Referring to Hood’s previous blog on the ridiculous state of affairs in Charlotte, one has to wonder what is driving this. Spending millions on the “arts” at this economic time is perplexing at best.
In context, Charlotte again is heavily taxed, CMS (Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools)wants millions more in additional funding, the county and city both are facing budgetary threats that will probably result in tax increases and their rail system projected costs are soaring far beyond anything they imagined (though we pointed out in January).
So why the need for tens of millions more for art?
In my conversations thus far with two of the council’s members, it quickly becomes apparent that their views are heaviy, if not entirely, based upon staffs’ perspective. Without heartfelt convictions about the role of local government one’s view can quickly be skewed. My hope is that this staff induced haze will lift and rationale thought and debate will ensue. But then again, maybe they’re also buying into the fact that their ozone levels are bad and thus they aren’t truly capble of making good decisions until the air gets clean.
