Mayor Chris Cerino opened the mayor’s report during Monday’s town council meeting with an earnest and articulate appeal for the council to move ahead with the town’s application for an Arts and Entertainment District designation for Chestertown.
The A&E District designation, as defined by the Maryland State Arts Council, would help Chestertown “develop and promote community involvement, tourism and revitalization through tax-related incentives that attract artists, arts organizations and other creative enterprises.”
The MSAC.org site also states that, “twenty two A&E Districts have been established since the program began in 2001. And, the most recent economic impact study shows that in fiscal year 2013, 20 Maryland A&E Districts collectively supported and estimated 5,144 new jobs that paid $149 million in wages.”
The application process first requires a Letter of Intent to Apply to be submitted by February 1 and must include plans for hiring a director, employed at least part-time. Cerino offered three scenarios: have a current town employee spend part-time as director; hire a part time director for a yet undetermined amount—$25,000 was used as a placeholder—or, hire a full-time director if private funding can be raised to help underwrite the position.
After a discussion, all council members felt that the second option—hire a part-time director—would be the most expedient plan to present for the Letter of Intent.
“It’s an exciting time for Chestertown,” says Carla Massoni, owner of Carla Massoni Gallery. “The A&E District application, a new website about to go online, so many carrying forth this vision of economic development for the town. From Bernadette Bowman at Kent County Tourism to Lani Seikaly, President of RiverArts who spearheaded the application process and presentation to the council, everyone participating in the momentum we’re experiencing. It was great going to the town council and feeling like we were preaching to the choir.”
Patti Hegland at Hegland Glass is equally encouraged by the council’s enthusiasm. “We’ve been wanting this to happen for quite some time. For the town to be recognized this way, and promoted as an A&E District will be beneficial for all of us. It’s fantastic credibility,” she says.
The council approved moving ahead with the Letter of Intent.
In the following video, the mayor states his case.
Jeffery Grotsky says
Mayor Cerino made a very compelling presentation to the council about the benefits of Chestertown applying to be designated as an Arts and Entertainment District. I am so pleased to see the Mayor provide the kind of leadership that we knew he would bring to our town. It is very positive that the council voted to move ahead on the submission of the application and to have positively supported hiring a person to manage this project, and to support economic development in Chestertown. All the background work was led by Lani Seikaly and members of the Greater Chestertown Initiative. This group has been working together for some three years and under the leadership of Carla Massoni and now Lani Seikaly, positive things are happening. This is a good time for Chestertown and I believe we are on the edge of moving to a new level of excellence.