Utility rate increase and the arts

[iwasthere]

one should never be in favor of limiting one's ability to have access to knowledge.

[Rick Rowlands]

Why would I hold a sign to protest the closing of a library that I think should be closed?

My volunteer record stands for itself.  I started out at 16 volunteering at the Greenville Railroad Park and for the Mahoning Valley Railroad Heritage Association.  When I was 18 I founded the Jeannette Blast Furnace Preservation Association.  At 22 I led the effort to successfully save the Tod Engine, and have worked on that project non stop for the past 14 years, almost singlehandedly building an industrial museum for Youngstown which will open in another couple of years. In 2000 the JBFPA became the Tod Engine Foundation and I've been its executive director ever since. I've also led an effort to do restoration work on the Bethlehem Steel blowing engine house in Bethlehem, PA, and am now working to help create an effort in Buffalo, NY to restore five, 1,100 ton water pumping engines at the main pumping station.  There are large collections of historic steel industry related documents at both the steel museum and the Mahoning Valley Historical Society as a result of my contributions, and I head up the volunteer committe at the Friends of the YHCIL.  Oh, and I am the US Secretary of the International Stationary Steam Engine Society.  BTW I am only 35 years of age and I've left out alot of my other volunteer accomplishments.

[irishbobcat]

I was outside the West Side Library holding signs protesting it's closing.....

didn't see you Rick.......

Don't tell me I don't support the arts.....when's the last time you donated to PBS?

And I volunteered at PBS for 4 years.......

[Towntalk]

It surely is.

People going to the shows have no concept of the expenses incurred by such venues as the Youngstown Playhouse, Powers, Oakland, and the Victorian just in the staging of the performances.

The Youngstown Playhouse gave us some indication.

We here in Youngstown are blessed with so many great entertainment venues that provide us with great entertainment at a reasonable price, and great educational resources ... museums and libraries, but as their overhead climbs, changes will have to occure, and as we've seen with the library, and the Steel Museum, it doesn't look good.

[sfc_oliver]

It is a shame that we come to this.

[Rick Rowlands]

Well Mangino is heavily pushing the idea that libraries are an uneccessary luxury, and I am sure that Dennis would concur that arts are by definition not "green" and should also go away.  Nobody is talking about it but the steel museum is slated to close tommorrow, and since thay aren't open on Tuesdays anyways I guess the closure is already in effect. With the increase in energy costs and the increasing tax burdens those of us who pay taxes will no longer have time to educate ourselves or partake in anything that isn't related to basic survival. 

So its time to say goodbye to all of those uneccessary luxuries that we have worked for over 200 years to create for ourselves.  It was a good run, but the new reality is that we are all to just work to survive.  For what purpose I don't know.

[Towntalk]

As we all know by now, there will be a substantial rate increase in electric, and at the same time the state has substantially reduced funding to the arts, leading me to wonder just what its impact will be since our local venues use of electricity is heavy to say the very least, and none of these venues are rolling in cash, especially the Youngstown Playhouse.

One of the logical solutions would be to reduce the number of performances, and another would be a substantial increase in the price of tickets, both of which would work to the determent of the venues.

Add to this the sorry state of the local economy, families will have to sacrifice many of their non-essential spending items and those who support the arts are going to face a problem, pay skyrocketing utility bills or go to the shows.

Remember the substantial rate increase will effect businesses across the board, and they in turn will pass them onto their customers.