s contributions to the City are vital to maintaining a balanced Cultural Arts budget that requires no more than a $200,000 annual subsidy from the General Fund.
The Cit
y’s current agreement with Moonlight Cultural Foundation was executed on December 15, 2015.
Given operations have naturally evolved in the last 11 years, staff have determined the 2015 agreement has become outdated and a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) is needed to (a) state the purpose of MCF as a nonprofit fundraising entity, (b) establish the City’s and MCF’s operational roles, and (c) effectively and collaboratively maximize each entity’s facilities , resources, and available spaces. The proposed memorandum of understanding is enclosed as Exhibit 2, and key terms are detailed below:
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ection 3 states that MCF’s primary service to the City is to raise and provide annual funds for programming at the Moonlight Amphitheatre. After MCF has raised sufficient funds to cover its annual operating expenses and maintain its required minimum cash balance, MCF shall remit to the c
ity 70% of all additional funds raised (“minimum contribution”). • S
ection 2 states the MOU shall be in effect until December 31, 2026. The term may be extended for one year on January 1 of each successive year the MOU is in effect so long as the City has received AGENDA
REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
SUCCESSOR AGENCY
BUENA SANITATION DISTRICT
JOINT POWERS FINANCING AUTHORITY
Approved above recommendation, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2026-130. Vote: 5-0