May 2nd City Council Round Table Meeting
The City Council held a Roundtable meeting to discuss community based planning for arts, culture, history and heritage programming. The meeting included presentations by Dan Hunter, Executive Director Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities (MAASH), Meri Jenkins, Program Manager, Adams Arts Program, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Marc Goldring from Wolf, Keens, and Associates. There was also a viewing of a tape of a lecture by Richard Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has written a book titled The Rise of the Creative Class which suggests that creative people are the engine of the new economy and that creative people are attracted to places where creativity is encouraged.
This meeting was a continuation of discussions that began with planning for the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and continued with an informal assessment of the programs Cambridge sponsored around the Convention and lessons for future programs. This issue was also discussed extensively during Wednesday’s Budget hearing.
Dan Hunter noted that MAASH works to encourage communities and the state to continue to support the arts. He commended Cambridge for its continued support of the Cambridge Arts Council and identified Cambridge as a model for the state. Richard Florida’s lecture noted that creative people are attracted to places like Greater Boston, New York, Austin, Texas, and San Francisco because other creative people are in these areas and that these areas clearly encourage creativity. He noted that people will come to creative places like the Greater Boston area in spite of costs, weather, etc. In his remarks he used Cambridge in particular as an example of a place that has shown itself to encourage creativity which is why it continues to draw creative people.
Ms. Jenkins provided information on the Adams Arts Program supports arts programs that use art and cultural to generate new economic activities. She noted that Cambridge has not applied for these grants in the past and encouraged the City to apply. Mr. Goldring discussed the services his firm provided to communities, which include developing strategic plans for arts, cultural and economic development programs. He also noted that Cambridge may not require the services of a company like his because the City is so far ahead of many communities in seeing the opportunities presented for economic development using arts and culture.
May 4th Budget Hearing
The Council’s Finance Committee held its first budget hearing on Wednesday. The FY06 Budget will be $380,186,825, which is a 4.2% increase from FY05. The FY06 tax levy will increase by 2.5%, the smallest increase in a decade. Property tax rates reflecting this levy increase will be set in the fall.
Highlights of the budget hearing included postponing the discussion of the Traffic, Transportation, and Parking budget until the May 11 hearing, discussions about the use of “new money” including increased Payments in Lieu of Taxes from Harvard and MIT and increases in fees and fines, and a prolonged discussion on the $100,000 budgeted for Destination Cambridge in the Public Celebration budget.
The Finance Committee, which includes all nine members of the City Council, generally supported the budget. Spending increases are largely due to increased health insurance costs and planned wage increases. Thirteen positions are being cut and the Manager reported that any open position is reviewed before the City advertises for applicants to fill the position. “New money” is being used to reduce the increase in the tax levy while maintaining services as well as the City’s reserve and free cash funds.
The discussion about the Destination Cambridge funds referred to Monday’s roundtable and to the work of the Economic Development committee during the past two years. The focus was as much about the City’s future plans for using arts and culture to promote economic development and how that should be managed as it was about the $100,000 in the FY06 budget. The Manager did state that after hearing the discussion on Monday he is happy we are doing things right. He also said that the issues around using arts and culture as an economic development tool will be addressed in the next budget.
The Finance Committee met with the School department on Thursday to discuss the School budget and will meet next Wednesday, May 11, to discuss the balance of the City budget. If needed, an additional budget hearing will be held Tuesday May 17.
May 3rd Planning Board
On Tuesday the Planning Board continued discussions on zoning changes to the Massachusetts Avenue Corridor from Harvard to Porter Square. Residents of the neighborhoods have asked the City to find ways to maintain this corridor for retail uses. Previously the Planning Board approved changes in the zoning to reduce the community review for projects from projects of 6,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet and will likely be forwarding language to the City Council that will allow community review for projects up to 50,000 square feet. Under current regulations review would not be required for projects between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet. This review is not regulatory but advisory.
Tuesday’s discussion focused on mandating uses allowed on the ground floor of buildings in the corridor versus providing development incentives for building owners who agree to limit space to certain defined uses. Cambridge has not, according to City staff, had success with mandating uses. When asked staff could not recall a single successful mandate. Planning Board members would like to continue this discussion. Other issues which need to be resolved include set-back requirements and parking.
