2018 Municipal Election Candidate Questions JACC

1. Please describe your involvement/participation in the arts and cultural activities in Juneau:
2. How many times per year do you attend an arts and cultural events?   20
3. What types of events do you attend, and what motivates you attend arts and cultural events. Concerts, plays, symphony. Motivation is simply enjoyment and learning.
4. Are you a current or past member of any Juneau arts organizations? Which one(s)? What motivates you to be a member? No
5. The Juneau Arts & Humanities Council (JAHC) operates the Juneau Arts & Culture Center (JACC) which is a CBJ facility. Since July 1^st of this year, JAHC has been contracted by CBJ to manage and operate Centennial Hall (also a CBJ building on CBJ land). JAHC is committed to building a facility dedicated to the arts and culture to replace the existing JACC: the New JACC.
6. How familiar are you with the New JACC project, and what if any questions do you have about it? Very
7. What do you know and think about the dual management of the JACC and Centennial Hall? As a sitting Assembly I will withhold judgement until we have more experience with this management agreement.
8. What is your position on the New JACC project generally? Strong Support.
9. Do you support CBJ investment in the New JACC, and what form would you consider best (general obligations bonds, revenue, bonds, sales tax allocation, or other means of generating investment funds)? Bonding is best as it would require vote of support from the citizens. Ownership is a minor issue. Revenue Bonds are too risky for such a start-up.
10. Juneau was chosen by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC as the 11^th city in the nation for the Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child Initiative, a community-wide effort to ensure equal access to learning in and through the arts for all students. How would you, if elected, support and contribute to equitable access to arts education for every Juneau student? Continue to fund Arts as they are funded and via the JSD. The District has grants for this purpose and I would continue to support those efforts.
11. Juneau was recently named one of the top 10 most Culturally Vibrant small town’s in the United States by SMU’s National Center for Arts Research, and at the beginning of this year was named the sixth most Creatively Vital micropolises nationally by the Western States Arts Federation. Both these rankings were in part determined by the level of economic activity associated with arts and culture in our community, and by the level of public investment in the arts. How do see these national rankings being leveraged to Juneau’s advantage, and what would you do as an elected official to ensure that Juneau remains a national leader in this area? Great for fundraising and maybe to attract higher quality artists but overall not much different within Juneau itself.
12. JAHC recently adopted a resolution on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as did the Assembly. How can the arts and culture sector help address social issues to help make Juneau a healthy and vibrant community? What role does the Assembly have in this effort? I am not very up on this – it is important that equity be our overriding objective. Time will tell if we can achieve that.
13. Please share any other thoughts and comments you may have about JAHC, the New JACC, or the arts and culture in Juneau.