URGENT - SAVE ARTS FUNDING IN OAKLAND!!!! Attend the next City Council Meeting!

Hi everyone. Pardon the format - this needs to go to as many people as possible. Funding for the Cultural Arts and Marketing Department is on the chopping block and will be voted on this Tuesday, October 21. Meeting begins at 6pm and this topic is currently Item 19 on the Agenda. Could be a long night. Grant awards are in jeopardy, as are all of the staff positions. This is a serious threat to a thriving, and already under-funded community. If you are an artist, educator, work for an arts organization, enjoy arts events, have a kid in an arts program in one of Oakland's schools, or have friends that are artists, please join me in making our voices heard. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! There are currently three council members who are opposed to cutting arts funding: Nancy Nadel, Jane Brunner, and Desley Brooks. All other council members have indicated that they will vote to cut the program. Please don't let this happen!! Contact your council person immediately (preferably before Monday) and let them know that cutting the arts program is unacceptable. Also, let the three council members that support the arts know how much you appreciate their support. Below is contact info for each of the district council people: District 1, Jane Brunner, jbrunner@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7001; District 2, Pat Kernighan,pkernighan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7002; District 3, Nancy Nadel, nnadel@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7003; District 4, Jean Quan, jquan@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7004; District 5, Ignacio de la Fuente. idelafuente@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7005; District 6, Desley Brooks, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7006; District 7, Larry Reid, lreid@oaklandnet.com, (510) 238-7007 At-Large, Henry Chang, Jr., cityochang@aol.com Please forward this to your staff, board, friends, students, their parents, your mailing list, etc. It is our responsibility to make our voices heard - let the officials know that we represent a larger portion of the public than they think! Best regards, Lori Zook Acting-Chair, City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Commission