A cold January night and the Napa Valley Opera House theater cafe is overflowing for the final town hall meting on the arts.

They’ve come from all over the county to discuss the arts in this valley, to explore their meaning in our personal lives, their power to lift us to the level of our dreams and, not least, their very important potential for our business community. I cannot escape the feeling that we were present at the dawning of something new and intensely important for Napa Valley, an impression reinforced by the presence of civic leaders, such as Mayor Techel and Supervisor Dodd.

Few of us can forget the disaster of 2005-06 when, as a result of inadequate funding, we not only lost a dozen arts organizations but also were forced to abandon the school arts education program. Other than our own personal interests, how do we calculate the ultimate cost to us as a community in sending our young people into the world without exposure to these kinds of experiences? Who knows for sure? But, if we’re trying to produce citizens who can seize the fullness of our culture and build good lives, you can bet it’s not insignificant.

What has not been appreciated until recently is how huge an engine the arts can be to a prospering long-term economy. For example, in 17 short days, the Carlos Menotti arts festival in Charlestown, S.C. realizes income of $55.1 million. Who is not impressed with Ashland, a city built on the arts? Closer to home, our neighboring communities of Walnut Creek, Petaluma and Sonoma are already earnestly at work in governmental support of their cultural activities.

Napa should not be languishing. We have great venues, a vibrant arts community, enthusiasm and our enviable destination status.

The recent action by our supervisors in allotting $90,000 from county TOT funds was far-sighted and generous. It enabled our arts council to reinstate some school programs, initiate arts advertising, and devise a groundbreaking, comprehensive arts planning program for the county. It was an extraordinary demonstration of how effective timely financial support of the arts can be.

Other important efforts are in play, and the public should be aware of them. The Arts Council has been outstanding in spearheading work, creating a Public Arts Funding Ordinance, and the newly created Arts Commission of Napa Valley will give all citizens throughout the entire valley a vigorous voice for public advocacy of the arts.

These are first steps, but we need to build immediately on these programs by planning, now, for public policies that encourage the arts and provide for some form of reliable public financing. The truth is that to thrive, the arts have always required assistance and it’s clear that contributions, even from generous benefactors, are neither constant enough nor large enough to sustain the cultural community. The need is reciprocal: We need the cultural community and, through a program of public funding, the cultural community needs us.

(Block is a member of the Arts Council of Napa Valley board of directors and lives in Napa. This letter represents his personal opinion, not that of the council or other members of the board.)