Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance Grade: C (75%)

  • Candidate Name: Eric Rijk Kraan
  • Your Municipality: Cottonwood Heights
  • Elected office for which you are running: City Council District 4

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.
Art, Culture & Humanites are important aspects that create a well rounded individual. Discipline, creativity, empathy, pride, morality, and self-awareness are some of the character building blocks that I can attribute to my experience with music, theater, history & travel experiences.

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.
I do believe in community funded programs to help expand the reach of the arts in our community. That said, it has to be measured and balanced with the overall city plan and vision of the community.

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.
I stand firmly in the commitment to seek permission of the public to enact any funding expense. Therefore I would support this measure if it is supported by the population of the city perhaps as part of a general election.

Question 5: Do you support having a Percent-for-Art program in your own municipality?
Depends (explain in the next question)

5b // Optional, explain why or why not.
Please see my explanation above.

Question 6: Do you consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah?
Yes

6b // Optional, explain why or why not.
From historical sites, theaters, parks and recreation that form the cultural backbone of our community. I do consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah.

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.

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. 
The city between the Canyons is interested in creating productive and sustainable partnerships with the local tourism sector to boost the local business and residents of our 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?
Yes

9b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
I am very interested in making sure that the development of the Gravel Pit at Wasatch boulevard has a positive impact to our city and metropolitan area in general. A cultural center would be part of that conversation.