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BACKGROUND In 1998, the Community Services Department entered into an agreement with AMS Planning and Research to create a Cultural Plan that would provide a road map for the arts in the coming years. The plan was incredibly useful in highlighting the needs of the arts community and preparing the Department for that need. The Plan was instrumental in creation of the Firehouse Arts Center. Since the implementation of the plan, the scope of cultural art programming has continued to expand. To address this situation, the City Council's Annual Work Plan includes a Cultural Plan Update that would summarize themes, trends, and community priorities, assess available resources, review existing and anticipated demographic conditions, and provide strategies for cultural planning and programmatic needs. In November 2012, the Civic Arts Commission, the Cultural Plan Steering Committee and staff began working with The Cultural Planning Group, in developing the Cultural Plan. Drafts of the document have been reviewed by staff, the City Manager's office, the Cultural Plan Steering Committee and the Civic Arts Commission. On September 23, 2014, a final draft was presented for the Civic Arts Commission's review and comments. The Civic Arts Commission approved the plan, and is recommending the plan, with minor changes, for the City Council review and approval. DISCUSSION The Cultural Planning process included the formation of a 14-member Steering Committee including representatives from the Civic Arts Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Youth Commission, the Library Commission, an Economic Vitality Committee member, an Amador Livermore Valley Historical Society Board member, a Pleasanton Unified School District staff person, a Pleasanton Art League member, a Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council member a former Poet Laureate as well as parent and teen Community Members At-Large. In an effort to achieve maximum public participation, the process also included an assessment of the community arts and cultural needs based on an Online Community Opinion Survey and feedback received from 487 respondents, 23 key stakeholder interviews, three (3) steering committee meetings, three (3) focus group meetings, two (2) community workshops and one (1) public art presentation. The Cultural Planning Group also reviewed and inventoried the facilities/venues and programs looking at both frequency of use, ages served, attendance and other pertinent details. A comparison of the following cities was also conducted: Walnut Creek, Palo Alto, San Ramon, Mountain View and Livermore. The cities were chosen based on similarities in population size and household income. The amount of total arts spending, net arts spending, gross arts spending per capita and net arts spending per capita in the cities was compared. Pleasanton was found to rank third in the list in total arts spending at $2.2 million. Page 2 of 4