Hi there all - I’m Allison Williams, and I’m “Isabella” and the Artistic Director of the Aerial Angels (on left, pigtails). I’m so thrilled to see that the arts community in St Augustine is alive and sparky and yes, even argumentative - because it’s better than sleeping or dead

I want to chime in with just a couple of pieces of information, and a little bit about our set-up, so that this lively discussion can continue with less speculation and more facts. Of course, I can’t speak for any motivations or opinions other than my own!

- Aerial Angels are an entertainment group based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We travel all over the world performing theatre and corporate shows as well as street performing. We’re always looking for new venues, and chances to perform wherever we go, and it’s common for us to do “pick-up” shows in locations where we are already touring. For example, we just did two weeks of theatre shows in Atlanta, and we phoned around when we arrived and got permission to also perform at a local festival for hat pass.

-Through our school residency program, Starfish Circus, we worked at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in January, where we met Phil McDaniels through his son. I was already acquainted with some of the difficulties of performing in St Augustine through other performers I know, and was excited when Phil suggested we might do a show here in town in a legal location.

- We met with the city attorney, the city manager, and the mayor to make sure we understood the rules and regulations. We wanted this to be a positive experience for the city, and a chance to open doors for other street performers. We found out that you can legally perform and “pass the hat” for donations in the Plaza downtown. Please note - the newspaper story contained an error - the Plaza is a legal hat pass space.

-For the shows in January, we teamed up with the Casa Monica to help get a crowd out, and the hotel offered a brunch special that was tied to our show, but you did not have to attend the show to use the coupon. We did not pass the hat at this show; the show was a gift to the people of St Augustine from the hotel and from private citizens who chose to contribute their personal money to an honorarium for us. No tax money or Cultural Council money was used for this show. We were helped by the Cultural Council including us in a promotional email, and the Casa Monica advertising their special. We also got brunch. It was tasty, but that’s an opinion rather than a fact

- As part of our southeastern tour, we traveled from Atlanta to Tampa to Atlanta again, and we called Phil and the Casa Monica to see if they were interested in having us back while we drove from one place to another. Since it’s a legal street performing area, we could have come and worked in the Plaza whether we called or not, but we prefer to have some marketing support when we can get it, and it saves me personally some labor when someone else is willing to help promote the shows. For these shows, we passed the hat for audience donations, and we again were treated to brunch. Phil’s contribution was that he lent us his inverter and battery so that we could run sound, and he let us take showers at his house. Since we’re not a registered 501(c)3, he was not able to deduct the hot water bill. Fortunately, we prefer cold showers.

As far as the dispute over artists being able to sell their wares in the Plaza - I don’t live here. I don’t know enough about the dispute to be able to intelligently argue for or against any aspect of it. What I am for is for lively, art-filled streets, whether that be visual, theatrical, musical, or “other”. I hope that our company performing will help open up the Plaza as an arts destination.

My assessment right now is that, as a performer, if I had to come without marketing support it would be much more difficult to get a crowd - I wouldn’t want to do it without sending out advance PR and having some local assistance to distribute it. The assistance we got from the Cultural Council was both wonderful and right in line with the kind of help we receive from other arts councils in other cities - they provide us with media names, help us hook up with local businesses interested in cross-promotion and helping us with food and/or lodging sponsorship and PR. For example, right now we are in Eureka Springs Arkansas for three days of street performing downtown, and we are being housed by a local inn and fed by a different restaurant every meal. The local cultural council passed around our PR and arranged TV and radio appearances.

Hopefully, if other street performers hear about what a good time we had, how welcoming and kind the audiences were, and how nice it was to have help getting people to the show, they will also come and perform, and maybe, eventually, the audiences will learn to come to the Plaza to see performers and it can be a more spontaneous venue.

For the visual artists - I hope to learn more about what’s going on there, and that your situation gets resolved in a way that helps you make a living and make art. We’re all in this together, and we can choose to help and support each other.

You are definitely correct in that thus far in recorded history, including all the advanced knowledge in science, psychology and medicine, there is no “cure” or “rehabilitation” of sexual predators - children or adults.

“Neutering” - physically or chemically - unfortunately does not stop predators from attacking and abusing others.

Lock ‘em up, preferably in isolation from ‘normal’ criminals, and when/if they are finally released, install an RFID chip to allow monitoring them 24/7 for the rest of their lives. LEOs’ computers can be programmed to show location of the chipped offenders as the LEOs’ travel about, and make a “stop” whenever and wherever they choose.

But that is a “hard truth” which many ignore or deny; or take a cowards’ refuge in pleading for the principle of
“constitutional rights!”

Constitutionally-guaranteed human and civil rights are all subject to restrictions for the common good, and health and welfare of the citizenry.

The control of true sexual predators is one which justifies federal laws and enforcements.

I tend to agree and I think most parents will. A previous episode when he was only 12? And, a victim who is only 4?

This boy needs incarceration, close supervision and serious counseling.

I don’t know what the parents of the victim are thinking about the offender, but, I agree, they need to be looking inward — and I am sure they are.

Thanks for participating. Hope you’ll stay involved.

If supporters give a candidate $1000, why shouldn’t that candidate spend it? How they spend it might be an issue however (I don’t care for those unsightly signs at the intersections either).

These are private funds we’re discussing, not tax dollars.

If a candidate spends the alloted amount that doesn’t tell me how that candidate, if elected, would handle public funds. Apples and oranges.

On another note, how would a candidate return unused portions of earned campaign funds? Or should they?

Perhaps they could use some kind of percantage formula … okay, you gave me $100 and that was 10% of what I earned and I spent $500 (50% of what I earned) so I owe you $5.

I’m no mathematician so those numbers may not be correct but I hope y’all got my point from it.

Please, help me out here, what am I missing?