As reported today by the Brownsville Herald in their article "To pay or not to pay; City gives residents option on $2 fee":
"City commissioners in a unanimous vote on Tuesday approved a new ordinance that will give some 44,000 PUB customers a choice to pay the fee. The original ordinance was amended by Commissioner Anthony P. Troiani to give customers the choice to pay the $2. It also requires that those recipients of the money from the fine arts sector apply for grants to fund their projects. There will also be periodic audits to ensure the money is being spent properly. "
At the July 31st meeting, Commissioner Troiani also recommended the creation of an Office of Cultural Affairs that would oversee the distribution of funds to the local arts sector, through which all local arts entities may be able to present proposals to apply for funds, rather than the funds only going to the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art and the Camille Playhouse as proposed in the original ordinance.
So our question is TAOB readers, what are your thoughts on this recent amendment to the ordinance where the fee is optional and for the potential creation of an Office of Cultural Affairs? Do you think it will create obstacles for the local art community as Mayor Pat Ahumada suggested or will it create opportunities?
To see online video coverage of the City Commission meeting visit the Cafe Brownsville blog post. To see the agenda and eventually posted minutes of the Commission meeting visit the City of Brownsville Commission webpage.
***** UPDATE 8/5/2007 ******
As reported by the Herald in their 8/3/2007 article "Changes to commission meeting agenda puts actions in question", the legality of the passing of the $2 PUB fee ordinance is in question and that the proposal will be considered again at this Tuesday's meeting (August 7th). In attendance at last week's meeting, I was happy to see representatives and advocates for the local arts. However, I still think that there is a need for more representation and advocacy from members of our art community and that more people need to practice civic engagement and be aware of what's going on. If you want to see a difference, then make a difference! Get involved and represent! So here's another opportunity for your voice to be heard or just to see arts advocacy in action! The Tuesday, August 7th meeting will be held at 6pm at City Hall (the former federal courthouse in downtown Elizabeth street across the Majestic Mall.) To see the agenda for the meeting, visit the City Commission page.
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3 comments:
I was glad to see that it will be an option as oppossed to a requirement. What I still can't understand is why these issues had to be addressed as a bundle. You either supported the same source of funding for all or for none. I hated that the average citizen was backed into this corner by a rushed plan and had to hear over and over from various public speakers and the mayor that if you didn't support the $2 you must not care about others dying for lack of a timely ambulance. None of the commissioners ever suggested separating these issues and looking at funding choices individually. It boggles the mind. As for an Office of Cultural Affairs, I'm not sure that would be wise. This means office space and salaried personnel will be needed. As with all beauracracies, there is the potential of a lot of administrative waste of money that could go directly to the arts. I think for a city our size a better option to at least consider first is an Arts and Culture Board, made up of citizens not employed by any of the institutions that might seek funding but have an interest in this aspect of the community. They would be appointed by the city commission, along with one city commissioner.
Now that this specific source of required funding has been voted down for good (or so we think), I think those who oppossed it might be more likely to want to help find solutions for these problems. We're a little bit sore and a little bit bruised from almost being strong-armed into a hastily put together plan but now we should cool our heads and try to brainstorm together.
Patricia A.
I want so say I am pleased to see that the $2 increase is now an option. I am sure that PUB customers will come through and gladly accept the increase by choice.I also feel that contributing PUB customers should receive monthly updates, a news letter of some kind from the BMFA and Camile that details the use of these extra fees,as a thanks for the support. The news letter will help establish a stronger relation ship with the public perhaps even generate more support and attendance. The news letter can also be a source of update for upcoming events. Its a win win solution. My question is now , as the city of Brownsville continues to grow, what is the projected PUB growth in customers in the next 10 years or 20 years, will 44k become 88k and so on? Will funds to these great organizations continue to increase aswell or for how long ? Can it be sufficient to benefit the whole arts and cultural community. I hope to see in the near future BMFA, Camile Playhouse, board meetings become more open to the public meetings, so that the supporting public is aware of what funding is going to. This will also give a chance for other Arts and Cultural organizations step in and voice the derection the arts community should take and inspire more great ideas for the benefit of Brownsville. The way it looks like is that there will not be another chance for any other arts organization to ask the local public for more funding support. I think anyone can say or will say if you need funding get it from here. The amended office of cultural affairs will become crucial at this point.. That can be an office in the BMFA or Camile which in return can continue to be funds that benefits them and other Arts and Cultural Organizations of Brownsville. In order to see a sense of unity of some kind a leader is needed to be established. But truly what is needed and I strongly recommend the BMFA and Camile to open its doors to the public and the whole art cummunity for the future of the Art of Brownsville will depend on these decisions we are face with today.
gabriel trevino
By reading the commentaries section in the Herald and having attended the city commission meeting this past Tuesday, I am just dumbfounded by how people have taken this whole $2 fee into a black and white issue. If you support the Fine Arts or you don't. If you support the BMFA and Camile or you don't. Arts advocates, can't you see that no matter how this plays out, it's reflecting the arts community AS A WHOLE and not just one side or the other.
To me when it comes to obtaining funds from tax payers or from PUB customers, then the issue is pretty obvious: accountability.
I think the creation of An Office of Cultural Affairs is a fantastic idea because it will help establish an infrastructure of support and accountability. The Office can also be instrumental in representing the whole Brownsville arts community to outside markets and sources of funding that don't necessarily have to come from local tax payers or imposing new taxes or fees; it can help promote the local arts as a tourist attraction and can perform an economic impact study of the arts on the Brownsville economy!
The local arts sector is growing with the various activities of our local NPO arts entities, educational institutions, businesses and grassroots initiatives. To those involved, it may seem that all this hard work has been years in the making, but to our audience, our market, our Brownsville residents, it's all new and the spotlight is upon us. This is what I mean when I say we are in this as a whole, as ONE community. So do we want to be seen in a good light or a bad light?
With this in mind, I think it is vital that the Brownsville community at large see the local arts community as an active, organized, accountable and do I hope to say united force? With this in mind, I think laying a strong foundation with an infrastructure of accountability supported by an Office of Cultural Affairs will empower our local arts entities to organize and put well planned and researched strategic planning into action. If anything, it will help put the local art community in a positive light and help keep it in a positive light.
Too often, and quite recently, we have we seen examples of agencies that receive tax payer funds get into hot water because of weak infrastructures of accountability, checks and balances or sometimes just poor planning and leadership. I am not saying that I think this is happening in our local art community, but I do strongly believe that this is something that can be prevented if we do things right; in other words not putting the carriage in front of the horse. The future of the Brownsville Arts Community is bright and the work at present has been great (we have jumped leaps and hurdles that past five years alone!). But we have more work ahead of us and I highly advocate that we do things right and even better, united.
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