It’s been seven months since Pacific Grove handed operations of its Museum of Natural History to the new Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove. Now, the foundation is poised to absorb two related entities: the Museum Association, which has supported the PGMNH for 43 years, and the city’s Museum Advisory Board.

In early January, the association asked its 664 active members to vote on whether to shift the nonprofit’s membership and money to the Foundation. Ballots are due by Feb. 12.

Meanwhile, City Manager Thomas Frutchey has recommended dissolving the MAB – a move that would be subject to a public vote. “We don’t want two different boards with divided responsibilities confusing the public,” he says. “We should allow the foundation board to be the primary contact for the community in all things related to the museum.”

Foundation Board President Jason Burnett has offered to maintain community dialogue through twice-annual town hall meetings, an interactive website and public surveys.

But the changes don’t sit well with Sharon Blaziek, who’s on the association and museum advisory boards. With both gone, she says, there’d be no oversight of the foundation, which she feels already lacks transparency.

“I’m not saying they’d do anything wrong – already they’ve done some fantastic things,” she says. “But there has to be checks and balances.”

The P.G. City Council reviewed the foundation’s progress Feb. 3. Though Frutchey says minor changes may be needed, he stands by the public-private partnership that took much of the museum’s financial weight off the city’s shoulders.

“If it weren’t for the partnership and the foundation stepping forward,” he says, “the museum would probably be closed at this point.”