If various people want to have public art in Ann Arbor, these people should pay for it out of their own wallets and purses instead of trying to force their values, beliefs, and self-interests on everyone else in the city who do not share these values, beliefs, and self-interests.

Seattle in 1973 was the first city to enact a similar ordinance and it was eventually challenged in the courts and that specific law was struck down by the court system in Washington. It had been argued by critics that it was a mechanism to drain money out of the lucrative utilities establishment, its funding source and had no rational ties to that source to warrant a collateral expenditure for art.

Even assuming its legality, it has not functioned ideally. Marcia Higgins at a city council caucus a few years back remarked there appeared to be overfunding. A member of the Art Commission herself publicly remarked during a meeting that she was surprised at the high-level funding received by virtue of operation of the ordinance.

The capital improvement that gave rise to the Dreiseitl project was the sewer upgrading that cost upwards of $55 million dollars – thus giving rise to an art work which had waste water as its critical theme – which is ludicrous in itself. There was outcry that a foreign artist was retained when the funding could have stayed within our community by hiring a talented local artist. Worst of all, the Dreiseitl project was being undertaken during a period when police and fire funding was receiving significant cutbacks – this was reported on nationally and made the city a laughingstock.

Maybe there needs to be a citizen’s group filing a lawsuit to test the legality of the One Per Cent Per Art Ordinance – as occurred in Seattle. Then the City Attorney will have to explain his position to a judge.

I applaud Jane Lumm and Sumi Kailasapathy in advocating a repeal of this ordinance.

Traffic laws routinely violate the spirit of the constitution, if not the letter. This just makes it one step worse.

Is nibbling away at an American ethos worth it for a few parked cars?

Patti IS an environmentalist. She isn’t an environmental professional – she doesn’t work for an organization engaged specifically in environmental issues, nor does she hold a degree in environmental science, environmental health, or related fields.

She’s like many of us – interested and involved in our community and concerned about ways to make it better. And for that, I thank her.