A Penny for the Arts

 Mayor Jerry Sanders speaks at a press conference about A Penny for the Arts on the steps of the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park

On Monday, October 22, the San Diego City Council approved A Penny for the Arts plan, which will double the funding for the Commission for Arts and Culture by 2017. This funding will be used to support arts and arts education programs, cultural tourism promotion, special events, and maintenance on arts facilities and public art in San Diego.

The approval of this plan is an exciting turning point for the cultural and arts institutions of San Diego, including SDCHM, because it will increase the percentage of the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) allotted to the arts, which has been reduced in recent years due to budgetary concerns.

The battle is not quite over yet, however.

The new mayor and city council will have to incorporate the plan in the city’s annual budget early next year.  In order to bolster support for the plan, SDCHM asks you to please write, email, or call your local City Council members and Mayor Jerry Sanders to thank them for their support of A Penny for the Arts on Monday. Their email addresses are listed below:

Mayor Jerry Sanders: JerrySanders@sandiego.gov
District 6 Coucilmember Laurie Zapf: loriezapf@sandiego.gov
District 1 Councilmember Sherri Lightner: sherrilightner@sandiego.gov
District 2 Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer: kevinfaulconer@sandiego.gov
District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria: toddgloria@sandiego.gov
District 4 Council President Tony Young: anthonyyoung@sandiego.gov
Distrcit 5 Councilmember Carl DeMaio: carldemaio@sandiego.gov
District 7 Councilmember Marti Emerld: martiemerald@sandieo.gov
District 8 Councilmember David Alvarez: davidalvarez@sandiego.gov 

For more information on A Penny for the Arts, go to the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition’s website at http://www.sdracc.org/ or read this article from Wednesday’s online edition the San Diego Union-Tribune.