Hayden's 'Epiphany' leaves taxpayers breathless

Recently, the city of Hayden City Council approved an art project for the library on Government Way, to the tune of $60,000! This came at the recommendation of the Hayden Arts Commission, which somehow is awarded big dollars annually from the Hayden Urban Renewal Agency or HURA. Make no mistake, this is taxpayer money that does not come from the city per se, but from property taxes from the HURA district in Hayden, combined with some matching funds from the state, I believe. The Arts Commission has at least $80,000 in its coffers, earmarked only for public art. Now those nice folks are pretty excited to have a generous benefactor, and have plans to spend the entire $80,000, even though they're not required to spend a dime!

But let's go back to the aforementioned $60k project. The Arts Commission conducted a 'public information gathering' exercise at the library, where it invited citizens to rank (vote on) five pieces of art from first to fifth, and provide comments on each, if desired. This was intended as advisory in nature, and in no way binding to the Commissioners. The problem is, many citizens thought they were voting, and when the Commissioners made their selection, the citizenry was dumbfounded, as the most popular piece of art was not selected. To their credit, the commissioners had to consider many other things prior to their vote, two of which were "Is the piece a good fit with the community?" and "Is the piece something that will generate pride in the community?" The obvious answer to both questions is "NO!" And if you've laid your eyes on the artist's rendition of 'Epiphany,' you'll understand. If you're a Hayden resident and you care about how your taxes are spent, and you're concerned about government waste, or if you don't want to see Hayden ruined with gaudy, modern art (like mid-town Cd'A), then this should concern you.

Regardless of how you feel about URAs or URDs, these are not booming economic times! To spend those kinds of money on wants, when there are SO many needs in our community, is irresponsible. The Arts Commission, if it spends any of its 'free money', must spend it on public art. My position is to not spend the money on art at this austere time; rather, return most of it to the HURA and request a change of its budgeting procedure to a lesser percentage. If the Commission identifies a piece of art they'd like to purchase, I believe donated money should pay for most of it, combined with a lesser amount from the Arts Commission. Art is important to a community; but repairing roads and infrastructure, snow-plowing, feeding and taking care of the homeless rank a little higher on my scale.

If you've not seen 'Epiphany,' please stop by Hayden City Hall and ask to take a look, or make a call and let your government know how you feel. The majority of the City Council has 'seen the light' and agreed to take another look at this. But it's far from dead! I urge every citizen to weigh in on both the issue of spending that kind of money on art in these times, and on 'Epiphany' as to how it fits in Hayden.

Dave Sheldon is a resident of Hayden.