02 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Fialho explained that it could take many forms, noting that more recently many elected to implement an impact fee to be collected from new development. Mayor Thorne noted that the goals are not prioritized, which he assumed would be activities with which the Civic Arts Commission was tasked. Councilmember Narum asked if staff has looked at placing the topic of expanded facilities on the agenda of the school district liaison committee. Councilmember Cook - Kallio asked and Ms. Grose confirmed that 487 respondents survey response. Mayor Thorne opened the item for public comment. agencies have one of the first use of schools is a significant Olivia Sanwong urged the Council to consider a more formalized partnership with the Economic Vitality Committee (EVC) as the prioritization of goals is considered, noting that the EVC has representation from Visit Tri- Valley, PDA, Pleasanton Unified School District, and Project Lead the Way. She said there is an incredible opportunity to approach this from the perspective of the creative class and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, perhaps with the integration of the arts. She said she particularly supported the idea of a signature festival. She suggested that the city has an opportunity to increase its return on investment, noting that Pleasanton's annual arts expenditure totals $2.2 million and nets $1.5 million while Walnut Creek spends $8.5 million but nets almost the same expenditure of $1.6 million. Heidi Massie, Civic Arts Commission, said the Commission felt the Plan was written in a way that provides the flexibility needed to meet the stated goals from several strategic standpoints and to leverage the city's existing resources She concurred that priority setting would be a critical part of the process and encouraged the Council's support of the Plan. Mayor Thorne closed public comment. Councilmember Cook - Kallio said she was delighted with the Plan, particularly the idea of coordinating art and cultural efforts with economic development. She also supported reconstitution of the Civic Arts Commission as described. Vice -Mayor Pentin said he felt that diversifying the city's cultural offerings would help to educate us all on how the community has evolved and that he strongly supported combined marketing efforts for the city's facilities. He referred to the printed annual program of events for the Firehouse Arts Center and said he would like to see the same thing done for Amador Theater. He acknowledged the Council's extensive list of priorities but said he thought that addressing renovations of the Amador Theater, Century House and cultural center to be wonderful inclusions. Councilmember Brown noted that the fairgrounds offer a number of wonderful cultural events and asked if the city partners with that in any fashion. Ms. Crose explained that staff does make an effort to combine programming when possible, usually by bringing an offering to one of the city's venues that will capture the same audience as another event. Councilmember Brown said she has heard from citizens that there is a strong interest in a movie theater, especially downtown. She asked, and Ms. Grose confirmed, that the Firehouse Arts Center has the ability to show movies and asked if that is something staff is exploring further. Ms. Grose explained that while they have already held several movie events there, staff is aware of the demand and is exploring that sort of programming more closely. City Council Minutes Page 10 of 11 October 21, 2014