9:45am | On March 2nd, the City Council voted in favor of the creation, by the Mayor, of a ‘Blue Ribbon Commission’ that would explore alternate sources of funding for Arts and Culture. At tomorrow’s Council meeting, the creative community will rally in the Council chambers in support of the Mayor’s appointments to this new commission.

According to a document released by the Mayor’s office on Friday, there will be seven commissioners. Each nominee brings a unique and valuable set of skills to the table.

From the document, here are the nominees, with a brief bio for each:

Larry Black is owner and operator of The Varden Hotel, formerly known as the Dolly Varden Hotel, and currently ranked #1 on Trip Adviser. Mr. Black is active in his community and serves on the ICT Board of Directors and the board for the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Blair Cohn is the Executive Director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association. Former race director of the International City Marathon, Blair has put his experience to work in Bixby Knolls, managing a bustling uptown with a modest budget and creative ideas.

Carina Cristiano Leoni is the Project Director of the Connected Corridor; a project of Leadership Long Beach transforming neighborhoods into one community by connecting stakeholders along Atlantic Avenue. She is a former K-12 teacher, and has developed social media curriculum for use by CSULB’s Professional Development Services. Ms. Cristiano Leoni remains active with the day-to-day operations of Nino’s Italian Restaurant, a family-operated business serving Long Beach for over 50 years.

Julie Heggeness is an attorney with a long history with the Long Beach Memorial Foundation. She is currently the Director of Trusts & Estates, serving Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital. As a Leadership Long Beach graduate, she remains very active in her community through several boards and commissions. Ms. Heggeness was recently appointed to the Redevelopment Agency board.

Antonio Ruiz is founder of The Creativity Network, a web based video channel showcasing segments on artists, art venues, performances, and discussions to promote arts, culture, and creativity. Mr. Ruiz is a graduate of the Leadership Long Beach Executive Quick-Start program. He remains active in the community, looking for ways to engage residents, artists, and stakeholders, and to preserve and advocate for the arts within the City.

Jan van Dijs is a Principal of J.R. van Dijs, Inc., a locally based building and development company. Jan is actively involved in the restoration of historical properties throughout Long Beach; past projects include the Art Theatre, East Village Creative Offices, and the Ebell Club.

Michele Wilson is an experienced trial attorney in the Civil and Criminal arenas. Ms. Wilson stays involved in her community by serving on local boards for Food Finders, Long Beach City College Foundation, and the Arts Council for Long Beach. She is also a member of CAMEO and past affiliations include the Long Beach Opera, Long Beach Museum of Art, and Musical Theater West.

The document released on Friday also included reports from two previous examinations of alternate arts funding. The first, from 2001, led to the creation of the ‘1 Percent for the Arts’ measure that, for many years, has required developers in specific downtown areas to put 1% of their total project cost into a fund for public art. This program, managed in partnership between the Arts Council for Long Beach and the Redevelopment Agency, has had its critics but, has certainly created some successes.

An expansion of the program, outside the auspices of the RDA, to the entire City has been discussed for years, and could be a very straight forward and relatively painless way to greatly increase funding for the Arts. You can expect to see this as a recommendation from the ‘Blue Ribbon Commission.’

The 2nd report, from 2004, produced a set of recommendations that were never implemented. Mostly, they focused on tax increases that required two thirds approval by voters.

Worse, many of the ideas that arose through community discussions were never included in the final report, even though they could have made significant improvements to the cultural landscape, and were far easier to implement.

I mention this because, looking forward, I believe that there are valuable lessons to be learned from these past experiences.

First, unless the City Council and Mayor’s office are willing to provide leadership in support of arts and culture, even the best ideas produced by this new ‘Blue Ribbon Commission’ will be of little value.

The best way to make sure our elected municipal representatives support the recommendations of the commission is to communicate with them directly. Let them know what your priorities and values are, and make sure they know you care about how they vote.

Speak with your neighbors and local business owners, brainstorm your own sets of ideas, and participate actively by sharing your ideas with the Commission and Council members.

If that doesn’t work, begin to look for people in your neighborhood that share your values, and have leadership qualities. Encourage them to run for public office. After all, there’s always another round of municipal elections every 2 years.

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