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February 9th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
A compromise to the right outcome is better than an entirely wrong outcome. However, I repeat my earlier opinion: the willful ignorance, the manipulation of fact and the showboating of the Councilors opposed to this measure diminished them and hurt Lowell. The final decision may move us forward, but the shock of the discourse that evening will not leave me. It was an embarrassment. The Councilors in opposition sounded illiterate and behaved like children.
I cancelled our subscription to The Sun because of its mean-spirited, partisan and uninformed views, but here is an opportunity for the “paper of record” to show a good side to its famed “healthy involvement” with the City.
To those of us not on the City Council or on the editiorial board of The Sun, let us all be sure to register, to research, to speak out and to vote. Who is a City Councilor does matter.
Yet Lowell’s turnout–even in the recent presidential primary–was UNDER 37% of registered voters. Lowest in the Greater Lowell area. Imagine the statistic for the City Council election. The City Council understands who votes and who does not. Their audience is not how many bodies are in the chamber but how many they know voted. And they know which Wards turn out the vote, and it is not Ward 2, home to many cultural institutions and “creative economy” residents.
So lets work on the here and now issues (like the Cultural director) and on the future by creating a culture that makes local voting COOL, too.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
The city should not be in the business of funding arts in any form, shape or manner. It is not a legitimate responsibility of the government. Government should be limited things as public safety and education.
Let the art stand on its own merits. If it is good it will survive by the support of buyers and patrons. If it is bad, it will die a well deserved death.
We also do not want an arts czar determining who gives the “blessing” of the government. It could lead to an ossified view of the arts and cut out new artists who are not connected or favored by the regime.
February 10th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Why education?
February 10th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Education is necessary so the overburdened taxpayer does not have to support even more indolent citizens. Education also helps to create better citizens.
February 10th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Wow, Publius, indolent! Have not heard that one since I was reading what the social darwinists said about the working class in the late nineteenth century when they also argued that the rich were God-blessed and the poor were the devil’s tools. Nice. Reality is that the fed govt and state govt subsidize to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars all sorts of industries and medical and technology research. Would you argue that they stop this too and that the feds stop subsidizing big agriculture and all of the country’s gigantic defense contractors?
February 10th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Yeah and we do such a great job fully funding public safety already…
They aren’t hiring more cops or firemen with the 19K we’re talking about here.
February 10th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I may have well missed the boat on this discussion as I have just now had the opportunity to fully view Tuesday’s Council Meeting. I’m not sure even where to begin. At the risk of repeating what others may have said, the logic of saying “I support the concept, but not the plan” is just lost on me. I suppose I can forgive to some extent the two new Councilors (though K’s assertion that the report was never given to him is juvenile…don’t you feel any responsibility to become knowledgeable on what’s before you?) for not being supportive, but how can the other two accept and praise the original plan and then turn around and not support implementation?
Because of money? If that’s the case, there was nothing stopping them from approving the creation of the new office, but then asking the Manager to go back and rework the salary ordinance. I don’t buy it, but that was certainly an option.
Because other contracts remain unsettled? Because they don’t want to give too much power to one individual? I wonder if they realize how much power their actions are giving to unions now? What about the power given when you basically tell unions that nothing positive will get done in this city until your contract is settled. They tried this one a few months ago when the Manager’s contract was up for renewal and now, the same story again.
How about taking a big picture view? Strengthening the local cultural economy can only benefit the City during these fiscally “tough” times.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
For an interesting perspective of the past several days discussion on this topic, I would refer you to:
http://richardhowe.com/?p=727
February 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Libertarian ideas about the proper role of government are 100% incompatible with the strategies that have succeeded in bringing about the remarkable rebirth we’ve seen in this city over the past couple of decades. “No government funding of the arts” means no National Historic Park, no Folk Festival, no Summer Music Series, no Winterfest.
You can have your archaic “limited government,” or you can have Lowell’s revitalization. Expressing a desire for former is a statement that you’d rather not have seen the latter.
February 10th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Please help me understand this because right now I agree with the 4 no votes. (And I am not sure I should)
1)Who was supposed to get this position? (Someone that was already holding the position without pay?)
2)What was the proposed pay?
3)What exactly would the be in charge of (not private orginizations with public pay?)
February 10th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
1. We already pay for a position, it is a line item in the budget. We give money to COOL, which is an independent organization that is NOT a city-run department, which pays for a Director (LZ Nunn). This line item has been around for years, as COOL was created a while back. This proposal from Lynch is directly garnered from the recommendations of the Lowell Plan’s privately funded $100,000 study with Mt Auburn Associates (a very reputable marketing research firm who works with regions and cities to study cultural assets of a community and suggest ways to leverage them). This is, in essence, a restructuring of an existing budget line item into a city-run department as opposed to a separate cultural organization.
On #3…The fact that we have no comprehensive Cultural/Events office per se is hurting us, hence the Mt Auburn recommendation. COOL does what it can, but it is not in charge of helping to direct the marketing for the city’s cultural events (events of an ethnic, artistic, or historical nature). The cultural assets in Lowell, Mt Auburn says, are fractured and struggling on their own to gain access to their markets. An official central office with the mandate to understand and coordinate marketing efforts would allow us to leverage the monies we already spend (such as LCC grants to various arts organizations) in a better, more efficient way. For instance, group advertising. What if a central office was able to organize a once-a-month buy-in to a half page ad in the Boston Globe metrowest section to entice people to all that month’s events in Lowell? But we’d have to have someone with the pulse of the city’s cultural activities to do this. COOL as a structure comes close to being this, but it cannot leverage city governmental power to organize efforts like this.
Overall, this sort of “big vision” marketing will affect the interest of the surrounding communities in Lowell…it will help us create a bigger overall positive outlook on what Lowell can offer visitors…and bring them in to spend their money. It can help tie in the cultural assets to business development in downtown and elsewhere. That last element is SERIOUSLY missing in our cultural community, and something I’ve been complaining about for ages. For one, many of our local cultural groups’ outlooks and missions do NOT include “what’s best for the city” when they’re doing their thing, and often, they shouldn’t be concerned about that anyway, that’s not their job (they have enough to do on little resources developing their events and venues as it is). A central Cultural Office could achieve this “citywide vision” like no individual cultural organization ever could.
As to # 2, the pay is mostly existing (we already pay LZ Nunn for this) with about a $16K increase which Lynch will get via grants, not unusual as there are a ton of economic grants aimed at increasing a community’s emphasis on the cultural/open space/affordable housing sectors. The increase is totally warranted, with the upgrade in responsibility and scope of the job. Basically, this is taking an outside job we already pay for and bringing it into the jurisdiction of the city government in order to give it the necessary authority. Other cities have successfully leveraged such a position in their cities (Cambridge, Worcester) to propel their city’s reinvention or maintenance of their cultural “capital.”
Also, as Director of a Department of the city government, it would be silly to pay her less than the people who would be working under her, such as Special Events person St. Onge, who makes $56,002 for his job. The increase would be in line with what you would pay a director of a department and what you would expect from that person. In fact, I actually think it should probably be in line with whatever other department heads get paid… but we start with what we can.
Hope that helps explain the vision and the reasoning behind the proposal. As someone involved with some of Lowell’s arts orgs on the ground, I can tell you from first hand experience that this is needed, and efficient, and taking our cultural assets to the next step and making them an economic engine that they are NOT right now.