Arts+Culture:San Diego is a coalition of over 100 arts and culture organizations dedicated to strengthening our diverse cultural ecosystem and achieving the Penny for Arts and Culture funding plan in San Diego.
Elections 2024
Welcome!
In collaboration with the San Diego Regional Arts and Culture Coalition and the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, Arts+Culture:San Diego is pleased to report the Arts and Culture positions of the candidates for the City of San Diego Council races for Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9.
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You can watch or RSVP to attend any of the online forums for candidates throughout the city. You can find out in which district you live by clicking here, but you don't have to live in the district to attend a forum!
Here are the questions we asked and a summary of three key questions is provided in the table below. Click on each of the Council Districts below for more detail and a link to the video from each forum.
Summary ♦ Council District 1 ♦ Council District 3 ♦ Council District 5 ♦ Council District 7 ♦ Council District 9
Candidates at a glance. Visit the individual district pages for more information.
Name | Picture | Council District | Fully fund Penny for Arts and Culture with a max 5 yr phase-in. | Support Arts& Culture Pandemic Recovery Fund | Action plan for Deferred Maintenance in Balboa Park and other City cultural facilities |
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Joe LaCava | |||||
Will Moore | |||||
Toni Duran | |||||
Stephen Whitburn | |||||
Marni von Wilpert | |||||
Joe Leventhal | |||||
Raul Campillo | |||||
Noli Zosa | |||||
Sean Elo-Rivera | |||||
Kelvin Barrios |
Questions from the Candidate Forum and Survey
The following questions were crowd sourced from people who RSVP'd to the first forum and were asked of all candidates (with the exception of Q7 which was just asked of D3 candidates). Additional questions (not reported here, but available on the video recordings for each candidate) were drawn from attendees at each forum and asked as time permitted.
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1. Please provide your statement regarding Arts and Culture in the City of San Diego (up to 200 words)
2. Do you support fully funding the Penny for Arts and Culture plan (9.52% of TOT), and would you support an ordinance that clearly defines a maximum 4-year phased-in timeline and makes it a certain part of the budget process rather than being treated as a loose guideline?
3. Will you commit to always including “Achieving and Maintaining Penny for Arts and Culture” as a top priority in all budget discussions and initial and revised budget memorandums?
4. How would you work with the commission to ensure that access, equity and diversity remain a priority for all neighborhoods? (up to 100 words)
5. Would you support city investment or a special Recovery Fund to assist the arts, culture and creativity sector’s recovery during the COVID-19 shutdown and future reopening and ensure that any funding or recovery plan for small businesses include non profit organizations?
6. Do you support, and will you commit to pushing for, the creation of a viable action plan to fund Balboa Park deferred maintenance, infrastructure and facilities as well as increased support for city-owned cultural assets across the city?
7. (Asked of District 3 Candidates only) What funding opportunities might you be considering to achieve this investment - specifically to be allocated to over $300M in Balboa Park deferred maintenance? (Up to 100 words)
8. Do you support the creation of a Cultural Affairs Department and the development of a City-wide Cultural Plan that would elevate Arts and Culture as an industry critical to economic health and quality of life in San Diego?