Monday, October 01, 2012

Bicentennial funding: Why are we paying for private parties?


A note I sent to some council members today, asking for some rational, bicentennial intervention on behalf of a very left out, largely confused public: 

A brief review of funding so far:

Bicentennial Book:
$144,000 (Started with a "loan" from redevelopment. Does anyone know how much?)

Park: 
$165,000 purchase price (grossly overpaid)
$50,0000 design (overpaid again)
$520,000 for construction (no one seems to know why such a small park is so expensive)

Other:
$43,000 (earmarked for DNA and Bicentennial out of $100,000 transfer to Board of Public Works)

That puts the City on the hook for between $778,000 and $922,000 already, depending on the amount of the book loan, with little to no oversight. Now they're asking for $85,000 more. That's all in addition to the $275,000 they've received from Horseshoe among other private donations. The total known expenditure so far is about $1.2 million even before tonight's request. I've seen far lesser amounts lead to significant council debates but this money, for some reason, seems to be flowing without much question or understanding of its use.

Beyond the wildly overpriced park, why is the public being asked to fund what are essentially private parties with cover charges that will preclude much of the population from participating? It's one thing to help fund a small number of free-to-the-public events but why should everyone have to pay for lavish, ticketed events that those throwing them should be able to afford on their own?

Please consider turning down the funding request tonight, at the very least for those events which intend to charge for admission even after receiving public subsidy.

Thanks.

3 comments:

Randy said...

You may be right on the book $$, but I recall that what was needed was $250,000 for 5,000 copies of the book at $50 per book - which was also the selling price.

It now turns out that the first limited edition books will be sold at $40, but to get those, you must pony up $200 for the "gala."

I'd be really interested if there are 5,000 people in this town who will pay $40 or $50 for a coffee table book, no matter how good the book is.

But Jeff, I'm just going from memory of publicly reported "loan" requests.

Jeff Gillenwater said...

I recall some mention of $250,000 but was able to document the $144,000 production cost claim from Bob Caesar. The "loan" amount wasn't clear. In looking again, I also found that the Clark/Floyd tourism bureau contributed $15,000 to the overall bicentennial effort as well (while turning down a $36,000 request for the book), so add that to the running total thus far.


The Reverend Bob said...

I would be really interested if there are 5,000 people in this town who (in light of the present economy etc.) COULD pay $40 or $50 for a coffee table book. A lot of people, especially those with kids, have a pretty tough time getting by as it is. I find it hard to believe that these copies would sell.