Amador County Board of Supervisors: Arts Council request sparks debate at BOS meeting
A request for a relatively small donation turned into a big debate about the arts at the latest meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 24.
A seemingly benign request by the Amador Arts Council for $3,500 dollars in funding from Amador County set off a war of words of sorts after District 5 Supervisor Brian Oneto questioned the merit of the donation in light of some recent art displays that he objected to, including one that included a swear word and other works by artists featured at the Pony Farm artist residence in Pioneer, which is supported in part by the Amador Arts Council.
While a few speakers during the public comment period agreed with Oneto’s concerns over potentially offensive art, a much larger group of speakers lined up, both in person at the Board of Supervisors chambers and online, to praise the education efforts of the Amador Arts Council and denounce Oneto’s comments as attempted censorship. Following close to two hours on the subject, the Board unanimously, including Oneto, voted to approve the $3,500 donation to the Amador Arts Council. In addition, District 4 Supervisor Frank Axe volunteered to donate all of his $2,000 “Premium Pay” to the Amador Arts Council.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the Board approved a pilot program that will allow very small food businesses to sell to the public without the expense of commercial kitchens. The programs will allow just two of these special permits in Amador County for the first year of the program. Typically, selling food to the public requires a full array of Health Department requirements, but this new program is intended to allow micro businesses to start in residential kitchen facilities.
The Amador County Board of Supervisors meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 810 Court Street in Jackson at 9:00 a.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
Website: www.amadorgov.org
Meeting Livestream link: https://www.amadorgov.org/about/streaming-audio