Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The director of UNLV's Performing Arts Center may be on his way out.
Rick Romito, who has been with the center for 18 years and has served as director for nine years, was placed on administrative leave Monday, pending the outcome of a show-cause hearing and an audit of the center's books.
Romito said he didn't see the administrative action coming, adding, "I haven't been told the cause for my being placed on leave. The hearing is to show cause why I should be put on leave."
UNLV Provost Doug Ferraro would not comment specifically on the reason Romito has been placed on leave, claiming the situation was "a personnel manner that will be dealt with at the hearing."
But Romito said he was told Monday by Ferraro that his new supervisor, Jeffrey Koep, dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, was displeased.
"It was made clear that my supervisor was not happy with my job performance," Romito said.
Koep was unavailable for comment this morning.
Even though Romito said he hasn't been given a specific reason for the action, some believe the move is in response to the poor ticket sales the Performing Arts Center has posted this season.
The center took a bath on the December Boston Pops Orchestra concert, losing $150,000 on the event.
"We planned to make money on the Boston Pops," Romito said. "It was to be the large subsidizer for the rest of the season."
Romito explained that balancing out the more than $1 million Performing Arts Center yearly budget is a "risky business."
Acts are booked a year, sometimes two years in advance, and some events are booked with the knowledge that they will not make money, he said. Those are the ones that Romito said are booked simply because "we believe outright they should be presented."
Projected money-making events, like what he thought the Boston Pops concert would be, are booked to make up for the ones that aren't profitable, he said.
But Romito doesn't feel he should take all the blame for poor box office receipts.
"It's been a very weak year for ticket sales for literally all the arts organizations," Romito said.
He speculated that the "sheer quantity" of affordable entertainment options available in the city -- shows at Strip hotels and the hotels as entertainment attractions themselves -- have had a measurable effect on not only his, but other arts organizations' profit margins.
Ferraro said an internal audit of the Performing Arts Center's books will be conducted, which he said was "basically standard practice when there are concerns."
But Ferraro also said it would be "a mistake to infer" that the audit indicated a problem. "The audit was part of placing him on leave."
Before the university's reorganization last August, the Performing Arts Center was autonomous and Romito reported directly to the provost.
After the reorganization, the center became part of the College of Fine and Performing Arts. Koep had been interim dean of the college and was named dean several weeks ago. His first day as dean was Monday.
Inquiries about the situation made to Performing Arts Center employees, many of whom have worked for Romito for many years, were referred to Koep.
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