My family moved a lot as I was growing up and in every new city, my father would take us on a tour of the museums, the libraries, the parks, the theatres, and the neighborhoods. That was how we connected with our new home. My first visit to the theatre was to watch my mother in The Merchant of Venice and our last family reunion before my father passed away was a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. Arts & Culture is, to me, the essence of connectivity to my family, my home, and my community.

My first public art experience was at the City of Los Angeles cultural arts center on Riverside Drive in Silver Lake. I was in a play called "Hansel and Gretel" and I played Hansel. My parents came to see me and that was very meaningful.

I am a singer/songwriter. At the age of 14, I sang a duet (“Ebony and Ivory”) in a school show, and it was amazing for me. Over the next two years, I practiced and practiced to expand the range of my voice. I taught myself guitar and eventually became a professional musician. My work in music and the way it has brought me together with so many people despite different backgrounds and even languages, has been my most character defining experience in my life. I met my wife through music and sing to my kids.

Simply put - to develop and support! The three vital economic drivers in Los Angeles are the Entertainment Industry, Arts & Culture, and Tourism. It is essential that the City of Los Angeles protect and support the region’s cultural infrastructure by treating it as an asset, not as a liability. Arts & Culture must be integrated into LA’s Great City commitment and Arts & Culture must be positioned as an integral element of all that the city does, not as an afterthought, but as part of a quality of life mandate.

It's essential as a Councilmember to make sure that the public humanities - as well as public safety, public works and public health - are part of the daily discussion. I work hard to give all Angelenos the opportunity to enhance their lives through their experience of art in its many forms. It's important to enhance and support the variety of cultural institutions in Los Angeles and Southern California as a whole and promote the relationship between students and the local art world.

I believe the City Council should play a role in supporting the arts. I am very involved in public schools. Recently Franklin Elementary saw great improvements in the achievement gap, which I attribute greatly to our efforts to support the arts in the school. Through Friends of King, I have started an after school drama program. The city council needs to develop new partnerships with the public school system, the libraries, and the arts organizations, so as to bring the arts to public education but also to every citizen of LA. I have a track record of bringing people together to deliver the arts.

It is imperative that the City of LA support the Arts & Culture community with rigorous and transparent oversight, review, and accountability of the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) funds and commit to supporting partners of all sizes with innovations in pursuing new funding sources. Arts & Culture programs and professionals must be positioned as public safety solutions, public works partners, public health assets, essential public education components, social services and quality of life enhancements and economic drivers. Arts Centers must be partners to Civic Centers. Ultimately, arts and culture must be positioned as a valuable city asset, not as a liability.

The most important thing I can do is work closely with the tourism industry to enhance the marketing of Los Angeles to build the hotel room tax that goes directly to arts funding. The larger arts institutions must also share their wealth so that the community arts groups can succeed as well.

First, we can and must make every department of the City government work more efficiently and for less money. If we are able to do this, we can free up funds that can be put towards arts and culture. Arts are good for tourism. This is the city of Los Angeles, arguably the creative capital of the world. Yet we do not seem to draw tourists here in decent numbers to enjoy our creativity. I’m an entrepreneur. People are creating here and I have a lot of ideas on how to attract tourism into this city and bring much needed money to the arts.

1. Position Arts & Culture as an economic driver and pursue funding based on the wide range of positive impacts on the vitality of our city and the quality of life experience for residents and tourists of all ages. ( http://soapboxla.blogspot.com/2010/07/citywatchla-can-las-theatre-commun... ) 2. Integrate Arts & Culture as an essential element of Public Education resulting in a skilled artistic community ready to fill great jobs in LA’s rejuvenated economic environment. ( http://soapboxla.blogspot.com/2010/10/citywatchla-hollywood-fight-club.html ) 3. Protect LA’s rich, diverse, and valuable Arts & Culture brand and keep the tourists in LA, stimulating the economy and creating jobs for the professionals. ( http://soapboxla.blogspot.com/2010/04/citywatchla-hollywood-protecting-b... )

1.) I would connect universities and colleges in Southern California to art institutions. One reason that art is part of my life is because I took art appreciation in college and it pulled me off the football field into another world. 2.) As I mentioned above, I would promote tourism. Los Angeles has so much to offer tourists from all over the world and I'm proud to promote our city every chance I get. 3.) I would also enlighten the greater community that I'm in contact with about the art on display in their own neighborhoods - at the local art gallery, theater and the book store down the block.

First I would rework tax incentives to keep the creative industry in Los Angeles, as we are currently losing it to other cities. Second, I would encourage partnerships between LAUSD and the libraries. We have all these separate entities that are not working together. We need to share assets. Lastly, taxes. As I talk with voters, the number one thing people say is that they are willing to pay more taxes for schools, social services, and the arts if they are convinced that government has cleaned up its act. I am running for council to get into city hall and clean up. Once voters see an efficient and frugal government, they will be willing to add new revenue to fund the arts.