Port Coquitlam may be taking its first steps to revamping its arts and culture plan but it needs a champion to link city hall with its constituents.
That's the view from a consultant hired last year to gauge the public on the Imagine Port Coquitlam Cultural Plan, a guide for the municipality's arts, culture and heritage events, programs, services and facility operations over the next decade.
At last week's healthy community committee, PoCo's recreation director Lori Bowie unveiled the consultant's report that calls for, among other things, the need for the city to recruit a cultural development and community services manager to steer the plan.
But funding for that job has been sharply criticized by at least three councillors who, when the budget came forward this month, said they didn't want the city to spend taxpayer dollars on new managerial positions given the upcoming rebuild of the recreation complex.
And councillors Dean Washington, Glenn Pollock and Brad West — the latter being on the healthy community committee — singled out the arts manager as being redundant.
At last Thursday's meeting, West continued to show his disdain, saying it's unwise for the city to proceed with the arts plan without a leader in place. "I think there's a little bit of cart before the horse," West said. "We have no arts manager prior to receiving the plan. It's kind of backwards."
(The position is now being advertised, city spokesperson Pardeep Purewal said Tuesday.)
But committee chair Coun. Darrell Penner argued an arts manager would co-ordinate big events on behalf of the city and act as the liaison to local arts groups — something the community asked for in the outreach process.
Consultant Patricia Blakney Huntsman, who received 1,700 sources of community input, suggested the new arts manager would also support a new external festivals committee — another 2016 budget earmark — and would set up a roundtable to ensure local arts groups are represented and to weave culture into business, sports and other sectors.
Mike Bowen, a committee member who is part of the Port Coquitlam Sports Alliance, said a new arts manager would provide more direction for the city as "there seems to be a lot of disconnect between the city and the users."
"Arts groups are telling the city to be more hands-on," PoCo's chief administrative officer John Leeburn added.
The draft plan also calls for better use and times at Leigh Square Community Arts Village.
PoCo's arts plan comes at the same time as Coquitlam's, which has budgeted $100,000 for a consultant to update its visioning document for the next 15 to 20 years.
Toronto-based consultants Millier Dickinson Blais' report was before council-in-committee this spring; an online survey went live today (Tuesday) in conjunction with the master recreation plan poll (visit coquitlam.ca/city-hall/plans/prc-master-plan.aspx).
Meanwhile, in Port Moody, a tender will go out this week to organize the city's next arts and culture master plan. "We anticipate that the entire process will take a little less than a year," city spokesperson Rosemary Lodge said.
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A few festivals and events in Port Coquitlam:
• May Day
• Hyde Creek Salmon Fest
• Canada Day
• Terry Fox Hometown Run
• Rivers and Trails Fest
• Illuminate City Hall
• CP Rail Holiday Train
