Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance Grade: F (37.50%)

  • Candidate Name: James Smith
  • Your Municipality: South Salt Lake
  • Elected office for which you are running: City Council at-large

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

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.

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?
Depends (explain in the next question)

3b // Optional, explain why or why not.
Well, it depends. Not every gov't body is desirous or perhaps even able to deal with such funding.

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.
Depends (explain in the next question)

4b // Optional, explain why or why not.
If the municipality wants it, it should proceed. It should not be a mandate to all.

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.
A factor, but hardly a driver: such events as Sundance and Utah Arts Festival have real impact. The arts impact the quality of life and may make the State more attractive for some businesses. The arts are an asset, but in general a low-yield asset.

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.
No

7b // Optional, explain your experience.
The residents of South Salt Lake are tax averse, and plead poverty at teh mention of anything they caonsider a "frill".

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. 
No

8b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
Tourism is a minor factor in South Salt Lake

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?
No

9b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
See previous answers.