Doraville and the Arts!
August 2019
For the past several months I have been working closely with local artists to create a group dedicated to promoting the arts in Doraville. We call ourselves DArt (for Doraville Art) and I feel we have created a cohesive group ready to move this initiative forward.
The next step is the creation of an official Art Committee to begin the study of what public art should look like here, and the steps/changes needed to allow for it. Many cities have created a public art master plan and this is usually a citizen lead initiative. I believe that should be the case in Doraville as well.
I researched our ordinances and realized there was very little in our code on how to create advisory committees and how they should be run. Without some clarity and rules in place, creating any kind of official committee of the city would be problematic both from an organizational standpoint and a legal one. It's part of the reason for the hesitancy of the council in the past to create committees, and resolving this missing component was clearly the first step in creating a productive city committee of any sort.
So at the work session in August I presented to the council the progress DArt was making, and this issue with a lack of rules in our ordinances for committee creation. They unanimously approved moving forward on this. I then sat down with legal, and after looking at what several other cities have written, crafted up an ordinance that I believe fits our city well, laying out the process and the rules for the creation of any type of advisory committee.
I placed this item on the agenda for the work session for September and I hope we can pass this at the next meeting or so. Once this structure is in place, it should be fairly simple to get the Doraville Art Advisory Committee (DAAC) up and running. I feel the first task they should be charged with is the creation of a Public Art Master plan for the city, as well as looking at how to make it possible for Murals to be painted here. The ordinance also is being created as a two way conduit, so this citizen advisory committee can also make recommendations to us. I hope in the future we can create other advisory committees: on parks and rec, school advocacy etc.
The draft ordinance is in the meeting packet found here:
http://doravillecityga.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1398&Inline=True
Stephe Koontz, Doraville City Council District 3
678-373-7021 City Cell