Candidate: Joe Bachetti

Municipality: Tecumseh

Position: Deputy Mayor

What opportunities do you believe Windsor-Essex has to grow our art, culture and heritage sector?

We have many talented individuals in this region who would welcome the opportunity to show case their skills and or provide awareness to their cultural heritage background but need support from municipalities and upper levels of government for necessary funding.

How do you propose to attract or retain artists and cultural workers in your community?

We need to invest in this sector and make allocations in our annual budgets and offer incentives to attract and retain artists.

What role do you see for arts and culture in the promotion of the region both as a destination for tourists and as a place of permanent residence for youth, families, and retirees?

Tourism is an effective means to promote your region and when people attend events it may spark an interest to a family member ie young adult possibly attend post secondary education and even re-locate here when seeing all the opportunities being offered.

In what other ways could you use your position as an elected official to help support the arts, culture and heritage sector outside of using municipal funding?

Sponsorship through corporate partnerships

What is your perspective on the best ways to collaborate with other levels of government to ensure sustainability and growth for the cultural sector of our community?

Be a team player and advocate for this cultural sector.  It is important to understand the political dynamics at play and what it takes to get results.

How do you personally engage with arts, culture and heritage in Windsor-Essex?

As a municipality, it is one of our strategic goals to enhance wherever possible the arts, culture and heritage—-we offer a summer concert series at Lakewood Park and attend as many events as possible to support these artists.  We as a Council provided our historical society a new building so they can display their artifacts and items and work collaboratively with our residents to not only promote but achieve our collective goals.  As an individual I try to be visible and advocate using various social media to engage the public.