By Tom McClimon
September 15, 2008

Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran served as a featured panelist on a national arts panel moderated by former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee held during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Cochran was joined on the panel by other leaders including: Debbie Allen, Emmy-Award winning actress, dancer, choreographer, director, producer and author; John Rich, acclaimed country music singer, songwriter, and producer, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt; Congressman Todd Tiahart (KS); and Tom Horne, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. The panel was convened by the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and the National Association of Music Merchants.

In his remarks, Cochran expressed immediate concern and called for action to address the potential loss of culture and the arts in New Orleans and other cities in the South as a result of Hurricane Gustav that had landed along the Louisiana coastline earlier in the day. “Conference President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz held a conference call with the nation’s mayors to implement immediate relief for the cities in the Gulf Coast Region that were directly impacted by Hurricane Gustav. We are implementing this relief effort to assure that the great arts and cultural contribution of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other communities in the Gulf Coast Region continues,’” said Cochran.

In a news article in the following day’s St. Paul newspaper, The Star Tribune, the paper alluded to a suggestion put forth by Cochran. “A suggestion that the next president add a Cabinet-level secretary of culture to his administration drew enthusiastic applause from the crowd of about 100-and a proposal that Huckabee fill the bill. He [Huckabee] demurred. ‘I’m just hoping my band gets better gigs,’ joked the guitar-playing ex-governor.”

Both performers Allen and Rich talked about the importance that the arts played in their younger years and the need for arts education in the schools. “Without the arts growing up, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore my potential,” said Allen. Rich attributed the arts to the basics of everyday life, “After all, everything begins with Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do.”

In the Conference of Mayors’ 10-Point Action Plan, the nation’s mayors call for the creation of a Cabinet level Secretary of Culture and Tourism charged with forming a national policy for arts, culture and tourism. The mayors also call for federal resources to be invested in nonprofit arts organizations through their local arts agencies with full funding of the federal arts and cultural agencies.