SWAMPSCOTT — The Select Board voted unanimously to reduce the number of members on the Cultural Council from 13 to five.
The Council’s purpose is to award funding provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council to organizations and individuals that can provide a service that enriches the community socially and artistically.
Executive Assistant to the Town Administrator Dianne Marchese explained how the council struggles to meet quorum for meetings with the current membership number in place.
“I’m finding it a little difficult to fill this council, I’m not really sure why,” Marchese said.
In her position, Marchese has applied for grants from the council to fund artistic initiatives in town such as the Utility Box Mural Project.
“I would like to see this council filled so that I can ask for more money to bring more art to the town of Swampscott and in order to do so, I think we need to reduce the membership so we can always hit a quorum,” Marchese said.
The council currently has no acting chairperson and consists of residents Carolina Velasquez, Sammia Atoui, and Martha Cesarz. Doug Thompson is the Select Board liaison.
Select Board Chair MaryEllen Fletcher emphasized that now the board has downsized the committee, it will be relatively easy to make the committee larger if it successfully garners more interest in the future.
