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All Candidates Meeting
This is your chance to get the words from the horse’s mouth! Actually, that should be horses’ – or maybe herd’s. Be in the auditorium at MY Place on Tuesday, October 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm for an All Candidates Meeting on Arts, Culture & Heritage. Several local arts & culture-related organizations met last week to plan out the details and hone questions for the more than 20 candidates on the upcoming municipal ballot for Mayor, Council, and School Board seats.
Spearheaded by the Whistler Arts Council, the other participating groups include the Whistler Museum and Archives Society, the Maurice Young Millennium Place Society, the Whistler Film Festival Society, the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, and of course the Whistler Public Library.
As I wrote last week, the library is in the midst of creating a new Strategic Plan based on the needs and wants of community members. Last Saturday the ideas were flying thick and fast, and lots of exciting possibilities came up. Everything, however, depends on the health of our local economic and political base, and I am looking forward to taking the pulse of our prospective public servants in the light of larger world events. Everyone wants a greater slice of an ever-shrinking pie. How will the new Mayor, Council and School Board prioritize the arts and cultural resources when making hard decisions?
Candidates are being asked to come prepared with a two-minute presentation on the subject of “The future for arts, culture and heritage in Whistler,” including such aspects as cultural tourism, the pre- and post-2010 situation and the role of the RMOW in the cultural sector. The presentations will be followed by a moderated Q&A with questions from the various convening organizations. It should be an interesting discussion, indeed. The cash bar will be open from 5:00 to 8:00, so please plan to join me and the other representatives, along with the candidates, for this important event.
Lauren Stara, Library Director