Bim Ditson - Candidate For Mayor - a podcast by Oregon Public Broadcasting

Bim annotation

Bim Ditson's a well-known guy in rock circles, as the drummer for And And And, also for his work on Red Bull's Sound Select series of showcases. He talked to State of Wonder's Rene Bermudez.

00:06 What Bim's checking out lately: bands, bands and more bands
"Amazing culture happens in third spaces. It's what makes Portland: this creative class that's a middle class."

01:08 Bim's vision for Portland and the arts
"The way that we look at arts and culture in Portland needs to be really different than how we maintained standards in the past."

02:34 On RACC's budget:
"Talking about RACC when we're talking about Portland artists is like talking about the drop that's going into the wrong bucket."

04:45On last year's budget surplus:
"Supporting any space that's a third space for artists. That's a space I think we should be investing in."

05:45 On the city's noise ordinance
"It basically makes it illegal to mow your lawn. If you make rules where basically everyone is breaking them, it's impossible not to enforce them in a predatory way."

07:00On access to the arts

09:02 On an arts liaison in the mayor's office.
"Definitely. That happens right away. I'd also bring back the Mayor's Ball. That would do a lot to tell Portland artists, 'Hey, we're here with you'."

10:41 On housing:
"We can charge whatever fee we want for developers who are planning multi-family housing. We should have that fee be in ratio to the cost of a city offsetting affordable housing."

12:40On influencing the commercial real estate market:
"That's extremely complicated but I think one of the best things we can do is support local business in every way we can."

13:45On the Portland arts tax:
"Like most ideas, you don't just go with the first way you implement it and cruise with that….For someone who makes $200,000 $35 is nothing. If you make more money, you should pay more to that tax."

16:10 On one place that represents what Porltand needs to work on:
"The Firkin Tavern…They get crushed with the noise ordinance and rising rent prices….it's just a place to go and hang out and share ideas."

17:50 On publicly-owned performance venues

20:15 More on equity in the arts
"Arts don't come up from well-funded systems. They come up from people who are allowed freedom."

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