2 to 5

Well, they passed it with a vote of 5 "for" and 2 "against." Orem is going to get a Center for Story and Arts at the Orem City Library, 8 blocks away from the SCERA Center for the Arts. Go figure. I don't get it, really I don't. Since I wrote this letter, I've been attending many meetings and talking with city council members who were open to discussion, trying to understand their perspective. It seems ill advised to me. These are the burning questions I have:

~Why build what amounts to a city auditorium with CARE tax dollars which were designated for the arts, parks and recreation? It will be used for some arts purposes, but will be used for many community meetings and events as well. Why not get other tax dollars to build this auditorium and leave the CARE funding (approximately $2,000,000) for the purpose for which it was designed?
~Why build a brick and mortar building to benefit what has become a non-profit organization (the Storytelling festival) when the city leaders can't authorize any buildings for other non-profits? This seems extremely unfair and self serving. It appears that the city council is approving of and giving themselves a building. If the new building isn't primarily for the "Center for Story," then don't call it by that name. The relationship between the library and the Storytelling festival has become so entwined that it is hard to keep track of who does what and who is driving this operation. Money talks and that is evident by the treatment that Karen Ashton receives. The rich get what they want if they push hard enough, long enough.
~How will they control content (in a very conservative community) in a government building?
~Even if there is room to build this structure next to the Orem City Library (in the front along State Street), there is absolutely no parking available. There isn't enough parking as it is for library patrons. They claim that they won't have to remove little league ball fields to accommodate parking. We'll see about that.
~The auditorium will have approximately 380 fixed seats, with a balcony of 100 seats and an area to set up more folding chairs to reach about 500 seats on the main level. That's a large auditorium. When built, the library staff and city leaders will feel a pressing need to use it. As more and more free events are offered at the library, there is the very real outcome that people will get their arts "fix" at the library for free and not want to pay for more arts entertainment down the street. Mayor Washburn doesn't see this as a problem. I totally disagree. Since no impact study was done, they're just building buildings on assumptions and guesses, assuming that is won't harm existing organizations. They're taking a big gamble on that belief. I believe it really could put SCERA out of business over time.
~Why not better utilize what we have and cooperate more with the existing arts organizations to maximize what is going on in our community? Librarian Louise Wallace stated that they will cooperate with existing organizations to support one another. Really? Based on what history? The Orem library staff has an abysmal record of cooperating and coordinating with existing arts organizations (with the exception of the Storytelling Festival.) They're in it for themselves.
~They intend to staff this new center with librarians and volunteers. They intent to clean it with volunteers and some staff support. They are claiming that general fund dollars will be kept to a minimum and that CARE dollars will be used to support the center in the future. An important part of this puzzle is that CARE dollars were approved by the tax paying community for 8 years. Four years have gone by. In four more years, the CARE tax will go back to the taxpayers for approval. They may or may not pass the CARE tax again. Given our current economic climate, I have my doubts that it will pass (unless the economy improves drastically.) They're banking on supporting a center in the future when that future funding is not a certainty. To me, that isn't a wise move.

I'm not against the Storytelling organization. I am against them getting preferential treatment. I'm not against the Orem City Library. I am against them seizing control of the arts in our city when that is not their main purpose. I'm not personally against the four council members and the Mayor who voted for this center, but I'm not going to vote for them again. I am highly in favor of Council members Mary Street and Brent Sumner. They asked some hard questions (which were never fully answered) and they stood their ground. I just don't think the City of Orem should have commited hundreds of thousands of dollars now (with millions of dollars at stake down the road) to a project when there are many pressing questions that are still on the table.