Speaker 0: Thank you. I'm going to I'm going to go ahead and make some opening comments and then I'm going to turn this over to our staff to devote go through. By the way, I still see it on here. Okay. Think we're good? Let's read the item one more time. Because it didn't clear.
Speaker 2: Report from City Manager Recommendation to receive and File Report on the feasibility and recommendations for establishing a percent for the Arts Program City.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. I'm going to make some comments and then turn this over then to staff for a presentation. There's a lot of information to go through. And then once we go through that presentation, I'm going to do I'm going to go back to the council, turn it over to the maker of the motion, Councilwoman Price, do councilwoman do council questions and then open it up for public comment. And then we'll go back to the to the city council. So let me let me just begin by saying that I'm really I'm really proud that we're at this moment as a city. Successful cities like I think all of us know, have strong and thriving arts and culture across the city, whether it's the performing arts and it's the theater or it's music or it's public art or it's small galleries across across the city or performances or murals strong communities have and support the arts. I'm also proud that Long Beach has had a history, I think, of supporting the arts, but there's always more that we can do. And the key question that government I think should always ask itself in the work we do is are we doing the public good? And at the end of the day, government's in the business of doing the public good and that's what the arts is all about. I think the arts is all about doing and supporting the public good and expanding minds, making people think critically and really also being a huge economic indicator, an impact for a community as well. The arts have an enormous economic impact across the city of Long Beach. They bring in millions and millions of dollars in revenue through ticket sales, through people eating at restaurants, through folks visiting the city. And they also do an incredible amount to actually bring people to want to live and interact here in the city as well and are a provider of jobs. This proposal today started with a few years back, and I want to walk us through what actually happened. A few years ago, there was actually a blue ribbon commission on the arts. This was actually started back when Mayor Foster was the mayor. That Commission on the Arts had a variety of proposals and some people that are actually here, a few actually sat on that commission, and that commission provided a variety of proposals. Some of those proposals have already been implemented into policy documents and into the city the way the city operates and functions. But the key piece of that commission and the key recommendation was this proposal to begin a 1% for the arts program. At the time it wasn't adopted and it just was not something that had, I think maybe at the time, complete support or buy in from all the folks involved. And so that piece of it got shelved. But it's always been part of the conversation when you talk to artists and folks that support the arts is bringing this percent discussion back. We we used to have a percent for the arts program in the city when we had redevelopment agencies and we had that program in place. And that, of course, went away when redevelopment was eliminated. And so the city again was left without any sort of dedicated public arts funding outside of the funding that we provide, of course, to our municipal band and to, of course, our Long Beach Museum of Art. And so last year at the state of the city, I was pretty clear, I think in in during a part of the speech that we had to bring back the percent for the arts. I encourage the Council to address it and to look into it. And I'm incredibly proud that I think within a week or two, Councilwoman Suzy Pryce, who was the lead author on the motion, and she was joined by Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez and Councilman Dee Andrews and at the time also Vice Mayor Susan Lowenthal to ask the city to begin the process of implementing a 1% for the arts program for the city staff who spent many months doing research. They have studied and done research on a variety of percent for the arts programs across the country. They've talked to members and the arts folks in the in the community and have come up with a proposal. That's a that's an incredible, I think, first start and first step in this process. And there's a few things I just want to mention about about the proposal. The first is, of course, the key component of this proposal is the 1% proposal for all public or city projects that happen across the city that add 1% of the cost of those projects would be put into a new 1% for the arts fund, essentially a bucket where all those dollars would go as projects happen across the city. That's part one of the proposal. In addition to that, and while it's not explicit in the staff report, I would I'm also going to ask the council as part of this adoption that we ask as part of the motion, the port and the water department to also provide the same 1% proposal through their funding of their projects that they do as well. This would add significant dollars to the 1% bucket, and they have their own, of course, process and they have their own system in place . But this begins a conversation that those two bodies that we can move forward on. Also, while not explicit in the motion, it's certainly mentioned in the staff report. I would also ask council to direct staff today as part of the 1% proposal to ensure that we begin the next study on the private development piece. As you probably know, today's proposal is clearly and purely on the public percent for the arts long term. There are cities that do 1% on private development. That is, of course, is a much broader discussion that has to include the development community and our business community. And the only way we can begin that discussion is legally is to have a Nexus study that the city would have to perform to see what are actually all of our impact fees. What are developments currently paying? Would it be fair or not fair to ask for this type of additional support out of private development? Because the truth is, is we need to assess what our actual fees currently are, and we have to do it in a way that's fair to to these development projects. And so, again, as part of this proposal, I think the Council should direct staff to begin the Nexus study so that this 1% for the arts program would be would begin today, can really grow over the years into something very special, very substantial, and provide long term and ongoing support for our our performing arts groups that we love and that bring incredible ticket revenue to the city for our museum and cultural institutions, for local artists, for gallery spaces, and all the things in murals that are important to us across across the city. So that is the proposal that we have in front of us. I'm going to let staff get into the details of of where of how we got here. But I want to thank all of you for being out here tonight. I think it's a big a big step and day four for the city of Long Beach. So, Mr. West.
Speaker 6: Mayor, councilmembers, I'm going to turn this over to Tom, motorcar assistant city manager, who's done most of the work authoring the report. Thank you, Mr. Manager, and thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. I think the Mayor did a very good job of introducing this item and in talking about the history. This has been talked about in the community for a long time. We were given direction as staff early in January by the mayor and council to do a lot of research, develop a program and come back. And that's what we're doing here tonight. So I've got a presentation. We'll will go over some of the research we've looked into. We'll talk about the analysis, the case studies that we've seen. We've been asked some questions about admissions fees and whether or not that can be part of a funding source. The mayor talked about the the Nexus study and the private development impact fee, and we'll cover that and we'll talk a little bit about the recommendations before getting to questions. So currently we do a tremendous amount of support for the arts. The mayor mentioned this and I want to put a point on that. We have a very rich history of supporting arts and culture. Just a couple of things to point out. Our Long Beach Arts Council has a $404,000 current contract with the city of Long Beach. We have $319,000 of support for the Museum of Art, $360,000 of support for the municipal band. And then we also did an inventory of all of our programs and projects that we do throughout the city. Some are directly arts related, some are more cultural related. But we came to a grand total of about $6.2 million of either direct programs or programs where arts and culture is a significant portion of what we do. So a large investment by the City Council in Arts and Culture is currently. So we did some research and looked at some of the other cities that are out there and how they do a percent for the arts program. We surveyed the 30 largest cities in the U.S. and then we also looked locally in California at the 73 California cities that responded to a survey. So the results were that, by and large, the 30 largest cities in the country do do a percent for the arts program. About 86 of those that we looked at had an arts program, and 14% did not have a percent for the arts.
Speaker 0: 87%. Right.
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, 86%. Yes, sir. When we extended that to California cities, though, we actually saw a different trend. Of the 73 cities that responded to us, about 41% had a percent for the arts program and 59% did not have a percent for the arts program. One of the questions we asked of the 30 largest cities is where do they get the majority of their funding from? Is it assessed on private development or is it on public projects? And of the 30 largest cities, the vast majority did a percent for public art, with only about 11% doing both public and private, and 4% only doing private. So we did a number of analysis on the city's funding sources. Obviously, this will be something that is designed to generate revenue. The city has a very large budget, but a lot of those funds are restricted for certain purposes. So in our analysis, we looked at a number of different things, including the general fund and how a percent for the arts could be applied there. We looked at what are called our enterprise funds, where essentially they're funds that operate like like a business entity. We looked at our internal service funds that help support other city operations. We looked at some of our special funds, and we also looked at a big one where we do a lot of capital projects, which is our tidelands funds. We also did some specific case studies on cities in our area that do percent for the arts. There are some cities that implement this very effectively and we want to learn for some best practices. This is in your staff report. But I'll highlight just three very briefly. Pasadena, Sacramento and Santa monica. Pasadena does 1% of hard construction costs on projects larger than 250,000. They keep it at a public arts fund and they exclude all of the funds that can't legally be charged. And Sacramento has about a 2% of the CIP budgets are set aside for artwork, and they currently have a collection of about 400 permanently installed works of art, and they do a lot of that to local and regional artists. And then Santa monica has a percent for the art program, funding art and public places and temporary art installations. It's 1% of the budget, and they exclude their enterprise funds unless they can specifically find a nexus to that fund. So one of the questions we got asked was whether or not the city could do an admissions fee or an admissions tax that is sometimes used around the country where you place a fee or a tax on admissions to anytime you buy a ticket to a public or private event, and that could go to the arts. And so some states and cities have done that. We are in a little bit of a unique environment in California where we have laws that that govern how and when we can assess those taxes and fees. Essentially in California, in order to do this, we would need to have a vote of the people, and it would be a two thirds vote of the people because it would be dedicated specifically to the arts. So that's somewhat of a of a high hurdle. Alternatively, and we'll get to this in the recommendations we looked at, how can we further support the arts by going to our partners at the Convention Center. They currently have a $1 fund that they assess on tickets. It's not with the exclusion of art programs, and that money is used to help support the arts through support and marketing and other types of support at the Convention Center for the Convention Center for Arts. So we actually are talking to them and we'll have a recommendation about how to increase that to provide more funding. We got asked about the development impact fee and the mayor mentioned that earlier on is can we do a percent for the yards on private development and not just public development? There is a process for that as a requirement of development. The city currently does charge in park fees that is governed by state law called the Mitigation Fee Act, and it requires a nexus or a linkage between the fee that we would charge and the benefit to the facilities and mitigating new development. So an important question is how we currently compare. Development is sensitive to some development costs, and so how do we compare to other cities? We're currently in the 50% of the highest impact fees, but we're going to be doing a study of further analysis to determine exactly where we are. What are some of the other cities that are charging, whether they're doing percent for the arts and how we how and when we would have capacity to increase the fee through the Mitigation Fee Act. And so one of those important steps is the next study. Next, the studies cost about 100000 to $200000 to complete. And the first step we're already taking in this process is we're engaging in a study of the development conditions in Long Beach. That is fully funded already and out to bid. And that is going to get us a lot of good information on where we are in the marketplace to enable us to be able to take that next step towards the next study. And so that research is underway. So recommendations. Getting to the recommendations that staff have for the council to consider. We are proposing as staff a 1% for the arts on all general fund capital construction projects and then any other eligible fund. As I mentioned earlier, we have a number of funds in the city. General Fund is the one that is the most flexible where that money can be used for just about any arts types purposes for the 1%. The other funds would all have to benefit specifically that particular fund. So I'll give an example of that. The airport, when the airport does a construction project, we could assess a 1% fee for the arts. However, that money and that project and that benefit would all have to stay at the airport. So, for example, we could do a art project at the airport on airport property. You could not take that 1% for the arts, for the airport, and put it into a fund to support the arts citywide. You could certainly do that with the general fund and we'll talk about that on the next slide. So those we would essentially assess this on construction cost exceeding $100,000. We will have all of our other funds participate to the extent allowed by law. So those funds would be dedicated to public art to benefit those funds and users. We have a wonderful relationship with the Arts Council. It's a long standing relationship where they currently give out a lot of grants on behalf of the city from that 400,000 that we currently provide them. And we would look to them to try to keep the city's administrative costs low. For the Arts Council to expand their role and to be that conduit for the percent for the arts program and funding our goal. It's difficult to project because this is based on construction costs and and what our three year plan is going to be for construction. We're hoping to reach about $750,000 over the next three years combined to support the arts. So where would the funds go for the 1% of the general fund that is unrestricted? We would recommend doing 40% of that of the money that comes in in any given year for the creation of public art. This would be tangible art out in the community, in our medians and along streetscapes or things that the public can interact with for public art. We would propose 20% for small grants to local arts and arts institutions. The Arts Council currently has a program that does small small grants arts for capacity building and supporting our local artist and for direct arts support. And then 40% where it would be for supporting the major art institutions that do such fabulous work in Long Beach today. Again, the Arts Council has already identified those in their current contract. They currently give grant funding to those and we would supplement that program and have the Arts Council fund those major operating, major operating groups that currently are performing in the city today or in the future. So further recommendations. We've worked with the convention center, Steve Goodling and Charlie Burton, and they've basically come up with a proposal where they are increasing the fund or that the fund that they have at the convention center, they currently charge $1 for every ticket that is non arts related and use that to support the arts. They have increased it to $3 the ticket. They believe that that's in line with the marketplace and that's going to generate an additional $170,000 for a total of 225,000 a year for to support arts at the Convention Center and help actually grow arts groups at the Convention Center as well, and do a lot of marketing citywide private development. We will continue to study private development first through the development or the development services study that we're performing right now and also looking for Nexus study and identifying resources for the next study as a feasible second phase for arts funding. And we would return that information with the Council to the Council. If approved tonight, the actual program would be developed through administrative regulations. We would create a formal program and then we would expect that formal program to be done approximately spring of 2017. And we would work with our partner of the Arts Council to develop and implement that program. So with that, that concludes the staff report and we are available for any questions.
Speaker 0: Thank you. I'm going to go through the counsel here and the the makers of the motion, and then we'll get to the public after that. Let me start with Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and thank you to Mr. Modica for that excellent presentation. I know that the city manager's office has been working very closely on this item, and I know that they've done quite a bit of outreach with the arts community, and I appreciate that. I want to thank the members of the arts community who are here tonight to support this item. I think this is a huge step for us to get us back on track in terms of the priority that art has or should have in a city of our size, especially with all of the other great things that we're doing in the city to enhance what we offer to residents and visitors alike. I think our support of the arts has been dismal in in recent years, and I'm happy that we are taking a turn for the better. I want to thank Ron Nelson, who's here in case anyone didn't notice. I aspire to dress like him, and he literally gave me the shirt off his back and he told me it came with matching pants, too. I said, No, thanks. I'm okay with the jacket and the tie. And so this is kind of in solidarity for the arts. And I want to echo what the mayor said, that although some groups aren't specifically called out or enumerated in the staff recommendation or proposal, I think prioritizing art and supporting the arts financially, including the museum and all the other arts organizations and efforts that we have going on around the city is very important and I will always be a major advocate for that. It was interesting to see the presentation tonight and to see that 73 cities in the state of California have a 1% for the arts program. And I'm glad that we are going to be joining those ranks. Hopefully, I'm encouraging my colleagues to vote in favor of this. One of the things that I think is a very.
Speaker 1: Important part of the.
Speaker 4: Arts that we always talk about in our council meetings and everywhere we go is this idea of inclusion. And you don't really see inclusion demonstrated as profoundly as you do with the arts. Art is all about inclusion. It's about having a place to see things from different perspectives. And there is no right or wrong when it comes to art. It's about accepting and it's about allowing. It's about freedom. Art is a very beautiful thing. And so I think as a city, our commitment to the arts and allowing the arts to connect our communities is is hugely important. You know, we see today a lot of focus is placed on STEM programs and and technology and engineering and math and and these areas where we we can aspire to have better medicines and faster transportation, more efficient communication and lots of other ways that science helps move our society forward. But I think art really gives us a reason to live. I know I feel that way when I attend an arts performance or see the work of an artists. It really causes me to sit back and see things from a different perspective, and I look to my right and I look to my left and I always see someone who looks different than me, who has a different background or lifestyle than me. But we're all united in our appreciation for what we're observing, what we're seeing. And I think that's a beautiful thing. I also have seen the value that art has had in our local communities. It really allows people to feel a sense of connection to their community. It makes people feel very vested in their community, especially when we see art at the local levels. I, I want to talk for a moment about the breakdown of the allocation that staff recommended in their in their memorandum. And I think that. The aspect of it that I like is that this will be our first year administering this program under this new model. And so this allows us to make sure that we have enumerated an allocation of funds to specific organizations that I think are defined. You know, I had a few calls with people that said, well, what does this mean, establish arts organizations. That sounds very, you know, elitist. It's excluding a lot of organizations. It's not intended to do that. That's actually a designation that I believe as a grant criteria, which is where the from the Arts Council, which is where I believe the staff actually got that wording and those organizations. But I think that what that does is, is many of those organizations happen to be organizations that provide the biggest source of ticket revenue for the city. They fill theaters. They bring in people from outside the area. There are different categories of art. And I know I've talked with Griselda Suarez in the past about this. When we talk about our you know, there's there's the support of our our larger art efforts that actually bring people in from outside of the city and also people from within the city to go and support. And then we have community art and projects and grants that are really designed to spur art within the individual communities. And then we have education. You know, we want to be educating our future leaders to pursue a passion and education in art so that they can be the future museum directors, the future symphony directors. We want young children to be aspiring not just in and STEM or math and science or technology. That's great. But if they have a passion for the arts, we want to be doing programing and giving them that avenue to pursue. So when we think about arts funding, we really have multiple entities that we have to target and support. Our larger organizations are smaller community based organizations and then the concept of arts education. So I like the way that this allocation is set up, and I'm hoping that as we watch this process get administered and implemented over the next year or so, I would like to request, as part of my motion that I'm going to make in a moment that we come back in a year and or even sooner. I'm open to hearing from my colleagues on that and hear report from staff in terms of what's working, what's not working, how can we tweak it so that we can move forward, maybe change the allocations if we need to? The one thing that I am a little bit concerned about, and I communicated just briefly with one of my colleagues via email, and that is what administrative costs and things may go up as a result of administering these funds. So I know that that's a little bit in the weeds. It's not part of the item for tonight. But one thing I want to make clear as part of this motion is I would like a member of the city team to work closely with the Arts Council over the next year to help keep the administrative costs low and to help them establish protocols and procedures for the administration of these funds, such that they're on a path of success in terms of future years. I think the city owes them that level of support, and I don't want them to be in a position where their administrative costs are skyrocketing because they don't have the support to deal with basically creating a new model. It's not a model that we've had, at least under the leadership of our current council, and I want them to have that support. So my recommendation is to approve the recommendation. But I also want to add that we in a year, we hear back from staff regarding how this program has worked and and tweak it if we need to at that time. And that the city worked closely with the Arts Council. And I see that Vice Mayor Richardson has seconded that and I know he has some valid concerns and I'm going to let him talk to and I support support those. Bless you. Support those entirely. So thank you, everybody, for coming out. Thank you for the great, amazing work that you do. And one thing I just want to say, we are very, very fortunate and I don't know how many other cities do this, but our arts community works hand-in-hand with Long Beach Unified to educate and expose every child in this school district to the arts. And that to me is the biggest gift. And I tell my kids about it all the time. There is not a child who gets out of Long Beach Unified without being exposed to the museum, without seeing the symphony, the symphony, without hearing about the programs that they have at CSU . I'll be with their arts museum. I think that is fantastic. And to the extent that you want to continue to score points with the policymakers in this city, please continue those partnerships. Those kids may not ever get exposed to art without you seeking out those partnerships. So thank you. And I. I mean, my kids come home and tell me about it. And that's how I learned about musical theater. West was from my kids. My kids taught me about musical theater. West and I went to college here, and my kids taught me about musical theater west. So I think that education and that partnership with the school district is huge. And I want to thank you for helping make our city what we always say we want it to be, which is a diverse city where everybody has a space and everybody fits. And regardless of what district they live in, regardless of what their economic or financial background is, thank you for making it affordable and accessible for families to experience the arts. One of the things that Musica Angelica does, and I don't know who else does it, but we take advantage of it in our family is they have the family pack, which is incredibly affordable. You can take six people. And I think if we could encourage that across the board, some sort of a family option like that, that would be fantastic. So thank you, everyone, for being here and I will turn it over to the vice mayor.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilman Price and Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you so much to staff for the presentation. The mayor for his comments, Councilwoman Price for their comments. I would say that, you know, I'm really excited to support this. It's it's you know, I'm comfortable with the 1%. You know, I'd love to see, you know, even more through other other sources. But I want to I want to talk about and it's really core to me. In fact, you know, people may not know, but, you know, I did plays in college. I consider myself a thespian. And and I did. You know, I won't say how great I was, but I did it. I went through the process. So I think arts is core to our city. It's core to the uptown renaissance is core to a lot of the urban revitalization efforts happening across town. And I expressed my support when this initially came the council and I'm expressing my support again today. And I just want to talk a little bit about the recommendation, the finer details, just to make sure that within these details, the values that we represent as a council are reflected here. And know I've had a conversation and we've had conversations. Me and the mayor, me and Suzy, about this. And and and it's all been positive. So in Category one that I'm going to talk about is the 40% to establish arts groups in Long Beach. Now, I initially had some trouble with that. It seemed like a significant group amount of funds to a small group of organizations. But when explained to me that these, you know, these organizations specific criteria and they drive a lot of the economic activity in our city, I support that completely. It places a focus on those folks who have a direct economic return. Our city. An example is the Long Beach Opera. I'm a big supporter of Long Beach Opera and they just moved their headquarters in District nine. And one of the first things they did was sit down with us to figure out how they can have a local connection. What I do think needs to be considered and we need to, you know, look at as we move forward is, you know, the you know, we have the economic activity that drives tourism. But art is a focal point in a lot of the local revitalization efforts in local districts. So there's thriving and buddy budding budding business and art districts that are happening in town. And I would consider those established programs already. They're actually accountable to city council in a lot of different ways. So I would want to make sure that, you know, staff looks at including some of these, you know, art based economic development programs because it makes sense, it makes a difference, it makes communities safer. It's placemaking when you can activate a vacant plaza or coffee shop or business district with art performing or whatever it is, it's a local tool. So I support that. And at the end of last, ask the mayor, you know, respond to some of this stuff. Secondly, the public art. The public art in the public domain, 40%, that's huge. Public art is tremendously important. But I think local context is everything. We've tested public art in a number of different ways through, you know, redevelopment, other, other areas. So we have a little bit of experience now on what works and what works is engaging that local community. An example is last year we did a project called the Creative Corridor Challenge, where we partner with the Arts Council, did a , you know, a call for artists, played it, placed an emphasis on local artists, work with committees of local residents, looked at data and identified some of the most graffiti targeted sites in our city and the most targeted well in our district. The most targeted graffiti site had 103 tags last year, and since putting a 200 foot mural on there has only been tagged two times in the last two months. So it makes a tremendous difference in placemaking. So I would ask my recommendation here would be, you know, staff should put some some sort of on this public art public domain. Art, you know, this public intimate installation. We should put some requirements, engage local communities into this element. I don't want to give off the perception that here at City Hall we're dictating what art takes place in other areas of town. That should be driven by by, you know, local residents and local artists. And then finally, of the 20% for small arts, I think it's great that it, you know, gives the small person, you know, not the small person, but the up and coming local artists, an opportunity to participate. I just want to make sure that we place in an arts equity lens on that and we make sure that we're not just investing in the same old folks, but we're encouraging new artists, new futures, and encouraging people to see art as a as sort of a pathway into engaging in their community. So I would I would just ask again for staff to play some sort of a, you know, how this is disseminated as staff to create some sort of equity lamp. Lynn So those small grants are distributed, distributed equitably. And so I would just ask, you know, mayor, mayor or council member if anybody wants to chime in on your thoughts on these recommendations.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Well, first, I think I know you and I had a chance to discuss these things earlier. And so I think I totally agree with everything you've said. And I think when you set these programs up, of course, it's you're you're trying your best to set a program up and then we'll make adjustments as we go and ensure that that everyone is included. So I think obviously, I think there's an interest that as particularly public on the public art piece, vice mayor gets done, that we're engaging the communities across the city, particularly those communities that don't have as much public art as other parts of the city, and ensuring that we're working with the local business districts, the local arts community, so that those projects are done through a community lens. So I think that's something that absolutely we support. And then absolutely, we want to make sure that as this program moves forward, whether it's on the public art side or on the or on the grant side, that we are looking at it through an arts equity lens. And I'd like, you know, that turn I think is as important. There's a lot of smaller groups out there that do a lot of great work. I see Evolve Theater and some other folks out there and those that kind of work needs to be supported as well. And so I appreciate that. And I think that as staff develops this, I think we move forward. And I also really like what Councilman Price said as far as the the one year review, because I think that gives an opportunity between now and a year for everyone to kind of gather, review, see how we're doing, get the port on board, get the water department on board, and then move forward with some, you know, some different recommendations if we need to. So I do appreciate that. Thank you. Councilmember Pierce.
Speaker 2: Thank you and thank you, Councilmember Price and Vice Mayor. Put your name down there in Richardson for your comments. I think it's a great place to pick up. I agree with everything that you guys have said, and I really want to first applaud all the leaders and activists in Long Beach that support the arts. Whether or not you're an artist or you're someone that just enjoys art or you have your kid, that you're using art as a tool to teach. I think everything that that Susie said is pertinent and important for us to remember. We have an organization called City Heart that uses arts to engage with youth and the homeless population. It really is the tool of equity. It's something that you can do art in your home with macaroni and rice, you know, or you can go to a fine theater like we have in downtown and experience art. And in the big question about supporting the arts is, is everybody I think is on board with supporting the arts. It's how we make sure that we're doing that in an equitable fashion. I know through lots of conversations with Griselda and other folks that this is definitely a lens that I want to also support. And I know that there's a an equity toolbox that's out there that's being used with cities on how to govern. And it really is just a list of questions that we ask ourselves before we apply grants. And it's not saying that you apply them only to one group, a minority group, or a group that doesn't have funds . It's about how those funds get gets used. And so as part of this one year review, I think coming back with a tracking system about where the where the dollars are going so that we can take a look at it and really ensure that it is not only citywide, but that we are encouraging new people to be involved. Just last was it last week we had the Arts Park open up and we had several different artists come in that I had never met before that really livened up our district. And so I want to make sure that we continue to support groups like that. The second thing that I will say is just that I think this is a fantastic job. I know it's long coming and fully support it. Want to make sure that there's transparency and that there's support again for those administering this and that we're really looking to make sure that if they need additional resources, that we're being thoughtful about how we apply those. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank our staff for a great presentation. I think it was this this this item and this issue has been very well thought out. I'm happy to see us moving forward with this commitment to arts in our city. I believe that the arts are part of our DNA as a city, and it adds to our unique character here in Long Beach. I want to commend the Arts Council of Long Beach for their their work over the last couple of years. You guys are strong, you're diverse as a board, the leadership. And I believe you've inspired me and other council members to have confidence that you guys are going to work to do the right thing. And I think you'll get majority support on this motion. At least you'll get support from this this council member. Something was mentioned about, you know, tweaking it and going in. And, you know, I think we have to be very careful as city council members not to micromanage projects and programs. I like to comment about an equity lens, but I think that equity lens comes from the board, right? If you look at the construction of the Arts Council board and the leadership there has changed just in the last couple of years. That's what I mean about inspiring confidence from this piece of this body. I think the one year review will tell us a lot. Is it working? Where did it where does it need to be fixed? And at that point, we can come in and make recommendations to staff and to the the Arts Council on how to administer those funds moving forward. So I think this is a great, great leap forward. This is an awesome step in the right direction. I'm looking forward to continuing to work together with the arts community in the continued partnership for District eight and throughout the city. I think this 1% program is our best foot forward to support and sustain arts and artists in our city. And although I do think, as it has been said also, it just scratches the surface, but it's a real commitment and a great step forward. And so I'll be supporting the site.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 1: I want to start by thanking the staff for a very comprehensive report. I know doing that much outreach and research from our neighboring cities and across the country is intensive. And I think that it's also important to remember that not all of those who invest in the 1% for the arts are cities. And we also have someone here from Supervisor Hahn's office. The County of Los Angeles. Thank you for being here. Hey, Linda. The county of Los Angeles supports a 1% for the arts. And I think that it's important to recognize that they also have a model that's very successful locally and overlaps us to that point. I'd also like to say that in the one year report, I'd love to see that we include all of the arts funding, including the Museum of the Art in the Municipal Band and the leveraged funds that are combined to get that. So an example is Griselda and I spoke before budget hearings this year and we talked about how their grant is a matching grant and she committed to working hard to ensure that it matched new dollars. So for example, if they had raised in the prior year $100,000, the 50,000 or whatever it was that matched to draw down the funding in the prior year would be a different set then the next year because then it really helps leverage the grant for them to grow their donor base. And that's really important. And so I'd like to see when the one year report does come back and not only shows if we hit the 750 Target, but also shows all the other streams of funding and the matching. That was a part of that. Because one thing that I've learned very through reading so many studies over the last two years is how arts are such an economic driver. And we are talking about economic development. We're talking about bringing people into the community. We're talking about how they spend their money and the jobs that are related. And arts is a big part of that economic development. I might not be the thespian as Vice Mayor Richardson, but I too participated in those kinds of things but could not make a career out of it like some of you of have the talent to do. And that's important because that's a huge part of moving forward. And then just knowing and understanding that this is a step in the right direction and that it's an investment more than a gift. It's an investment in our future and our children and the richness that is the arts community. So thank you for that.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And we're going to now go to public comment. I know that we have some of our arts organizations and folks that are here that want to say a few words. So please come forward. We're gonna do public comment and we'll go back to the Council for a vote and please obviously introduce yourself and who you represent.
Speaker 4: Good evening. Thank you. I'm Karen Deci, the artistic director and producer of International City Theater. And I am so thrilled that you guys are addressing this issue 1% for the arts because we've been talking about it for years.
Speaker 1: And so my hat's off to you guys.
Speaker 4: And just listening to you, I have to say quickly, I have such a great appreciation.
Speaker 1: For more appreciation for you in your ability to articulate your.
Speaker 4: Ideas and thoughts about the arts. And and obviously we value them. But to hear that, you.
Speaker 1: Do as well. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: I just want to.
Speaker 1: Express my.
Speaker 4: Support and gratitude to the mayor and council for.
Speaker 1: The possibility of making this a new beginning. And I know it's a beginning step, but it's a beginning.
Speaker 4: And and it has the possibility of igniting growth.
Speaker 1: For the arts and for our city. And I.
Speaker 4: Appreciate that you understand how that works as.
Speaker 1: An economic engine.
Speaker 4: And with so much development going on in our city, residential and commercial, I think that third leg is cultural. And they all work together and they all feed off each other. And if we're going to attract more urban dwellers, they really need something more to do than just shop and eat.
Speaker 1: So. It. It all works.
Speaker 4: Together. And any sophisticated city has a vibrant art scene.
Speaker 1: And I know you address.
Speaker 4: That, Mayor, and we are heading in that direction, bringing major arts groups to.
Speaker 1: The performing arts center.
Speaker 4: And with greater city support and major marketing.
Speaker 1: Efforts.
Speaker 4: For the arts, Long Beach has the potential to compete with other major cities and Long Beach benefits from its geographic position. And between L.A. and Orange County. And this can attract greater numbers of visitors supporting other.
Speaker 1: Businesses, restaurants.
Speaker 4: And other cultural activities. And all this will add to the economic engine for the entire city. International City Theater is Long Beach's resident professional theater company, and it was chosen. Long Beach was the chosen home for ICG.
Speaker 1: This is where Sacheen Dhesi decided to start International City Theater, because he also.
Speaker 4: Appreciated the geographic position. And we've been serving this community in all nine districts with the award winning mainstage and education programs in all nine districts.
Speaker 1: And we've been.
Speaker 4: Participating in these discussions about the 1% and strategic planning for many years, and the future looks bright with the possibility for support not only for.
Speaker 1: ICT and the arts but for our city.
Speaker 4: And I believe this opens the door to ignite growth for all. And I urge you to support this.
Speaker 1: And I thank you so much for valuing what we all do.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Karen. Thank you very much. Next speaker.
Speaker 6: Please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Honorable members of the City Council.
Speaker 3: Elected officials, city staff.
Speaker 6: Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak this evening. I'm Jim Pruitt and I'm the president of International City Theater. I want to affirm Karen's comments. I don't want to repeat them, but I do want to particularly point out I see t's effort and energy in support of children. I particularly appreciate Councilmember Price's comment about her children appreciating art. I recently saw some art that her own kids developed and found that very interesting. Exciting. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Let me also affirm and comment.
Speaker 6: On the related ticket support measure. That aspect of this proposal, I think that is vital to fund and promote art in Long Beach. It does certain things in terms of providing the money to further promote.
Speaker 3: The use of hotels, of restaurants, of tourism in Long Beach. And it is a measure.
Speaker 6: That will be returned in terms of its investment multiple times through what it will bring to the city. People who will use.
Speaker 3: Art, who will enjoy art, who will help encourage those up and coming artists, as well.
Speaker 6: As those who are part of established art organizations within the city.
Speaker 3: So with that, let me just conclude by saying this is a great start.
Speaker 6: It is wise to be cautious, to be thoughtful about controlling expenses. We do need to do that. We also need to do more going forward. Thanks so much for your time and attention. Thanks for your affirmation this evening.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening. I am Kelly Lucero, the executive director of the Long.
Speaker 1: Beach Symphony, which is celebrating its 83rd season. I usually have a speech that I pull out and talk about how to convince people that arts matters. And I would just like to say thank you that I don't have to do that speech tonight. It is such a relief to work.
Speaker 2: In.
Speaker 1: And live in a city that truly espouses the importance that arts and cultural offerings brings to a community. And I'm deeply humbled by your support and thrilled with your.
Speaker 2: Investment in into our.
Speaker 1: And my city. On behalf of the the board of directors, I just want to say we know that the City Council has aspired to provide more support.
Speaker 2: Over the years, but this is an important first.
Speaker 1: Step in a much larger conversation that I enjoy having with you all as we move forward. I've worked in L.A. County.
Speaker 2: And in Orange County my whole life.
Speaker 1: And I have rarely worked with such outstanding colleagues as we have in this city. We I am so proud to work with the major executive directors and these colleagues here. And I know that the additional funding that we all get will go towards reinvesting into our community. This is.
Speaker 2: This is something I'm sure we're.
Speaker 1: All excited. And now we get to dream about not just breaking even and trying to stay out of the red every year, which most of us are doing. Trying to stay out of the red. Some of us with more success than others. But it's it's an opportunity for us to get together and actually talk about those extra dollars and how can we meet the needs of more children, be better educators, help invest in our town in terms of more education programs, more free community offerings, ensuring that we have equity and access with our arts in all areas of this diverse city. And I'm just incredibly enthusiastic and optimistic and incredibly humbled and grateful to you all. So thank you so much for what I hope will be your support of this measure tonight.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker with the great suit.
Speaker 3: Talk about staying out of the red. Yeah, I'm in it tonight. So, mayor, council members and staff, I so appreciate the fact that this is happening. I'm not going to repeat everything everybody else said, but to have this discussion in this room with this esteemed body feels like a very long process to get here. And it's really exciting. And I think for me, as the executive director of the Long Beach Museum of Art, I continually hear from outside of Long Beach what what is going on in Long Beach? Because there's this real resurgence and a real authentic and a really ground based on upswell of the arts. And I think the message that this is sending beyond the city, that we've all been attached to many funders across this Southern California, across the country. But I think that this really sends a message to those funders to, yeah, we can invest with them. Yes, we can give the symphony money. Yeah, let's give that on the art museum, I grant it's going to be so it it really does send that message and it really empowers us as arts institutions to go out from here and to use this going forward. And I really appreciate everything you've all done and I particularly appreciate it. But, you know, third district. Yeah, exactly. So anyway, so thank you, everyone. And thank you very much. Sincerely.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 1: I thank you council and mayor and city staff.
Speaker 4: I'm very excited about this.
Speaker 1: Measure on the table. My name is Madison Mooney. I'm the new executive director for the Long Beach Playhouse.
Speaker 4: And I echo a lot of what everyone has said already. But I wanted to just.
Speaker 1: Put a little give a little information about the Long Beach Playhouse. This will affect us greatly. The Playhouse, we're true community theater. It's very small staff and a lot of volunteers. And the majority of our volunteers are board of directors. And our audience are Long Beach community members. So this is going to affect a lot of who we work with. And we're all very excited and we hope that we have your support tonight. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 5: Hello? Yeah. Sorry.
Speaker 4: Hi. Dr. Elaine being Weber, Burnell and I live in the fourth district. Hi there.
Speaker 1: So, for those of you that know me, I. My family and I were pretty sciencey.
Speaker 4: I teach organic chemistry at Cal State, Long Beach.
Speaker 1: And my background is in material science.
Speaker 4: And chemistry. But I don't get to talk about how art.
Speaker 1: Has impacted my.
Speaker 4: Life.
Speaker 1: So growing up in Carson.
Speaker 4: I was able to.
Speaker 1: Go to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, go to performances, and also for the.
Speaker 2: First time.
Speaker 1: In middle school when I was 14.
Speaker 4: I got to go to Moola and I was hooked ever since they had the Diego Rivera exhibit there.
Speaker 1: And if anything, the big thing I want to.
Speaker 4: Say about this initiative is that, you know, we do promote, just to.
Speaker 1: Echo Councilman Price's comments, that we do tend to promote.
Speaker 4: Them a lot. And as someone who is a trained.
Speaker 1: Scientist and engineer, the one thing I want to.
Speaker 4: Say is that it's in the arts that really drives that.
Speaker 1: Innovative and creative thinking. For me, the arts.
Speaker 4: Growing up in elementary school, you know, middle school, high school, it's what gave me access.
Speaker 1: To talk about access and equity.
Speaker 4: It's the arts that really gave me that access to be able to think scientifically and creatively.
Speaker 1: And, you know, I'm proud to say that.
Speaker 4: You know, my.
Speaker 2: My son over there.
Speaker 4: He's in sixth grade. He's, you know, you know, he's in chorus and orchestra as well. He has his performance tomorrow night. So the district does a wonderful.
Speaker 1: Job exposing our.
Speaker 4: Students to music. So so thank you for this initiative.
Speaker 1: And I do hope your you support it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Thanks, Speaker, please.
Speaker 6: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia, members of the city council and city staff. My name is Kenny Allen, and I'm here tonight as a representative of the Advocacy Committee of the Arts Council for Long Beach and as a member of the arts community here in Long Beach. I'm here tonight to celebrate with you. I think this is a huge step forward in the development of Long Beach as a culturally strong and healthy city. And the investment being proposed in the percent four report being put forth tonight will benefit our city in ways far beyond just strengthening our cultural institutions. And investment in the arts improves education outcomes. It strengthens our local economy. As we've talked about tonight, it drives tourism, and it helps create a healthier Long Beach in so many ways. A couple of key numbers to pair with the stories that you've heard tonight. The arts improving education outcomes. Students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores and lower dropout rates, which is a benefit that's reaped by students regardless of socioeconomic status. Students with four years of arts or music and high school average 100 points higher on their SATs than students with just one year or one half year of arts or music. We've already talked about how the arts are an economic driver, but I thought it might be worth mentioning that the arts are 4.2% of the nation's GDP, which is a larger share of the economy than transportation and agriculture. Attendees at nonprofit arts events spend 2460 per person per event on average, and it's twice as much if they're coming from out of town, which is a lot, means a lot to our local merchants. We all know that arts drive tourism. But you may not have considered how arts also improve health care. Nearly one half of the nation's health care institutions provide arts programing for patients, families and even staff. 78% deliver these programs because of their healing benefits to the patients.
Speaker 3: Shorter hospital stays.
Speaker 6: Better pain management and less medication. This program will impact our community immensely, and I really appreciate how this is aimed at being a longer term solution and not just a Band-Aid to support the arts here in Long Beach. Thank you for all of the work you've done. I know some people have fought really hard to get this to happen tonight, and I look forward to working with you to implement the program. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Next speaker.
Speaker 3: Please.
Speaker 1: Good evening council members and Mr. Roberto Duran. Good live in the seven. He knows me. It's nice to see you. My name is Emily Quest. I would just like to tell you a little bit about my experience at the arts in the city of Long Beach. I went to see movies for 20 years and it's true. I have a master's degree and a bachelor's degree from Cal State Long Beach. One thing that I would really like to point out that I haven't heard here tonight, we at the college, we get these visiting professors that come in for one or two years or we get young people from Vermont or Wisconsin or from other places that are visiting for a year. And those people are looking to build their resume. They're looking when they come to Long Beach to apply for something through the Arts Council. So what I saw was those those young people that are just very intelligent, you know, people that really have it on the bar while they're here applying through grants to the Arts Council. And they come here and they do something and they make our life great, or they just make a program at the museum rock and then they leave. And being an artist, I've lived here 45 years. I was born at Memorial, that kind of thing. We have to realize this long be it. Investing in the arts is not like another city investing in the arts. Because when Long Beach invests in the arts, we get to take advantage of an international college program. So. That's also a point that you're getting. Like if you want to get something on sale or double your dollar or get more bang for your buck, you will get that from the international and national arts community in little bit . Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And I think you alluded to the arts. I mean, the arts college at Cal State, Long Beach is one of the largest in the country and graduates, more artists and almost anywhere else. And so it's we're very, very proud of Cal State, Long Beach and the work they do there. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Our next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Hello, everyone. My name is June.
Speaker 2: I am in District two. Hi, Janine. I am a.
Speaker 4: Local artist, community organizer and educator and I'm really excited about the 1% of the arts passing tonight. And I was even more excited to know that it'll be the Long Beach Arts Council that'll be managing this money because I trust the new team very, very much. And something I heard a lot being said was about how the arts is going to be a huge.
Speaker 2: Economic driving.
Speaker 4: Factor for our city.
Speaker 2: And one of the.
Speaker 4: Things I wanted to also remind all of you and Rich. Rex Richardson, thank you so much for bringing up. What's happening in District nine is that arts is such a huge means of violence prevention in our community. I'm really excited to.
Speaker 2: Hear what's.
Speaker 4: Happened with the graffiti and being able to place murals in certain areas. And for myself personally, I work a lot with young people. As an educator, I do spoken word workshops and being able to give young people the opportunity to reclaim their stories is so crucial, and I may not be inspiring them to be actors or working artists when they grow up, but we're instilling in them the confidence to be who they are and also claim their culture and identity. So moving forward, I just really hope that all of the arts that we invest in is not just about producing something for people from outside of our city to consume or even people within our city to consume. But the process of it within itself that cannot be seen is so important and is crucial to building community, which I feel is key to preventing so much of the violence that's happening. So as a community member, I hope that we that you are able to collaborate more with folks like us and that we can also let others who don't come to spaces like this know that this exists for them.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. And then I know I have our last speaker. They're going to close the speakers list and then so everyone that's in line will speak. Please go ahead.
Speaker 1: Good evening, everybody. Good evening, Dr. Eric Garcia, mayor and all the members of the city council. I'm sorry for my voice, but I share my energy, my passion and love for the arts, provide good energy to my books to express my worth tonight. My name is Lorna Moran and I live in the sixth District. I am the director of Data Analysis from Data Science 20,008. It is a group of day laborers and domestic workers that work together to produce a contemporary era and very old and traditional Christmas. Tell those stories adapted to the situation in our community. Thank you for considering considering the Person for Arts Program. My company is a guarantee of their asking feel and because of them are impressing my network and creating more opportunities. This year we were selected to participate in current L.A. Public Arts Biennale. I want to let you know, major and council members. That the Arts Council give us visibility as a company. We are gratefully grateful. I'm sorry. And immigrants and laborers, we have a place to go to and belong. Our work is important now and for the future generations and funding from this city make our children's culture is stronger. I am commitment to my community and with help from our council. I am now working an opening and one is small and artistic. A space on Pacific 20/23, the first of its kind. In my neighborhood, the precision of Arts program will help more residents like me who are artists and business owners. Thank you so.
Speaker 5: Much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. I love everything you said. So. I want to learn more about what you're doing. I loved everything you said. So we're going to be in touch. Thank you so much. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 1: Surely you saw. When I entered, gosh, high school. I was an artist. I went on to be a trained vocalist. I received the Liberal Arts Award for Bank of America on the night when I received my scholarship to attend university. I was awarded from an extemporaneous speaking. Those of you who have traveled, you know what Olympics with the mouth is. It's an award. A competition like any other competition. While completing a bachelor's degree. I taught culinary arts on the local college level. Of course, we all know that our two important. In order to connect the dots. I believe that's where we feel. We feel each other and we feel our communities. Do you know how many homeless artists there are right now on the street? Homeless artists are attending our universities. So while we were proposing a percentage of fees wherever they come from for the arts. And while we don't impose and require. Those who are recipients of these funds. To themselves. Reach out to those who are homeless. Artists. Singers. The movie soloist was co-produced here. And we received funds. But how many of those funds went to the arts? How many of those funds helped the homeless? Who are artists? Many of whom who do not want to be recognized as being homeless because being homeless is such an embarrassing plight. I did read his theater on the university level. I went on to sing. If somebody needed was performing a wedding on yachts, I got some calls to sing for them. But I have found. When the rubber meets the road at the end. It's not the arts. That we need your cooperation. If you sit if I sit somebody over the corner for an hour, I can draw you. I can draw a sketch pen and ink or pencil. Charcoal sketch of you. But I have found the greatest passion is to get people off the street. These artists are on the street tonight. It's 45 degree weather tonight. And some of these artists who were proposing funding for. Well beyond the street. And the percentages that we are proposing won't help them unless we stress more.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, everyone. My name is Brian Trimble and I am here representing the University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach, which is in the third district. So we're very happy about that, to have such support from our council district. As Dr. Garcia said, the university has one of the largest public art programs in the nation. And one of the things that we see is that while we train them here, we have difficulty keeping them here. And we want those artists and we want those people to stay in our community and contribute to our community. And I think this program is a step toward that. And I think many of us also agree that artists should be paid for the work that they do. And a program like this will allow organizations to pay artists for the work that they do. You know, they're working, they are training, they are contributing to our culture. So I think that's a very important thing for us. And I just want to thank you again for considering this tonight, and we hope you all support it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next Speaker. Thank you very much. I've closed the speakers. I'm sure I can hear you in line. Okay. Thank you. The last speaker. Yes.
Speaker 1: Good evening. Everybody went as much as. Thank you so much for bringing this to the council. And thank you to the council members, to the mayor and to the staff that we've been working with to bring and inform you about this other options and other what other cities are doing. I really want to take a moment to talk about arts equity, an issue that Vice Mayor Richardson brought up. We are definitely working hard on that. And I want to tell you a quick little story. At the end of June, right before holiday weekend. We worked with the county to talk about arts equity. And to date the county had nine sessions and they were so proud of themselves because Pasadena had 60 attendees at their meeting. And when it came to Long Beach, we had over 120 attendees for a discussion on arts equity. And so I know it's important and I know I've been listening and we are now participating in the county program with the L.A., with L.A. County Commission for the Arts to make sure that we have strategies and ways to increase arts equity here in Long Beach. And we're starting to implement those in our city through the Arts Council, and I will gladly share the information of how it's already how it's already changed. We've seen an increase in applications and in the diversity of applications for the monthly micro grants. So I will share that with your offices. Lastly, again, I just want to say thank you for considering this and making Long Beach a thriving arts and culture city. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much, Nick Speaker, please.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Councilmembers and our city staff. My name is Tasha Hunter. And I just want to say, just all this conversation about the arts. Arts is one of my major passions. Before I even moved to Long Beach, found a filmmaker that would intentionally film here just because the access, accessibility and the importance that the value that Long Beach gave its art. So I want to say also that public art is very important, and that's the one topic that I'm going to focus on right now. We have so much public art, like vice mayor spoke about our our murals in the Creative Corridor Challenge and our Veterans Day Moore mural up in North Long Beach by how in part it's become a destination for our community and a landmark. And it's a special place for our veterans and their families. And public art such as this is very important and it brings value to the community. You know, the different arts art includes it's not limited to our visual and our performing, our design, our auditory theatrical and our literary arts and public art and artwork can encompass any of these genres, and it's freely accessible to our residents, and it can be permanent and portable and accessible and integrated into our structures of our communities . And it must be equitable. And as the current president of the Arts Council of Long Beach, we look forward to working with the city manager and council to help create a healthy arts ecology. And a sign of a robust program in the city includes local artists engaging with the public arts program. Long Beach is growing with so many talented, creative people, so many of which people ahead of me have spoken about, that we are here, these artists are here, and they're part of every day and every part of the city. And we want to make sure that they're woven into this magnificent fabric. And we are doing the public good. We're doing our our public service with the arts. And then on a side note, art and education is very important. I was an educator. I still consider myself an educator, K-12 and also college. And I see the difference that it makes. And letting letting students that may not think the same way that they're taught allows them or may not think or learn the way all the other students learn. Art helps open up a different streamline of education. I've seen that in students. I see that my children at home and I welcome it. And it's very important here in the city. And I want to say we thank you for this item and we welcome your support. And thank you, everyone, for for your words.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next picture, please.
Speaker 6: Hi. My name is Nestor Moto Jr. Sorry for the sunglasses. I have an eye infection. Um, I don't entirely agree with the whole 1% for arts thing. I think it's a little too high in my opinion. I feel like one of the speakers pretty much summed it up perfectly.
Speaker 3: What? Think good to have.
Speaker 6: An arts program. What's a good to have an aquarium with penguins that are all nice and dancy and fancy to take pictures with?
Speaker 3: When people in this city don't have jobs, when people in the city like can't even find a parking spot. When people in the city, like, can't even afford a night out. I mean, I get I get what this.
Speaker 6: Body is doing. I completely get it. It wants to diversify the community.
Speaker 3: But what's it good if these people can't afford it?
Speaker 6: What's a good if we have to walk three or four or five, six blocks to our house in the middle.
Speaker 3: Of the night? What's it good for us to get tickets on a constant, daily basis if we can't find parking.
Speaker 6: In our own communities? And this is a problem both in the first District and I want to say the ninth District was North Long Beach.
Speaker 3: It's a problem in a lot of places in this city.
Speaker 6: And this board, this body has not done its job.
Speaker 3: Because.
Speaker 6: A lot of you, if not most of.
Speaker 3: You or maybe some of you and people in the past have looked at this body as nothing more than a stepping stone for elected for a higher elected office. And.
Speaker 6: We are tired of that. The citizens of this city are absolutely tired of seeing every single one of you run for assembly, run for Congress, run for state Senate. After you're done, you're not here trying to do a job.
Speaker 3: You're here just trying to fill the seats. Look at your computer text on your phone. But in reality, in the back of your mind, you're literally shooting for that next.
Speaker 6: Office up there. And we all know that. We all see that because this community, this city is not what it can be. Like I said, a lot of residents in the first District where I live.
Speaker 3: Walk.
Speaker 6: Blocks just to get to their car in the middle of the night. You know, there are tons and tons of like there was one this morning. There was shooting marks where I parked my car. There was a shooting a couple of months ago where.
Speaker 3: A girl got killed. But hey, none of this matters, right? Because we care more about penguins. We care about. We care more about the arts. We care more about people. What the what they draw. What's it good if these people can't afford it? What's the what's a good if these people are getting shot down? What's it good if these people are dead? It makes no sense. Makes absolutely no sense. And the value of this community is not in the value of animals. It's not in the value of arts. Don't get me wrong, I love those two things. It's in the value.
Speaker 6: Of human.
Speaker 3: Beings, because without human beings, you cannot have any of those things you guys are trying to do. And that motion previously just passed. Anyway, I can't we can't do anything on that.
Speaker 6: But I would highly recommend that this board reevaluate its priorities because it has a completely upside down.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Mr. Good. The final speaker.
Speaker 3: Previous speaker have been very articulate, have made some very good points. This should not be 1%. It should at the very least be 2%. It's absurd to have it at 1%. I'm a full supporter of arts, period. In fact, if it were if we did not have such a recalcitrant mayor, we would have opera. As I suggested a year ago when this came up, playing in this chamber from 430 to 5 every Tuesday night when they were. We're not when they're in our meeting before that. At some point, however, I think we should take a look at be very careful when you're dipping into the Tidelands funds and or the port because you may set a precedent, understand where Tidelands funds come from. You may then have other cities up and down the coast since you're tapping into tidelands funds. Want to tap into those monies? So I do examine that very carefully. I would also to put your. Put your career on the line, not your career. But another way you can do this. And to show your integrity. Reduce your travel budget by 50% so you're not zigzagging across the country. And in fact, by the mayor, I would have the mayor reduce his by 75% and develop the art and put forward arts period. In this day of, as I said before, escaping, there is no need except as the other gentleman spoke, reference trying to build your political career. Those days are over. I don't know if you really studied the financial situation which the city faces. Another way you can also do it is. Reduce the absurd 20% elimination of the or cutting the tax occupancy tax that you're planning to do on the new otherwise commendable project. Cut it down 50% from whatever that is. There's ample money if it's properly managed. The problem is it's not properly managed. And again, I would commend the former speaker for hitting the nose on the head where you've got to put your interest at the city and not at your political career. I know the mayor, as we can address that his political career is we know what that's going to be within within two years, he will be in prison. So he doesn't have to worry about his political career with the rest. The rest of you should heed whether the previous speaker spoke. Spoke about. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Goodhew. Thank you. That concludes the the public comment. You forgot to mention how our attorney general is going to be in prison, too. I was waiting for that part. So I want I want to, first of all, thank all the speakers that came tonight. We're going to go and take a vote. Particularly want to give a special thanks to the Arts Council, the entire board. Griselda just everyone that that worked very hard. There. As you could see, there is a lot of work that went into today happening and a lot of conversations. And it's an incredibly, I think, proud moment for this body and for the city to support this and look forward to more funding for the arts after after tonight. So thank you with that. Members, please go ahead and cast votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Congratulations, everybody. We do have we have one of our friends here to do a pet adoption. The timing was a little bit off. We're going to bring her down so we can get her adopted. And then we're going to go into the public comment and the Styrofoam issue will come up will come up first. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I want to talk about him. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Hi, everyone. My name is Brittany, and I work for SPCA, L.A.. And today we have Calvin with us.
Speaker 2: He's five months old. He's already neutered and microchipped.
Speaker 1: He's available.
Speaker 2: For adoption.
Speaker 1: He came in as a small kitten with his siblings.
Speaker 2: And he actually was adopted. But unfortunately, his family could not keep him because they were allergic.
Speaker 1: So he is back in a waiting for a forever home for the holidays.
Speaker 3: So cute.
Speaker 1: Five months.
Speaker 0: He he's very, very happy to be here, too. So someone find Calvin a good home, okay?
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. That is.
Speaker 3: Very cute. Gabriel, you want to know?
Speaker 5: I got to talk to. You don't need that.
Recommendation to receive and file report on the feasibility and recommendations for establishing a Percent for the Arts Program and direct City Manager to create a Public Art Program.  (Citywide)