Kennedy Center Trustee Rebukes Whitehouse Over 5 Ignored Meeting Invites as Mismanagement Feud Deepens
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Kennedy Center Trustee Rebukes Whitehouse Over 5 Ignored Meeting Invites as Mismanagement Feud Deepens
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Summary
Brian Ballard, a Kennedy Center trustee, accused Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of ignoring repeated invitations for an in-person meeting while continuing to allege mismanagement in public letters.
Ballard said current leadership has given the board a transparent account of decades of deferred maintenance and argued major repairs cannot be done safely or efficiently while the building remains fully open.
He also disputed Whitehouse's claims that the Audit and Finance Committee was not meeting and that suspended guided tours exposed recent mismanagement, saying tours paused only five days during a route review and sprinkler work.
Whitehouse had warned Monday that a repair closure could be a pretext to hide collapsing bookings, attendance and revenue, and raised the prospect of counsel review, court supervision or receivership if no revival plan emerges.
The clash follows a federal appeals court ruling that allowed workers to begin removing Trump's name from the center after a judge in May blocked both the renaming and a planned two-year shutdown.