ITEM 6-V

City Council Meeting 6-26-90             Santa Monica, California

                          STAFF REPORT

TO:         Mayor and City Council

FROM:       City Attorney

SUBJECT:    Resolution Supporting Reauthorization of
            the National Endowment for the Arts

      At its meeting on June 12, 1990, the City Council  directed
the  City  Attorney  to  prepare  a  resolution in support of the
National Endowment for the Arts.  In response to this  direction,
the accompanying resolution has been prepared and is presented to
the City Council for its consideration.

                         RECOMMENDATION

      It  is  respectfully  recommended  that  the   accompanying
resolution be adopted.

PREPARED BY:  Robert M. Myers, City Attorney


                     RESOLUTION NUMBER ____

                      (City Council Series)

             A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
         CITY OF SANTA MONICA SUPPORTING REAUTHORIZATION
             OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

      WHEREAS, the arts enhance our quality of life by helping to
define   a  nation's  and  a  community's  identity,  values  and
heritage,  contributing  to  cross-cultural   communication   and
developing creative problem-solving skills; and

      WHEREAS, public investment in the arts stimulates  economic
growth,   attracts   business   and   corporate   investment   to
communities, promotes downtown and  neighborhood  revitalization,
spurs  tourism, enhances the image of our communities and nation,
and encourages innovation and inspiration in society; and

      WHEREAS, the National Endowment for the  Arts'  twenty-five
year   stellar  history  of  promoting  creativity  and  cultural
vitality has enabled a flourishing of the  arts  to  reach  every
state  and community and made the arts available to every citizen
of our nation; and

      WHEREAS, in  its  twenty-five  year  history  the  National
Endowment for the Arts has made over 85,000 grants and funded the
presentation or creation of over 1,000,000 images of  which  only
25 projects have become controversial; and

      WHEREAS, the restrictive language approved by  Congress  in
1990 would have the effect of promoting censorship and inhibiting
creativity at the expense of quality within the  arts  community,
and  gives  Congress  the power to micro-manage the Endowment and
define obscenity rather than the courts; and

      WHEREAS, the  Endowment's  citizen-involved  panel  system,
local  matching  requirements  for  grants  and  reviews  by  the
Presidentially-appointed National Council on  the  Arts  and  its
Chairperson  provide  appropriate checks and balances with regard
to federal funding for the arts; and

      WHEREAS, President Bush  supports  reauthorization  of  the
National  Endowment for the Arts without restrictive language and
has submitted legislation to that effect in Congress; and

      WHEREAS,  President  Lyndon  B.  Johnson,   in   sponsoring
legislation  to  establish  the  National Endowment for the Arts,
proclaimed, "We fully  recognize  that  no  government  can  call
artistic  excellence  into  existence.   It  must  flow  from the
quality of the society and the good fortune of the  nation.   Nor
should  any government seek to restrict the freedom of the artist
to pursue goals  his  goals  in  his  own  way.   Freedom  is  an
essential condition for the artist, and in proportion, if freedom
is diminished so is the prospect of artistic achievement,"

      NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CITY  OF  SANTA
MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

      SECTION 1.  The City Council of the City  of  Santa  Monica
resolves to support reauthorization of the National Foundation on
the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965 and continued funding for the
National  Endowment  for  the  Arts,  National  Endowment for the
Humanities, and the  Institute  of  Museum  Service  for  FY-1991
without restrictive language.

      SECTION 2.  The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of
this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be
in full force and effect.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

____________________
ROBERT M. MYERS
City Attorney