Utah Cultural Advocacy Alliance Grade: D+ (68.75%)

  • Candidate Name: Mike Roan
  • Your Municipality: Provo
  • 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.
I have been impacted by many types of cultural and art experiences. I've been touched by learning about my native American heritage, plays (particularly those with historical perspectives), religious art, museums and various re-enactments and pageants.

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.

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 have not at this point evaluated this issue enough to form an opinion.

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.
see my answer above

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

6b // Optional, explain why or why not.
Yes, these events bring thousands of people to Utah from elsewhere to enjoy our events and programs and are a tremendous economic boost for our state and local economies - in Provo for example; the temples, MOA, Covey Center, Sundance Summer Theater and the Film Festival among many other events and venues

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. 
In fact, with the addition of a additional major hotel in the downtown area and the Utah Valley Visitors and Convention Center, I think it would be a phenomenal idea fro a grass roots movement to convert the historic Utah County Courthouse building into a world class museum as a destination attraction for our many visitors.

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 have not evaluated this enough to formulate an opinion. Conceptually it seems like a good idea and warrants more study on my part.