Nenshi doesn't want to suspend arts budget during downturn

[Xtrema]

Support a reduction but not elimination. I kind of agree with Nenshi that I rather find that 1% saving in that 99% instead of killing that 1%.

Optically, $50M going to arts still looks bad in a year like this. But as a complete project, it probably less than the $ needed to grease various wheels to get it moving.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Support a reduction but not elimination. I kind of agree with Nenshi that I rather find that 1% saving in that 99% instead of killing that 1%.

Optically, $50M going to arts still looks bad in a year like this. But as a complete project, it probably less than the $ needed to grease various wheels to get it moving.

The proposal is a temporary elimination/suspension. Not killing it forever, but just short term while we're strapped for cash.

The arts budget isn't the only thing that we should be looking at. You find a lot of other small cuts, it adds up in the long run.

End of the day, and I can't stress this enough, it's a want, not a need. Our city was just fine before we introduced an art budget.

[A790]

Originally posted by rage2
End of the day, and I can't stress this enough, it's a want, not a need. Our city was just fine before we introduced an art budget.

And it's better with it.

[rage2]

Originally posted by A790
And it's better with it.

My life would be better with a McLaren P1 as well, it's a work of art. Too bad I can't afford it without going into debt.

[suntan]

City should totally make art projects "economic stimulus" - Calgary's Sagrada Família. Leading edge, fuckers!

[killramos]

Originally posted by suntan
City should totally make art projects "economic stimulus" - Calgary's Sagrada Família. Leading edge, fuckers!

Just what we need. 150 years of construction on one building.

[blitz]

“We just assume that the building isn’t finished unless we paint or plant grass and trees. So why in the world would we believe that a piece of public infrastructure is finished if it does not involve public art?”

Jesus.

My question is why art has to be so expensive and grandiose in city projects. Wouldn't murals and paintings displayed by local artists suffice in lots of cases and help more artists get exposure?

There usually aren't any easy, obvious, big ticket items that you can cut from a budget and significantly reduce costs. It comes from gaining efficiency in many small ways.

[ZenOps]

In the long run, most city art projects are designed to be outdoors. Its a very big plus to any budget to have something that can stand as a piece of art that can withstand the elements, and more importantly the public.

Maintenance and theft prevention are big losses. That and, with paintings there will always be a kid with a big ice cream cone that will stick it full frontal into a painting (and since its publically funded, you cannot deny the kid the right to see the painting until after hes punched a hole through it)



Noone has tried to steal the Eiffel tower, yet...

[msommers]

No freeze.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...imming-gesture

A memo to councillors revealed just how little the councillor’s art cut would have saved. While the city has $7.8 million on the books for 2015, about $6.8 million of that is tied up in contractual commitments, which Demong had said he wouldn’t want to try undoing.

This means a 2015 freeze would have only saved $1 million, according to a city staff memo. That doesn’t include the unused portions of past years’ public art budget for the west LRT or Airport Trail tunnel, money the Demong motion had also targeted.

[rage2]

Would've only saved $1m. Such a small number. But let's celebrate this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naheed_Nenshi

The Nenshi administration initiated many programs to improve civic administration and clarify transparency of city political affairs, organized around themes such as "transforming government" and "cutting red tape". These initiatives are intended to improve the business and quality of life for Calgarians. The Cutting red tape initiative was estimated to have saved Calgarians 33,000 in hours and $1.12 million in productivity.

Oh well. Hopefully, citizens will eventually get it.

[Xtrema]

So spend $7M and get nothing to save $1M or spend $8M to get something out of it? Easy decision in my books. Spend.

I have to say DeMong is going about this wrong. They should kill 2016 art budget, not 2015. Or cancel the rest that's not committed, not kill it all together.

[msommers]

I don't know anything about The Cutting red tape initiative specifically but just looking at your quote, saving 33,000 hours is pretty significant, isn't it?

Regarding the topic at hand, it certainly seems like they could have compromised somewhere. Maybe spend half the budget in 2016?

[Strider]

Originally posted by Xtrema
So spend $7M and get nothing to save $1M or spend $8M to get something out of it? Easy decision in my books. Spend.

I have to say DeMong is going about this wrong. They should kill 2016 art budget, not 2015. Or cancel the rest that's not committed, not kill it all together.

I took that to mean spend $7M to get $7M worth of art and save $1M. 14 blue rings instead of 16.

Despite $1M being a small number relative to the budget, I still think it could be better spent elsewhere. More than that, it's a move towards creating more of a savings mentality/culture.
$5 per day on a Starbucks latte is nothing compared to my household budget... but if I look to save $5 here, $5 there, it adds up and goes a long way.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Strider


I took that to mean spend $7M to get $7M worth of art and save $1M. 14 blue rings instead of 16.

I took that means $7M to back out of the contracts with 0 deliveries. Probably like a early termination fee.

You plan 2015 spend in 2014 and have everything lined up to be spend and executed. Cancelling something in the middle of a project (unless it's a total lost cause like Shaw's attempt into wireless), it's idiotic.

Reduce and cancel on something that has less impact in the 2016 budget.

I hate the cock rings as anyone in town but that's just how art is. For every Glenmore mural or giant head in front of The Bow, you get a cock ring or two.

[suntan]

Originally posted by msommers
I don't know anything about The Cutting red tape initiative specifically but just looking at your quote, saving 33,000 hours is pretty significant, isn't it?

Meh. There's 15700 FTEs, @ 37.5 hrs/week @ 49 weeks = ~29 million man hours/year.

So a 0.11% savings.

[msommers]

Originally posted by suntan
Meh. There's 15700 FTEs, @ 37.5 hrs/week @ 49 weeks = ~29 million man hours/year.

So a 0.11% savings.

Well, can't argue the numbers. But 1.12M is still a million bucks I guess.

See for me this issue doesn't need to be a matter of cutting it completely or keeping it completely. Compromises could have been made on either side and attention to keep all the "Calgary Arts Money" actually in Calgary, from the design to the construction would be nice to keep local jobs afloat.

The blue ring was awful, we all know that. It is very clearly a case of what not to do. But in the grand scheme of things it's also statistically irrelevant considering how many successful (imo) projects we've gotten because of the program.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreatio...ublic-Art.aspx

But in times of hospitals needing to be built and class sizes getting larger, we need to look at the budget at all levels of government to find out what essential services are missing. As Rage mentioned earlier, needs not wants. I'm sure even places like The Food Bank need 1M more than a public art program.

[suntan]

The article in the Herald a while didn't help. It was written by a committee member and it couldn't have come off any more condescending.

[kertejud2]

Originally posted by msommers

But in times of hospitals needing to be built and class sizes getting larger, we need to look at the budget at all levels of government to find out what essential services are missing. As Rage mentioned earlier, needs not wants. I'm sure even places like The Food Bank need 1M more than a public art program.

Needs get rather subjective pretty quick, and the hierarchy of needs even more so.

Do we NEED a SW Ring Road or would that $5B be better spent on a cancer centre, elementary schools and a SE-North Central LRT?

Sure we want better roads, but what makes a better road? If you're a fiscal hawk, then complete roads (meaning good for all modes of transport) are better than freeways, but if you're a car commuter then freeways are better than complete roads. So which is a need and which is a want?

Do we need affordable public transit or is such a thing merely a want?


And so on and so forth.

[msommers]

My opinion: health care and education.

As many of us have pointed out about licensing, driving is privilege not a right. So to offset major highway costs, tolls make the most sense to me.

YMMV.

[7thgenvic]

This thread has all the beyond.ca ballers concerned about public art funding now that the economy is turning......

Boo Hooooo I can't imagine too many of the "1%" on here that were concerned about public spending when oil was over $100 bux a barrel. Oil will come back and not much is going to change over the next two-years so why nickle and dime something that has such little impact on the budget of the city.

There are WAY more problems with how money has been spend in Alberta over the years then worrying about public art.