The Mayor of St. Paul has sent his Cultural STAR funding recommendations to the City Council, and the news is not good.  The Mayor’s recommendation includes $178,000 in funding for the St. Paul Public Library, achieved by cutting all STAR Board-recommended programs by 16%.

The City Council will act on this proposal at their next meeting, Wednesday, May 27. 

Rather than reduce the budget to that supports the Childrens Museum, Stepping Stone Theatre, The Landmark Center, MPR, Music In The Park Series (see the entire list at http://www.stpaulculture.com/) in order to INCREASE the budget to the library, If all Board-recommended projects were trimmed by 10%, and the Library received 90% of its last-year grant of $145,000, the total dollars in this round would be roughly the same as they Mayor’s recommendation, or slightly less. We believe that this is a much more equitable solution than cutting recommended projects by 16%, and giving the Library an increase of 23%. If the Library is to be funded by Cultural STAR at all, we believe that the Library should at the very least be treated on a somewhat equal footing with the other STAR grantees.

Please contact the Mayor and your Council member with the following message: 

“As a patron of the Saint Paul Arts & Culture community, thank you for recognizing the importance of the Cultural STAR program to all of Saint Paul. As you make final decisions on Cultural STAR funding this round, we understand that funding for the Library will be inserted, and that recommended project funding will be cut. To equalize the impact of these cuts, please consider funding STAR Board-recommended projects at 90% of the recommended amount, and funding the Library’s project at 90% of last year’s grant.“

When you make your calls/emails, please be sure to thank them for their support, and their willingness to make impossible decisions in these tough times. Help them to understand that this is a question of fairness and equal treatment for all St. Paul Arts & Culture organizations–the Library included.
Thank you for your support,
Ross Willits ACP Public Affairs Committee Chair  & Rock Mamma  

Mayor Chris Coleman-public comment phone: 651-266-8989–Very Receptive to our message. Thank him for his support Contact form is online: http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/index.asp?NID=309

Saint Paul City Council
Melvin Carter III,  Councilmember (Ward 1) Acooa Lee, Legislative Aide Ph: (651) 266-8610   Fx: (651) 266-8574  ward1@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Dave Thune, Councilmember (Ward 2)
Pat Lindgren, Legislative Aide
Ph: (651) 266-8620 Fx: (651) 266-8574 ward2@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Pat Harris, Councilmember (Ward 3) 
Dennis Rosemark, Legislative Aide
Ph: (651) 266-8630 Fx: (651) 266-8574 ward3@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Russ Stark, Councilmember (Ward 4) Samantha Henningson, Legislative Aide Ph: (651) 266-8640  Fx: (651) 266-8574 ward4@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Lee Helgen, Councilmember (Ward 5) Jennifer Dunn, Legislative Aide Ph: (651) 266-8650  Fx:  (651) 266-8574 ward5@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Dan Bostrom, Councilmember (Ward 6) Scott Renstrom, Legislative Aide Ph: (651) 266-8660  Fx: (651) 266-8574 ward6@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Kathy Lantry, Council President (Ward 7) 
Ellen Biales, Legislative Aide Ph: (651) 266-8670 Fx: (651) 266-8574 ward7@ci.stpaul.mn.us