Festival goers enjoy the street-fair, arts, and entertainment during the Goombay festivities.

Staff reports

Some Asheville natives and long time residents are raising an eyebrow in opposition to the latest cuts to in-kind sponsorships of festival within the community. Asheville City Council recently voted 4-2 in favor of in-kind cuts for long running cultural festivals to include the Greek Festival, Goombay, the Hard Lox Jewish Food Festival, and 20 other co-supported city events.

Diane Ruggiero, Superintendent of Cultural Arts for the city responded to various questions from Council, some of those being: what was the criterion of public purpose used in the rating procedure? Another was, whether staff had talked to the event organizers of Goombay about this process of not providing non-essential services, and will they (staff) work with them to find other organizations to supplement the city’s cost reduction?

Mayor Bellamy opposed the cuts stating they should have affected all festivals and events across the board. However Councilman Mumpower’s opposition was directed towards eliminating the open-air drug market at the Civic Center.

Going forward, the City of Asheville will issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) in the fall of each year. This is for organizations and individuals wishing to apply for any city co-sponsored event. The RFP clearly outlines the program criteria and expectations.

Prior to the RFP deadline, the City of Asheville will conduct a series of workshops to assist potential applicants through the RFP application process. Staff will then review all submitted applications followed by the Recreation Board who will evaluate, score and rank all applications. The Recreation Board will then make the final recommendation to Asheville City Council.

Events with a high ranking will receive co-sponsorship support up to the amount approved for by council. After each event, applicants receiving co-sponsorship will submit an event evaluation report, which will be considered in the event they should apply for support in the future.

Since the beginning of the year 2008 the cost of co-sponsored city events was $312,000 of in-kind goods and services (increased by $67,0000), which included support for the Holiday Parade and Friends of Pritchard Park. Staff recently obtained additional event information from the remaining co-sponsorship applicants for 2008. Each event was scored from highest to lowest based on the event criteria presented to Council on April 5, 2008. City staff obtained additional event information from the remaining co-sponsorship applicants for 2008 and each event was scored from highest to lowest based on the event criteria presented.

The Urban News canvassed the community at-large to get comments and concerns about the festival cuts. Here is what community members had to say:

Native Ashevillian and retired educator Sarah Williams stated, “Cutting the services to small festivals held in Asheville should be out of the question. The festivals, (all of them), use city workers and city services in some capacity, including Bele Chere. City workers are supported by taxpayers’ dollars; therefore we, John Q Public, should have some say in how our tax dollars are spent. Cutting the budgets for small festivals makes it difficult for these festivals to maintain the quality that we so much enjoy. I am one city taxpayer, but I do have a voice. Please restore the help to the small festivals that have been cut. I sincerely doubt that the city will suffer.”

“In my opinion the cultural experience and education far out-reach any cost to patrons. Any contributions given are greatly appreciated, but any cost to develop community and cultural awareness is well worth the price. The insight and socialization you get from these events is something we can’t afford to loose.” PFC Joshua Coleman stated.

“It’s evident that most people feel that something is wrong with this picture,” says David Gist. “When you pick and choose, something’s wrong. Who’s to say one festival is more deserving over another? Goombay has been the ‘step-child’ of all these festivals, and clearly needs the help. Bele Chere support is mammoth compared to the other festivals. The African-American business district (the block) has been the Bele Chere dumping ground for port-a-johns, orange barricade barrels, and a trash can dump station. One year it was barricaded with a 10-foot chained-linked fence. So much for diversity, right?” says Gist.

When asked what she thought of the in-kind cuts to the festivals Elaine Robinson stated, “This can be seen as bad news, or we can accept that change happens and move forward. It’s an opportunity to get more creative in our support of these wonderful cultural events, to include looking for business partners, voluntary based assistance, along with city funding. It’s our community and the input, finances, and volunteers need to come together from all sectors of the community. It will take some effort, but it can be done. These festivals can be successful.”