Candidate’s Info:
Submitted October 20, 2010
Shannon Porcellini
1553 York Street
Windsor, ON N8X 1W5
Ward Ward 3 – City of Windsor
519-980-7743
shannon@shannon4ward3.ca
www.shannon4ward3.ca
1. Implementing the MCMP:
The Municipal Cultural Master Plan represents a strong commitment by the City to significantly support the arts in a variety of ways that will help to harness the economic and creative potential of the entire arts community, however, there has not yet been a firm commitment in terms of schedule or budget to realize any of the new proposed initiatives in the MCMP. Of the 15 as-yet-unrealized recommendations in the MCMP, which ones would you prioritize and complement with the necessary financial support and political commitment in order to successfully implement them?
Shannon Porcellini: I believe that recommendations 7 (Arms-length CFC) and 8 (Investment Strategy & Fund) are the hinges on which the rest of the MCMP hang. Those two recos would be my priorities. I also like that the recos acknowledge that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel – orgs like WEA can help or adopt the role of a CFC. I also believe that such a fund should have a mechanism for accepting donations and monetary bequests from the general public.
The rest of the recos will fall into place once the CFC is established. I really like the final reco – ”Investigate the feasibility of live/work facilities for artists”. I advocated for this as far back as 2002 after visiting the old Colgate factory in Toronto, where a brownfield site had been turned into an artists colony with live/work facilites. This would require zoning by-law changes and planning dept. involvement.
2. Arts Infrastructure:
Given the substantial economic, cultural, and social successes realized by other North America cities through the development of exceptional arts facilities, given the enthusiasm for multiple arts organizations in the region to work together and the proven track record of such facilities to transform the urban landscape, and given the recently adopted Municipal Cultural Master Plan’s directive to provide capacity-building support for arts organizations, how will you support our region’s infrastructural needs for multi-use, multi-organization arts and culture facilities such as the Capitol Theatre and Armouries-Palace?
a) the Capitol. I would like to see the Capitol become a Cultural Recreation Centre for the City. I believe that community theatre and childrens arts programming can co-exist, and there is currently a gap in public cultural programming for kids in the City Centre. Waterworld provides outstanding athletic opportunities for children, but little in the way of arts & culture. To access ballet classes for preschoolers, for example, a parent would have to get their child to Oakwood, Optimist or Gino A. Marcus, something that is just not feasible for many parents in the downtown. Community theatre could still have rehearsal and performance space at a reasonable cost.
b) the A-P. I think this is a great idea, but I’m not sure why the public needs to build such a facility. I’d put the challenge out to industry to help fund such a centre, much like the old O’Keefe Centre in Toronto (now the Sony Centre). I do believe that our community would benefit from such a centre. I think the public should invest in community arts, like the Capitol Cultural Rec Centre before entering the cultural centre development game. Corporations have traditionally been able to assist in these larger scale endeavours.
3. Economy and the Arts:
Artists and arts organizations across the region bring in millions of dollars every year in revenue through grants, sales, private investment, and donations, infusing additional millions of dollars back into the local economy. Over the last twenty years, across the province, arts and culture industries grew 14% more than the rest of the economy. As the arts are a long-proven driver of economic development in the city and beyond, what will you do to ensure that the arts and culture community can bring even more investment, talent, and dollars to the region?
Shannon Porcellini: Many arts and culture based industries are, in fact, small businesses, and I support the development of a capacity-building centre (I call it the Small Business Store) for small businesses, a place where entrepreneurs (cultural or otherwise) can register, meet with CRA, sign up for WSIB, check out the bylaws and licensing requirements, sign up for mentoring, and discuss small business loans with a local credit union or bank. I’ve been arguing for the economic importance of arts & culture since 2001 when I was a Community Developer with the Greater Drouillard Road Revitalization and the Ford City Discovery Centre. I also believe we can expedite the rehabilitation of brownfields for arts & culture businesses/initiatives through changes to our planning scheme and protocols.
4. Arts and Culture Funding:
Strong financial investment in arts and culture has direct and tangible economic and social returns, as measured by economists such as Richard Florida, Statistics Canada, and the Conference Board of Canada, and as demonstrated in cities around the world. This investment engages residents and draws new talent, assists in fostering new businesses, and creates a healthier and more vibrant community. With that in mind,how much of the municipal budget would you allocate to arts and culture, and how would you justify that spending to your constituents?
Shannon Porcellini: 1% of the municipal budget (excluding capital) to include: salary and benefits for cultural affairs staff, initial funding for the Cultural Funding Commission, capacity building for arts & culture orgs, cultural summits, an extended public arts policy, a civic cultural awards program, and other plan development costs. I would justify this to my constituents, were I to be elected, by requiring an evaluation of the program every two years, reported to Council, assessing the economic impact to Windsor, including number of jobs created, types of jobs (precarious or permanent or self-employed), capacity of local a & c businesses, impact on tourism including revenue generated, etc. If the assumptions in the question are true, then an investment of about $3M in arts & culture in the city should have a substantial impact on the economy, jobs, and tourism. Let’s put it to the test. I propose to pay for this by increasing the property tax rate on parking lots from $0.016 to $0.032, which in the short term should provide some revenues, and in the long term should encourage development of parking lots into commercial, office, industrial, residential or multiresidential buildings.
5. Your vision for our Region’s Arts and Culture:
Please briefly describe your vision for the near, medium, and long-term future for arts and culture in Windsor and/or Essex County.
Shannon Porcellini: Near: Capitol incorporated into Recreation Dept as a Cultural Recreation Centre for Community Theatre and arts/culture programming for children; establishment of community organization to develop RC3 (Rose City Cultural Centre) – a new community museum on Western Super Anchor Site, and Science City on lands west of AGW (presented to Council May 2010 by students from St. Anne’s FI School.); implementation of recos 1-5 of MCMP; development of Small Business Store to assist establishment and capacity building of small businesses (including cultural or arts based businesses)
Medium: Fundraising for, construction and opening of RC3; implementation of recos 6-16 of MCMP; assessment of impact of 1% investment in A&C, development of Armouries-Palace, re-establishment of public art program (mural/sculpture program).
Long-term: Opening of Armouries-Palace, re-evaluation of 1% initiative, ability of Cultural Funding Commission to provide stable & transient funding to arts organizations, regular cultural summits, increased space and production of public art.
