Mayor responds to Lubbock's concern about council slashing First Friday Art Trail funds

After cutting Lubbock's First Friday Art Trail funding by $30,000, the mayor responded to the community's outcry about the council's decisions.

For context, Councilman David Glasheen, for District 3, advocated for cutting grant funding for the FFAT, citing that it pushed the "LGBT agenda" after it hosted drag shows and other LGBT-focused workshops and advents in June.

FFAT is hosted at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts.

More: Lubbock City Council cuts First Friday Art Trail funding over LGBT events, drag show

In his statement, Mayor Mark McBrayer said that he appreciates the public's concern about the council's decision to cut the funding. He said that the $30,000 grant was funded through the Lubbock Hotel Occupancy Tax and that the city has a fiduciary responsibility to the residents of Lubbock regarding the allocation of the funds.

“I appreciate your commitment and enthusiasm towards LHUCA. I, like you, enjoy the FFAT and generally think it is worthy of support from our HOT tax," McBrayer said in a statement. "Importantly, not every cultural arts event that applies for the grant gets awarded, nor could the grant program provide substantial funds to all the events that happen within the city. Not all requests get funded for the full amount of the request, either. Choices regarding worthy recipients must be made. Civic Lubbock Inc. conducts the initial review and then presents their recommendations to the City Council for final approval."

McBrayer further stated that citizens shared their concern that LHUCA was not made aware of the concern nor the slashing of its budget prior to the meeting.

"City Staff and I have since reached out to representatives of CLI and LHUCA to allow them to respond, and they have done so by providing additional facts and specificity, which I believe may have impacted the Council’s analysis," McBrayer's statement said. "Although I cannot speak for anyone else on the city council, with the additional information received, I’m hopeful we will come to an arrangement regarding funding the grant with LHUCA and FFAT for the coming year."

He further asked citizens to give the city council the opportunity to find other ways to support the arts in Lubbock so that this is "beneficial to our entire community."

“I appreciate your phone calls and emails," McBrayer's statement concluded. "As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me on any item that is of concern to you.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mayor responds to Lubbock's concern about council slashing First Friday Art Trail funds