Antonio Pedro Ruiz: I hate to respond to long responses to my postings but what the heck, this is about dialogue, so here goes. For the rest of the readers, see Sanders original posting down further in the Press Room.
1) What is the grand vision for a culturally vibrant and diverse Long Beach?
Sander’s reply:I’m not sure that what we need right now is a ‘grand vision.’ I think that, first and foremost, we need to have a process of self-discovery where we, as a community, explore what our values are, and what we need. We have failed in the past because individuals, or groups, assume that we know what the people of Long Beach want or need. We don’t. We need to ask, listen, and learn. We need to know what’s happening in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and find ways to nurture and support what we already have. Then, and only then, can we formulate a ‘grand vision.’
Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: You’re right. But so am I. What we need is for someone, everyone, to ask questions and demand answers. We need for the Arts Community to stop waiting for someone else to come up with both the questions and the answers. Then we need, even if it’s a few, to be the leaders who will step forward and take all of that and make it into a Grand Vision. If there’s no goal or goals, if there are no objectives, if there’s no plan, then you can forget about it. It’s going to be the same old thing; a lot of walking around in circles, going nowhere.
2) Who will build it and will they all come?
Sander’s reply:I think the City’s biggest challenge is allowing the creative community to flourish. Municipal rules are currently overly restrictive, and are based upon a reaction to old models, and not upon a commitment to nurturing the amazing resources already here.
Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: Humm, government getting in the way? There’s a new concept. Sorry about that. Yes, because in Long Beach, we’re still operating on models like this is 1956. It’s the NIMBY mentality. We want our peace and quiet (and trust me I know I do) and we want our entertainment but we don’t want them in the same place as we live. “Couldn’t we just find a nice big piece of land in the middle of nowhere and put all those noisy nightclubs and restaurants there?”
3) How will we convince the political and business communities that the best prevention tool against crime and an incentive for raising the hopes of a community is to tap into their creative spirit?
Sander’s reply: A wise man once said that businesses don’t vote. People vote. We, as the creative community, must find innovative and effective ways of reaching out to our neighbors and help them to understand the value of what we do, and how they can help to make it flourish. If there is a ground-swell of grass roots support to change how our municipal leaders view, and support, the arts, the municipal leaders will do so, or be voted out.
Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: It’s called political power.
4) Who will pay for this grand vision and understanding that not paying for it will cost us all dearly in the future?
Sander’s reply: This is a difficult question to answer in that it presupposes something that isn’t necessarily true. It assumes that there needs to be a “grand vision,” and that municipal funding is required to support it. I suspect that, if we take a pragmatic and operational view, there are a number of simple changes the City can make that would nurture the creative community without spending a single penny. Furthermore, such changes would actually create more revenue for the City by generating more business. I agree that there needs to be a plan, but I also believe that we can do important and far-reaching things right now. In the last few years, I’ve made inquiries with municipal entities around the country where Cities have successfully balanced the needs of business, citizens, and the arts. In almost every case, the overarching success of all three was based significantly on a limited municipal role in entertainment regulation. I believe that our City’s leaders should start looking at other successful cities, and finding ways to implement their models here.
Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: I didn’t mean that government pay for the grand vision. But yes, they, us, businesses, will pay for some part of it. Simple changes in laws, policies, and strategies are needed to improve the entertainment and cultural options for this city. But first, please give me that Grand Vision and then tell me how you intend to implement it instead of putting it away so it can collect dust as this city has done before.
5) Who will provide the leadership for building and installing this grand vision?
Sander’s reply: Leadership should come from the Arts Council but they, through a consistent effort on their part, have become largely inconsequential to the majority of Long Beach citizens. Except for those directly involved in traditional municipal arts activities, the Arts Council is unknown. Even the municipal leaders who fund it use it as a tool to shift the responsibility for supporting the Arts off of their desks, and have little interest in embracing substantive changes, even when recommended by the Council. No clearer example of this is the complete failure by the Council to implement any significant parts of the previous Strategic Plan. If we are to formulate a ‘grand vision’ for the arts, or even a modest one, we first must find out what the citizens know, what they need, and what they’d like. Without taking the time to tap into our City’s most valuable resource, its people, we are most certainly doomed to fail.
Antonio Pedro Ruiz responds: Amen!