Enhanced Cable Can Foster the Arts

As the city of Ventura’s cable franchise negotiations reach a crucial phase, I want to strongly encourage the community to keep in mind the city’s artists and art lovers.

The art community is becoming an important foundation for Ventura’s growth, both as a place to live and as a place to visit. Numerous studies have confirmed that cultural events generate economic vitality. We as a community are placing a great deal of faith in the cultural plan and cultural tourism.

We have the opportunity to strengthen our art community with this cable franchise renewal. The artists need the technology to promote themselves to a vast audience. Exhibition previews, artist interviews, art lessons, concerts and recitals are but a few of the local programming opportunities. The cultural community just needs the tools to provide such programming.

The new contract must expand the services offered to the residents of Ventura. The City Council should consider upgrading to a higher bandwidth two-way fiber cable infrastructure linking schools, governmental sites, libraries, businesses and homes. In addition, an independent media center would provide education, equipment and staff to foster quality programming.

A greatly enhanced cable system would raise Ventura to the level enjoyed by many surrounding communities. In addition, it would prepare us to embrace the technology that the new millennium will undoubtedly bring. We as a community must not be left behind technologically.

We need to make sure that our local access programming is responsive and reflective of what has already been established by the community as we build our cultural future. I am convinced that there are ways to accomplish this without the council, citizens and cable companies acting as antagonists, but instead as partners.