CC Minutes - 02/23/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Torrey reported that when he had been contacted by media to comment on issues raised at the resignation of members of the Eugene Celebration planning committee, he had suggested the council might consider providing a loan for start up costs to not exceed $250,000 for an organization which would sponsor the event. He said he has subsequently discussed the concerns of resigned members and was convinced that they continued to support the Eugene Celebration, but were convinced its continuance would be impossible without City subsidy. Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Executive Manager Jim Johnson reviewed actions of the City Council related to the Eugene Celebration and presented options to be considered by the council, as follows: · Continue the Eugene Celebration as a City managed event. · Transition sponsorship and management of the Eugene Celebration to a qualified nonprofit organization. · Provide no City support for the Eugene Celebration, likely ending the event. Steve Schriver stated that his firm, S/2 Intelligence, had been engaged to research successful patterns in nine events with formats similar to that of the Eugene Celebration. He reviewed highlights of his report as reported in the Agenda Item Summary distributed with the agenda of the meeting. He made nine recommendations, as follows: · The Eugene Celebration needs to evolve or dissolve. · A private nonprofit sponsor/manager of the Eugene Celebration should be found. · Funding through commercial sponsorship and other means should be increased. · An adequate and stable location for the event should be identified. · The event sponsors should recognize that times and perhaps the event's purpose have changed since the initial celebration. Mr. Meisner asked if any events reviewed by Mr. Schriver had changed from being city-sponsored to nonprofit organization sponsored. Mr. Schriver replied that the "Artquake" festival in Portland had moved from city- to nonprofit-sponsored status within two to three years of its inception and that the city continued to provide personnel, office space, and other in-kind support. Mayor Torrey stated that he did not believe the motion under consideration gave adequate direction for resolving issues related to the Eugene Celebration. Mr. Fart requested that his motion made at the February 16 meeting be withdrawn from consideration. Mayor Torrey determined there was no objection to having the motion withdrawn and declared it was not under consideration. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to express the support of the City Council that the Eugene Celebration continue. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 23, 1998 Page 10 7:30 p.m.