.Paramount Board Member Defends Theater

Two weeks ago, we questioned the qualifications of Paramount Theatre board member Lorenzo Hoopes. Hoopes became the subject of much criticism lately when he came up for reappointment because he was a major contributor to anti-gay-marriage initiative, Proposition 8. Yet there are other questions as to whether the 96-year-old Hoopes — and other longtime board members, for that matter — have sufficiently maximized the theater’s capabilities or thoroughly understood the industry in which it operates. Now, fellow Paramount board member Clinton Killian is speaking up in defense of the theater’s operators in a recent op-ed piece published by the Oakbook. Though Killian, an attorney in Oakland, doesn’t specifically address the issue of Hoopes’ qualifications (except to say that he helped raise funds to restore the Paramount several decades ago), he defends the fact that the Paramount has never acted as a promoter because of the “huge risks” involved. He also counters the assertion that the theater is an under-used asset and says it’s “the 23rd most active performance theater in the country.”

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