SALT LAKE CITY — Even armed with a no-cost, resident-created funding proposal, two Salt Lake City Council members were unsuccessful in mounting a last-ditch effort to save a popular kids' arts program late Tuesday night.
The education programming provided by YouthCity Artways since 1997 will quietly fade away this summer. In its stead, $150,000 in new grant money will become available for other local nonprofit groups.
A 4-3 straw poll reflected most council members' contention that, while Artways had been a mostly terrific program, a fundamental change was needed to extract the city from directly funding the classes in dance, music and visual arts.
Councilman Soren Simonsen argued that eliminating Artways and expecting similar services to be provided by a yet-to-be-determined nonprofit is wishful thinking that may not come to fruition.
"We're not going to serve the population we're talking about by starting over from scratch," Simonsen said.
By ratifying the change, the council carved out about $100,000 in savings for the city in the coming year.
The council is nearing completion on its 2010-11 budget package and is expected to levy final approval on June 22.
— Arthur Raymond