Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance Grade: F (37.50%)

• Candidate Name: Jeffrey Butler
• Your Municipality: Pleasant Grove
• Elected office for which you are running: City Council

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.
My daughter got her start with her love of theater through a city arts program.

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 support it, but I think there ought to be some more oversight to see that the funds are used appropriately yet without cultural or conditions that may force that organization to promote things that they do 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.
No

4b // Optional, explain why or why not.
That sounds like an interesting idea, but where would the art be purchased from and how would that be fair to those who bid on having their art there.

Question 5: Do you support having a Percent-for-Art program in your own municipality?
No

5b // Optional, explain why or why not.
There is already a concern about prudent spending here, that would not be wise to promote.

Question 6: Do you consider the arts and cultural sector an economic driver in Utah?
No

6b // Optional, explain why or why not.
It may be, but it doesn't seem like it.

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. 
Depends (explain in the next question)

8b // Optional, explain why or why not. 
Within the right municipalities, it probably can work well.

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. 
If it were to fit within my municipality maybe, but there doesn't seem to be a good fit.