Arts Program’s Fate Is on the Line in La Mesa

The future of La Mesa’s new cultural arts program will be decided today. Faced with rising city expenses and decreasing revenues, the City Council will meet at 3 p.m. to vote on whether to retain the 15-month-old, $70,000 program.

“We’re not anti-cultural arts . . . (but) city reserves are dangerously low,” said La Mesa Mayor Fred Nagel, adding that it is “very hard to justify” the cultural arts project at a time when the city can’t afford to add even one police officer.

During its first year, the cultural arts program inaugurated a joint city-school music education project, a series of eight music concerts at Lamesita Park, a classic film series for senior citizens and other projects.

On May 31, the City Council voted tentatively to end the program.

Today, Nagel and Parks and Recreation Department officials will propose continuing the program through Dec. 31. As part of the proposed six-month extension, the public would be asked to vote on raising the city’s hotel-motel bed tax from 8 cents a dollar to 10 cents. The increase would produce $80,000 to $90,000 annually to help finance the program.

Nagel’s proposal would also require the city’s cultural arts committee to independently raise an amount equal to half the bed tax money. La Mesa last raised its hotel bed tax in 1978, just before Proposition 13, when it was increased from 6 cents to 8 cents, Nagel said.