To: Paul McGeary, City Council President and Setatia Romeo Theken, Mayor

Solomon Jacobs Park sculpture proposal

A proposal for the City to spend $30,000 for installation of a large, modern sculpture to be installed at Solomon Jacobs Park is about to be approved by the City Council without adequate public notice or public discussion.

We, as residents of Gloucester, petition our City government to:

--vote not to approve $30,000 of public funds for public art, at a time when property tax bills have just been raised by hundreds of dollars per home

--deny approval of this particular location on the working waterfront, until the public has had a full opportunity to review the proposal and to seek alternative locations for the sculpture

--provide full, transparent and rigorous public participation and engagement of our local artists in development of an adequate City public arts policy to be adopted in the City Charter prior to any and all art installations (suspend projects in the pipeline – metal arch rope proposed at Tally’s corner)

Why is this important?

lack of public process