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This past February our City Council voted to allocate $8,593,000 for public art installations as part of the 2024 Public Art Plan.
It was on October 28, 2014 that the City adopted the “2014-2024 Public Art Master Plan,” which is administered by the Managing Director of Cultural Affairs & Recreation. That would be Ben Fyffe, who is the 24th highest paid employee of the City of El Paso, earning $191,445 plus benefits.
The list of projects includes $1,250,000 for an “Artist Pool” at the Police Department Headquarters, $800,000 for an “Artist Pool” at the Police & Fire Training Academy, and $600,000 for “Water Wall Improvements” next to the Plaza Theatre.
The 2024 Public Art Plan is be paid for with seven different certificates of obligation, issued between 2010 and 2019, and with funds from the 2012 Quality of Life Bond and the 2019 Public Safety Bond.
All of this requires issuing debt that directly impacts our property tax.
Section 2.40.070(C)(1) of the City Code (Ord. No. 17424, § 1), enacted September 21, 2010, earmarks 2% of the value of all expenditures on capital improvement projects, “whether funded by general obligation bonds, revenue bonds or certificates of obligation,” for public art.
If you were wondering how we got $7.5 million worth of twirling eggbeaters at the Airway exit on Interstate 10, the blueberry martini sculptures on Airway Blvd. ($750,000), and the “Yellow Door” on El Paso Street ($250,000), the answer is that we paid for them.
While we support the maintenance and operation of existing museums and libraries, we do not need government to provide us with entertainment, public artworks, or anything else that is a reckless expenditure of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
We are against publicly funded arenas, stadiums, water parks, trolleys, and gigantic twirling eggbeaters that glow in the dark!
We demand that our City and County focus on their core functions and that they stop spending our money on projects that are not within their purview.
We urge City Council to eliminate the Public Art Program completely and reallocate its funding to the street repair and maintenance budget, which is underfunded about $35M each year.
Photo Credit: Vicki Scuri Blog
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