Court Affirms Judgment Prohibiting Use of City Light Money to Fund Public Art
Division I wasn't impressed by City Light's claim that spending $3 million on public art had the required "close nexus" to the agency's primary task of supplying electrical power:
The City's evidence consists only of broad, general statements about the applicability of the disputed projects to the goals of conservation and education without any explanation as to how the projects furthered these goals.
The case arises from a challenge to the validity of Seattle Municpal Code Section 20.32, which requires City Light and other city departments to allocate 1% of budget for their capital construction projects within Seattle for the support of public art. The Court ruled that while certain art purchases are OK, "the trial court correctly prohibited the City from relying on conservation education as a pretext for art projects whose purpose was to benefit the general public."
