“Museums,” the line in the Steve Landes campaign press release touting the state legislator’s kickoff tour set for this weekend, “as well as performing and fine arts centers, continue to attract tourists to the Valley, which help stimulate the economy.”
Maybe Landes needs to share his perspective on museums and the arts with the person he endorsed for City Council last year.
Bruce Allen appears to be solidly behind the effort to gut the Waynesboro Heritage Foundation budget even after City Manager Mike Hamp told CIty Council at its work session Wednesday night that he had found a way to restore $26,000 of the $37,000 that he had proposed be cut from the Foundation’s budget for 2009-2010.
OK, so we don’t know exactly where Silent Bruce stands on the issue, because he hasn’t had much to say, well, since he took the oath of office last summer. But we can say that we have a good feeling given that he actually went out of his way to disagree with Lucente on something last night, specifically the proposed restoration of a program-coordinator position in the Parks and Recreation Department budget.
Lucente said he could not support the inclusion of money in the budget for that position and the return of most of the monies to the Heritage Foundation that had been cut.
We can imply from Allen’s, ahem, silence, on the Heritage Foundation that he’s not in disagreement with Lucente on that one.
His silence on the Artisans Center and the Wayne Theatre given the rhetoric from last year’s City Council campaign is also deafening.
Republicans in Waynesboro don’t really value the arts as a contributor to the local economy. What little time they spend on the arts is trying to dismantle the hard work that’s been done here dating back 30 years.
Keep that in mind when Landes waxes politically about the arts at the Heritage Museum on Saturday.
– Column by Chris Graham
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