This article, and the mostly sophomoric comments that follow, are big on opinion and small on information. Here are three reasons why this is a breeding ground for straw men and the uninformed talking heads who scream at them:
1) The position is NOT being funded by Lancaster City taxpayers. The public arts manager is paid for by a 3-year grant from the Lancaster County Community Foundation. (It’s nice to see at least one informed individual in the September 4, 2010 at 10:29 pm comment.)
2) This is NOT news. The position has existed since summer 2009. I guess Leslie Fordham, who first occupied the role, is no longer there. It’s an old, stale excuse for a “scoop.”
3) This money could NOT have gone to the library, the museum, or the school district. Again, this is a single-purpose grant. I think the most common source of unnecessary “public outcries” is a simple failure to understand the basics of grant funding.
Suffice it to say that “Not a joke” and the comments that follow are a sorry excuse for genuine political dissent.
NewsLanc’s so-called mission statement is to “protect the public from the foolish, the provincial, the greedy, and the predatory.” Well, this “article” is downright foolish, encourages provincialism, and preys upon the hotheaded and uninformed. I can’t see how it’s greedy, though—I’ll give you that.
“Hot headed, uninformed, foolish and provincial”? That is how the people of Lancaster who don’t “shut up and put up” are spoken of in private chambers??? Shame on those who do. How dare they.
Was this position and the funding, etc. brought to the attention of the people of Lancaster County? It is the first time I and others have heard of such a position. And since the LCCC is proving to be unprofitable, who can blame us? We have a right to question the administration’s spending. When will we be told what this position entails and what is the purpose and ultimate goal, and how much of the taxpayer’s money will be taken to achieve the goal.
In this tight economy, why even fill such a position? Just to spend the grant money?
Please keep us “informed”. Why so angry? Why so defensive? I’m more wary of the intentions of the administration now than before. “Thou doth protest too much”.
As it seems that some individuals have been reading my previous comments as unscrupulously as they read their morning paper, I have to add a few additional points:
1) I have absolutely NO connection with the City administration—not professionally, not personally. I happen to be an ordinary citizen who appreciates genuine, intelligent political dissent.
2) I did NOT call anyone “foolish” or “provincial.” I said that the ARTICLE is foolish and that it ENCOURAGES provincialism. As for “hotheaded” and “uninformed,” that’s exactly what I would call anyone who passionately jumps to arms over an old piece of news.
3) This position WAS “brought to the attention of the people of Lancaster County,” at least in the July 2009 Intell article “She Sees Lancaster City As A Work Of Art.” A citizen’s failure to attend public meetings and read the paper does not constitute a lack of political transparency.
However, quite disconcertingly, the Mayor did neglect to hold a countywide whistle-stop tour to query the public sentiment regarding free public art managers. Where are Woodward and Bernstein when you need ’em?