Local Issues (City & Counties)
May 20, 2008 Primary Candidates Respond to Arts & Culture Questionnaire
The following candidates are running for Mayor & Commissioner for the City of Portland. Those with links responded to the RACC and Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts (NW/BCA) questionnaire on the arts sent out March 13. Responses were first posted on April 1st. Most candidates submitted their responses before that date, unless otherwise noted. The responses have been reproduced exactly as they were sent to us, and not edited in any way. The question is placed before each response. Those with no link have not yet responded.
WINNER - Refers to the winner of the May Primary on 5/20. They will take office January 2009.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
County Commissioner #1
Dick Schouten WINNER
County Commissioner #3
Roy R. Rogers WINNER
Jeremy Knapman
Eric Squires
_______________________________________________________________________
County Commissioner #1
_______________________________________________________________________
County Commissioner #3
Eric Squires
[Editor’s note: These answers were submitted to RACC on 3/25]
1) Arts and culture activities add measurable value to our region and quality of life, but the Portland metropolitan area lags behind the national average in public funding of the arts per capita. How much public funding do you believe is appropriate for arts and culture in the region, and what steps will you take to ensure increased public investment in Washington County.
Arts and culture funding at the County level may provide a profound impact well beyond aesthetics. Used properly, arts and culture funding allows leveraging of other agendas. The appropriate direction for a Commissioner is to rank and allocate funds based on availability, use and outcome. Asking citizens to pay for anything beyond protection of private property and the enforcement of contracts (a conservative theory of government) requires a successful tact and a results oriented approach. Offered is this scenario: A Commissioner who exploits opportunity to leverage public investment for a proactive arts and culture driven outcome fulfils your mission.
(2) A coalition of arts organizations, school districts, governments and private funders are working together to achieve a measurable impact on learning by integrating the community’s arts and cultural resources into the education of every K-8 student in the region’s school districts. If elected, what resources could you bring to this “Arts Partners” collaboration?
The Commissioner position should defer to the local school district and their elected officials for leadership. I would likely support their endeavors and assist in the creation of opportunity and advocate my time and resources to propel that agenda. If available, discretionary County funds are an additional possibility.
(3) In what specific ways have you supported arts and culture – as a private citizen, as a public or private employee, and/or as an elected official?
I am indebted to the artists of this community, as they have supported me! Working as a Professional Audio Salesperson for a local business, artists and their engineers relied on me to provide solutions for recording. In return, I provided Pro Bono recording to artists. My credits as an “Executive Producer” fail to describe what really when on: Providing funding for duplication of a compact disc is nothing short of alchemy for starving artists. Capturing the fleeting moments of a live music performance on ‘spec’ and producing a marketable product thereafter speaks to my belief and support of our artist community. An Executive Producer might better be described as a porter, amateur psychologist, financier, leader, follower, believer, critic, cheerleader, negotiator, gatekeeper, and art aficionado. Participating in the recording industry enlightened my view of the cultural ties of music and spoken words of non-English languages. Managing an audio duplication department brought an amazing diversity of cross-cultural projects, each with differing sensibilities. A community leader with this experience hunts and collaborates on arts and culture opportunities. This leadership is an art unto itself. I ask you accept my art of leadership.
Limited Local Discography:
http://cavitysearchrecords.com/stevelacy.html (The Rent) (Recording Engineer)
http://www.grammy.com/latin/7_latin/ (Letters from Argentina, Category 29, credits as technician)
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Live-Georges-September/dp/B000BUPCKC (Recording Engineer, Exec. Producer)
http://landoftheblind.com/ (Out of Chaos, Exec. Producer)
Return to local advocacy page.
Top of Page
RACC Staff to Contact
Mary Bauer
Communications Associate
503.823.5426
mbauer@racc.org
| 
