City: Covina
Position Seeking: City Council

Question 1: Please share a meaningful experience you had with art (visual, dance, drama, music, media arts) while growing up and its impact on you.

Art has had profound meaning on me growing up and continues to do so. I remember seeing going to my first orchestra concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I distinctly remember the emotion portrayed in the music moved me more than I thought would have been possible listening to the same music on the radio.

This was the same magnification of emotion I experienced when attended Segerstrom center for the first time for a live performance. I think opportunities like this expand the mind and creativity of myself and anyone else fortunate enough to experience them.

Question 2: What do you believe the role of City Council should be in developing and supporting the region’s arts and cultural infrastructure?

People should not have to drive 30 miles to the south or to the west in order to experience art. We now have the center for performing arts in Covina, which is progress. But the City Council has an ongoing role to play. Having supporters of the arts is important, as it would be reflected even in simple decisions to allow permits for street festivals or exhibition spaces. Of course having those who appreciate what art and culture can do for developing minds is also critical when important questions of funding come up.

Question 3: What’s your vision for the city? What role, if any, does art and culture play in advancing that vision?

Covina was once the hub of the San Gabriel Valley. Not just as one of the older cities in the area, but also for culture and architecture that is rare in the area and vanishing. We have seen some public festivals in recent years, but more can be done to incorporate the arts. I would like to see the City return to that place central in the San Gabriel Valley, and the only way to be the cultural centerpiece is to incorporate the arts and seamlessly meld it into the very essence of what the city is.

Questions 4: A recent report by the Otis College of Design found that 1 in every 6 jobs in LA County supports the creative sector and economy in Los Angeles County. If elected, how will you aim to ensure the continued vitality and growth of the creative economy and the artistic community that it supports?

This would go to show even the pragmatist why art is important in the community. Too often the approach is taken looking at short term sales tax dollars, and think that art studios or performance spaces don’t help the city. Facts like this one show that when art and artists come to town revenues come to follow. In the form of increasing property values, sales tax and jobs.