Contact Winona City Council by Feb. 22 to Advocate for Arts & Culture Plan

 

A message from River Arts Alliance member Margaret Shaw Johnson:

 

Dear RAA members,

Thanks to everyone who gave input into the proposed Arts & Culture Plan.  NOW WE NEED TO ADVOCATE FOR PASSAGE OF THE PLAN!  The plan will come before the City Council for consideration on Tuesday, February 22, after a pre-council meeting.  Our national consultants will attend the pre-council meeting, which will probably start at 5:00 or 5:30. While the public will not have an opportunity to speak, your attendance will indicate support for the plan, so please do attend!

At the Council meeting that follows, the council will give the plan an up or down vote. Please attend the council meeting as well.  Before then and if you support the plan, please contact council members to urge its passage!  At this link, you can find information about your ward boundaries and who your council member is and his or her contact information but there is no reason not to contact all of them.

Please write them an email, call them, or send them a letter, written in your own words. Depending on your views you may include the following points:

 

1) The plan is the result of a two-year, comprehensive study by professional consultants hired by the city.  More than 1000 people and organizations gave input and the plan reflects that input.

2) There is overwhelming public support for the provisions of the plan.

3) Arts and Culture are identified as important by over 94% of Winona Residents.  Interviews were conducted with people in all walks of life, living in every ward of the city, in the professions, businesses, the trades…with artists and those who are, and are not, regular consumers of the arts.

4) There is overwhelming recognition that arts and culture are an important aspect of Winona’s economy, and that they help us to attract new businesses and retain a talented workforce.

5) The plan itself does not require or contemplate any immediate expenditure of city funds.  Implementation of any part of the plan will be based on future resources and future budget processes. The short term focus would be the implementation of measures that do not require expenditures of city funds.

Our city council members do listen to what their constituents tell them.  Our advocacy will help to determine the future of the arts in Winona.

 

Thank you!

Margaret Shaw Johnson

Arts & Culture Steering Committee Chairperson