Each year, Arts Services Initiative of WNY asks candidates for elected office to share their positions with the voting public, with an emphasis on the roles of arts and art education in the community. Candidates for each office are asked the same questions; their answers are presented unedited. Here is the response from Mark Schroeder, running unopposed for reelection as Buffalo’s Comptroller.

 MARK SCHROEDER, Buffalo City Comptroller, Democratic, Conservative, Working Families 

Occupation:
Buffalo City Comptroller

Please list your top three priorities if elected:

1. Ensure the transparency and accessibility of the City of Buffalo’s finances to all citizens.
2. Perform audits that expose waste, fraud, or mismanagement in City government, with the goal of having a positive impact on the City’s finances by maximizing revenue and limiting expenditures.
3. Managing the City’s debts and investments with the goal of maximizing returns on investments and limiting interest costs.

What is the role of arts and culture in our community in general, and specifically in Buffalo?
Arts and culture enhance the quality of life of residents living in Buffalo, in addition to acting as a draw for tourists, which bolsters the local economy.  Arts and Culture help to educate, entertain, and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds and bring us together as a community.

What is the role of arts and culture in your plans for economic development in Buffalo?
Ensuring that economic development initiatives include components for arts and culture accessible for the public.  The popularity of Shark Girl highlights the need and desire for similar public art having a role in economic development projects, especially with upcoming development expected on the Outer Harbor and Buffalo River.  Better marketing of Buffalo’s arts, music, and architectural assets in efforts to attract tourism.

How would you develop cultural and heritage tourism in Buffalo? 
Highlight and strengthen Buffalo’s tremendous cultural heritage attractions (Albright-Knox, BPO, Colored Musicians Club, art and music festivals, historical sites, architecture) while fostering and encouraging additional cultural initiatives that embrace Buffalo’s history and prominence as a destination for arts and culture.

In what ways would you support young people’s access to the arts in order to foster the creative thinking skills needed to ensure a solid future workforce in Buffalo?
I fully support efforts to strengthen and increase the role that arts and music have in a child’s education.  Arts and Music have been increasingly neglected in recent years when developing curriculum.  This has had a negative impact on learning and achievement, and has denied students a well-rounded, comprehensive education.  

If elected, will you decrease, hold steady, or increase operational funding for cultural organizations and establish a merit-based, peer review process for cultural funding allocations such as the Buffalo Arts Funding Advisory Committee?
 Yes.

Will you fully enforce the One Percent for Public Art ordinance already on the books that requires all projects receiving city funding to allocate one percent of the total project to public art?
[No response provided.]

ASI Candidate Survey: Buffalo Common Council 
ASI Candidate Survey: Erie County Legislature
ASI Candidate Survey: Erie County Executive
ASI Candidate Survey: City of Niagara Falls