As of late this afternoon, Jeff Cooper of the sponsoring Exchange Club said that the sixth annual Downtown Car Show, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, is off.
At least it will not be staged in Culver City — unless City Hall blinks.
And City Hall ain’t talkin’.
For weeks, the Exhange Club and City Hall have been unable to agree on financial terms, arguing over which side was contributing how much money to the one-day, six-hour promotion that is said to attract 10,000 persons.
Matters were supposed to be settled at last Monday night’s City Council meeting.
Unable, or unwilling, to make a call and offend either side, the City Council took the bloodless way out of the dispute.
They retreated.
On the way out of Council Chambers, though, members ordered City Hall staffers to meet with the Exchange Club, lock the doors, pull the blinds and not let anyone escape until a final, binding decision had been hammered out.
Mr. Cooper said staffers called him the next morning, and the warring parties agreed to meet at 5 yesterday afternoon in the airy Cathedral Room at City Hall.
Nine people were at the table, Dr. Jay Shery, Steve Rose, Rick Hudson and Mr. Cooper from the club, Todd Tipton, Jeremy Green, Gabe Garcia, Marlee Chang and moderator Martin Cole from the city.
They started the brief, cordial meeting with a $7,000 gap between them. By 5:30, the gap was down to a scant $1,800, which Mr. Cooper said was “quite handleable.”
But Mr. Tipton rang up Mr. Cooper this morning. The Redevelopment Administrator informed him that everybody’s boss, City Manager Jerry Fulwood, had “adjusted” some numbers.
Now the gap was more than doubled, to $3,800.
Whoa, said Mr. Cooper.
Mr. Tipton asked if the new figure would be acceptable.
“No,” Mr. Cooper said firmly, adding a choice observation or two about the City Manager’s after-hours adjustments.
Mr. Cooper said this means the future of this year’s Car Show has been dropped back into the lap of the so-far unwilling City Council.
