Cultural Economic Development?

[XLFD]

Sometime before August 23, 2010, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) awarded a $60,000 no-match grant to the City of Ludington to develop a "cultural economic development" plan for the City and Mason County.  What is the MSHDA doing awarding such grants, you may ask?  Isn't their goal to create and preserve safe and decent affordable housing?  I don't see the connection, but a task force was needed to spend that money, and this was created on the Ludington City Council meeting of that same August night.

 

The task force used the next few months to do their research on how to spend the money.  Four months later they announced the hiring of two consulting firms at the December 20, 2010 council meeting, using all but $2500 of the grant to secure these folks.

The first consultant is a firm made up of one person, Cheryl Hargrove, who operates out of Georgia, but she does have an extensive resume.  The other consultant, Becky Anderson, operates out of North Carolina, here is some of her credentials.

 

The results of their consultation was recently broadcast in the Ludington Daily News.  And after a little wait, the published results were made available at the City of Ludington website and is presented here.   It's a long report.  Was it worth it?

[XLFD]

The initial $60,000 investment by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority is only the beginning of the public financing of this enterprise.  If you notice, the LDN article above is aglow with praise and high words for the project by task force members and those who are likely to benefit from the influx of public money to CED.  This even is shown by the first commenter to that story named Alge:

"Great article, because it focuses on what the community has to offer and gives ideas on how to capitalize on those strengths. Many communities miss the arts and cultural resources that are available to them and how those resources can benefit the community both economically and spiritually. This is why my wife and I retired here....it's a beautiful town, Lake Michigan, the Center for the Arts, having a martini at Steamers when the Badger comes into port or a beer at the Mitten, the art galleries, the restaurants, the movies in the park, Friday Nights.....(we're looking forward to the New Year's ball drop). Ludington has a lot going for it now and it has a great opportunity to become the art and cultural center of Western Michigan."

 

This comment is so incredibly phony I just have to point it out.  Alge and his wife retired here, yet most everything they point out about our culture has been added in the past few years and much by the great minds of the DDA.  This includes the Mitten Bar that they point out in their testimonial which just opened July 1, 2011 by the daughter of Julie Payment who works as the circulation editor of the LDN, serves on the DDA, and owns Sportsmans. 

The better responses come from those other two that commented afterwards, and the best response was the one the LDN didn't print because it explained what Cultural Economic Development is about.

[Willy]

I have to agree with the 2 lower comments concerning the LDN article. This is another liberal / progressive program that the average citizen would not be able to explain if they were asked to describe it. This whole program is described in double speak. How in the world can anyone really explain "cultural economic development plan". What is cultural development? Our government looks for foolish ways to waste money. Ludington isn't alone when it comes to these type of wasteful programs. Every large city has these "head in the air" types who are in charge and they continually try to promote silly ideas that the common person would not be interested in. I can only think of one program that I would consider a  "cultural" project that has been a huge success and that is Grand Rapids "art prize" and If I'm not wrong that is sponsored with private money. Promoting Ludingtons access to it's natural resources would be a worthy project but not promoting culture. This is the time to concentrate on the basic needs of the citizens and not high brow single mindedness.

[XLFD]

I finally was able to look over the Cultural Economic Development Plan in more detail. 

Page 29, with tasks 2.3.1- 2.3.3 are clear indicators that this is going to be funded by a lot of your muncipal and county tax dollars. 

 

Task 2.3.1: Convene government agencies/representatives to establish policies and

procedures for new design and development guidelines that incorporate a countywide

cultural-based philosophy in 2012. Continue countywide coordination and collaboration

for enforcement and adherence in development.

 

Sounds like strict government control to develop CED, including enforcement and adherence for those who don't follow the CED rules.  This could lead to some draconian rules to make sure county citizens keep the culture 'clean'.  This task is followed by four subtasks that advocate new construction/historic preservation/beautification-conservation guidelines.

 

Task 2.3.2: Convene government agencies/representatives to establish policies and

implement procedures for developing and maintaining culturally sensitive sign

ordinances in Mason County in 2012. Continue countywide coordination and

collaboration to ensure enforcement and integrity of signage.

 

Notice that Heather Venzke is on the task force, and her signman is going to be on the City Council and the Ludington DDA.  The four subtasks indicate signage is going to be uniform and establish the character of Ludington and Mason County.  Of course, the county will need a bunch of 22K gold signs and enforce the integrity by having these uniform signs made by the same company.

 

Task 2.3.3: Convene government agencies/representatives to establish policies and

implement procedures that protect the quality and authenticity of cultural resources,

products and atmosphere of Mason County in 2012. Continue countywide coordination

and collaboration to maintain the integrity of the county’s cultural brand.

This is government-speak for saying the local government will force you to do things you might not want to do or can afford so that they can maintain cultural identity and purity. If you play by their rules, they may get you other people's money to do most of your work if you don't mind.

 

This Cultural Economic Development Plan is otherwise flawed by inorganically micromanaging economic development using culture as a basis. 

It won't work, but it is going forward, and you're tax burden is about to go even higher.

 

[Marty Redman]

Lets not forget that economic development of any type is government-speak meaning that they want to be able to decide which businesses succeed and which ones fail, and that will be directly proportional to how much they are related to or cooperate or associate with local goverment leaders.  Not a 'culture of corruption', but cultural corruption.

[XLFD]

Good phrase-turning, Marty.  Once we start dumping city and county money into this venture, we'll have to look for the "cultural corruption" that's likely to follow.

[Willy]

 Does the Cultural Economic Development Plan define what "culture", "cultural based philosophy","cultural resources, products, & atmosphere" and "cultural brand" are? How can any plan be drafted let alone implemented  until the object of their control is defined. This is another example of Government gone wild.

[XLFD]

It defines the following: 

Cultural Economy:  “how a community or place uses its cultural assets to cause economic development and cultural prosperity."

"Culture in Ludington and Mason County is broadly defined to include:
 All forms of traditional and contemporary arts (sculpture, painting, photography, pottery,
performing arts – music, dance, theatre)
 Heritage (history, architecture)
 Place-based activities that are unique to the county (parks, recreation, agriculture, etc.)"

"the consulting team broadly defined “culture” to include arts, heritage and locally made products."

 

Notice that in both cases "culture" is broadly defined.  Broad definitions are what allow the Ludington DDA, another 'economic development' scheme, to spend well over $100,000 per year in public funds to 'cure' the ills of the downtown area per year while needed public projects in Ludington are underfunded or overlooked.