Imagine you are an an administrator in the Department for the Visual Arts in the Metro Government of Nashville. Your supervisor, Doris Holmes (the administrator of the department) would like for the Metro Government to build a place on a small piece of property downtown that the local government already owns. It is across the river from The Grand Old Opry. It is land that is subject to flooding but it may be possible to design a building that is elevated enough not to flood. The idea is that the building will become a venue where young visual artists and display the art and sell art on consignment. No one, to your knowledge, has really though much about on-going costs like salaries and utilities and so forth. Your administrator may ask the mayor to include $50,000 to produce a plan for this project in the coming year's budget request. The mayor loves art and is likely to support such a proposal if it makes sense and is well thought out. There are members of the council who question the scope of government and who are fiscally conservative. The government's revenues have been constrained in recent years. The near-term economic outlook and forecast of government revenues is only fair.

Your supervisor (the department administrator) has asked you to put your thoughts in writing as a memorandum about how she (the supervisor) might proceed to try to make this happen (the $50,000 for planning). She wants your thoughts about the idea and about the likely concerns of the mayor and council. If she (the administrator) decides to promote this idea, she wants you to help her "have her act together." What are your thoughts and concerns? How do you suggest the administrator proceed, if at all? Write a formal statement to your Supervisor, Sarah Johnson.

Use your imagination to fill in reasonable details. State the assumptions you may make in your written communication to your supervisor, the administrator.