Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance Grade: B+ (87.50%)

  • Candidate Name: Emma Mansour
  • Your Municipality: Farmington
  • Elected office for which you are running: City Council

Question 1: Should government be involved in funding the arts and humanities?
Yes

Question 2: Have you had a personal experience with arts, culture, or humanities that have had an impact on your life?
Yes

3b // Optional, explain your experience.
As a psychologist I have witnessed the arts have a healing effect on many people. The healing effect is achieved through both access and participation. As a mother I have also seen the joy that the arts provides my children and their ability to use their imagination and practice self-expression.

Question 3: Do you support public funding for city and county arts councils who then re-grant that money to local arts and humanities organizations?
Yes

3b // Optional, explain why or why not.

Question 4: Do you support Percent for Art programs, which designate 1% of public building costs for public art that are included within that building? Currently, only 8 Utah municipalities have such a program.
Yes

4b // Optional, explain why or why not.
Art does not have to be a community event that is attended during specific times of the year. Art can surround us in many forms (building art, statues) and can help people feel connected to the space.

Question 5: Do you support having a Percent-for-Art program in your own municipality?
Yes

5b // Optional, explain why or why not.

Question 6: Do you consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah?
Depends (explain in the next question)

6b // Optional, explain why or why not.
Utah has a very unique art culture that, despite not being a major economic force, is highly valued and cherished.

Question 7: 32 municipalities have a RAP (recreation, arts, and parks) type tax to help support cultural organizations in their communities. Would you support a RAP type tax such as this in your own municipality? If your municipality already has such a local option sales RAP-type sales tax and you support it, answer yes.
Yes

7b // Optional, explain your experience.
With a growing population comes the need to provide essential recreation, art and park opportunities. I would like to see Farmington become a city in which all residents have the ability to live, work and play.

Question 8: Municipalities can facilitate partnerships between cultural organizations and the local tourism sector to boost the local economy. Do you support this? Optional, explain why or why not. 
Yes

8b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
This could provide an extra revenue stream for the city.

Question 9: Municipal governments can create Cultural Districts - with or without tax incentives. Governments sometimes fund these via bed or tourism taxes within the Cultural District boundaries, but it can be done within municipal budgets fairly cheaply. Is this something you would support?
Depends (explain in the next question)

9b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
I may consider this in the future, providing Farmington has the capacity.