Isaac Gilbert

The news of the Penticton Art Gallery is not the news I would like to hear. It is sad they are experiencing this challenges and as said in mayor’s statement, the PAG board met with city staff and I look forward to how we can ensure the long-term sustainability of the PAG.

With this news there is a lot of information out there about what this council has or has not done. I would like to expand on information that was shared by Councillor Miller. Council did approve a reduced budget in 2023. When Paul Crawford presented at council, we changed course and voted to increase funding. Before the next budget city staff consulted with the PAG on a two year funding model as a pilot. Instead of the PAG expending staffing resources to apply every year, the city would sustain funding for two years.

As you can see below, Councillor Miller was the lone councillor voted against giving the Penticton Art Gallery two years of sustained funding. The rest of council voted in favour. The PAG has long advocated to be a continuous line item in the budget so they have predictable funding each year. I voted in favour of this model in hopes we would not come to the challenge we face today.

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