May 10, 2006

[The following was originally sent as an email by Vogel, and is republished here for broad community access.]

Hey everyone!

Thanks to all who came down to City Hall on Monday. It was a great turnout and it definitely helped our cause.

The main hearing room was full on Monday from 1 to 3pm as ArtsTask Force Chair Debra Walker presented our report and recommendations to the Government, Audit and Oversight Committee. I also had an opportunity to present our petition and demonstrate the broad base of public support for the Arts Task Force report.

Following the presentations a long line of people gave their 2 minutes of public comment.

The public consisted significantly of employees of major arts organizations - from A.C.T. to the Opera to the SFMOMA and also of members of small and mid-size arts organizations like Counterpulse, Chitras Das Dance Company and Intersection for the Arts. There were also representatives of community groups like the SOMARTS Cultural Center, Theater Bay Area (TBA), ArtHouse and Community Access Ticket Services.

The sentiments expressed fell into two broad categories: those who whole heartedly supported the Arts Task Force recommendations regarding restored funding for the arts, new programs and a restructuring of arts agencies at City Hall, and those who supported restored funding but were opposed to the creation of a Department of Art and Culture.

Some felt that the creation of a new department would create "bureaucracy," others felt that it would bring coordination to a fragmented, already very bureaucratic arts administration system.

At the end of the hearing the chair of the committee, Supevisor Tom Ammiano, was unequivocal in his support for the Task Force and his endorsement of its recommendations. He responded to critics of the restructuring proposals by drawing a distinction between "bureaucracy" and "reform," and went on to assert that if there is to be more money for the arts, then there better be a plan to ensure that its used effectively to address the challenges identified in the Task Force Report.

Supervisor Ammiano, with the concurrence of Supervisor Peskin (the only other member of the 3 person committee in attendance) decided to:

1.formally accept the report on behalf of the board

2.write a letter to the Budget committee, and the full Board, in support of restoring money from the Hotel Tax Fund to the arts in this upcoming Budget cycle.

3.write a letter to the Legislative Analyst's office to determine what legislation would look like to implement all the various recommendations in the Task Force report

4.recommend moving forward with the creation of an Arts Planning Council.

These are all tremendous steps forward and reflect the concerted effort the Task Force and its supporters have made to put these vital issues before our city's elected leaders.

In the upcoming weeks we anticipate a presentation to the Mayor's office, the introduction of legislation before the full board of supervisors regarding the implementation of Task Force recommendations and the inclusion of the arts in a major way in the budget debate that will take place in June.

We have crossed a major hurdle with this week's hearing but there is much work to be done and the visibility of this issue at City Hall needs to be sustained.

I'll do my best to keep you all posted but please keep your eyes peeled for action on these fronts and for opportunities to advocate on behalf of the arts.

Many of the supervisors are up for elections this fall and they should know that their record of arts-support matters to the voters in their districts.

Thanks again, please get in touch with me if I can get you more info and if you have ideas about how to build support for these enlightened visions of what a city can be.