Change the policy. It's not written in stone. Save the City and the taxpayers the $72,000 dollars.

Given the budget.

The city should only approve NEEDED items. Art at the fire station is not one of the items.

I predict a new cast of folks come election day.

I applaude the City for thinking long term. I know in this economy, many people are thinking more of saving. However, this will beautify the city. The other pieces of art that Mountain View has are fantastic. Art in a town makes the whole place more livable. This is what Mountain View is about - trees, art, community!
Thanks City Council!

What a beautiful fire station! Great photo!

From MV Budget update fiscal year 2010-11.....(my caps)

"For Fiscal Year 2010-11, the City is currently facing a projected structural budget DEFICIT (operating revenues not meeting operating expenditures) of $4.1 MILLION. Strategies to eliminate the projected deficit could include additional efficiencies, service reductions, and revenue increases."

So we are potentially 4M in the hole and the City Council approves 67K for public art at a fire station? Am I missing something? I am glad the firefighters are pleased. Maybe we could take the money out of their pension fund?


Web Link

I, too, like the idea of requiring 1% of major construction projects to go for art. I do not always agree that the art looks good, but I'd still rather see the owners (usually businesses, not the city) provide the artworks than not, and I'm glad the owners (when they are businesses) choose the artworks--not the city.

Public art adds value to our community by enhancing the environment. That value benefits the citizens of Mountain View by making it a more desirable place to live and attracting business to our city. I am happy to contribute a very small part of our public money to this cause.

"The city" does not select artwork. The artwork for publicly funded buildings is selected, commissioned and recommended to the city council by a committee of community members. Any citizen of Mountain View can apply to volunteer on this committee and contribute to the art selection process.

I think public art is great, and I do believe that it makes MV a more desirable place to live, with that said, I do not think it is essential to spend funds (we don't have) on public art for a fire station, especially when we are in a deficit situation. How about asking Google to write a check as part of their corporate philanthropy for the local community?