Even though the slightly exasperated, petitioning Exchange Club walked away from the City Council meeting for the second straight Monday night without an agreement, prospects appear more solid than before for the club’s sixth annual Car Show, scheduled for Saturday, May 9.
With two members of the City Council pushing very hard to bridge the financial gap between City Hall and the Exchangers, the two parties agreed to convene this week and report back to next Monday’s Council meeting with a
deal.
What is the problem?
City Hall’s record high estimate of the costs of staging the 6-hour show — representing close to a 100 percent increase from previous years — and the Exchange Club’s typically modest collection of fee monies, have caused a huge divide.
The city originally placed the cost of the Car Show at nearly $26,000, a long leap from the $12,000 to $15,000 costs for last year’s show.
Even if the Exchange Club’s request to waive a $10,000 fee were granted, the club still would have been forced to make up $16,000 while pleading that last year it netted a mere, and typical, $2,500.
Why did the costs rocket this year? Redevelopment Administrator Todd Tipton said that “we are counting more accurately.”
After being pushed hard by Vice Mayor Gary Silbiger and Councilman Chris Armenta to forge an agreement, the city, which subtracted $4,000 last week from its estimate, shaved off another $3,000 last night. This lowered the estimated cost to $19,000..
The new number still did not satisfy Jeff Cooper and Dr. Jay Shery of the Exchange Club, but they pledged to negotiate with City Hall.
Responding to tips from Councilman Mehaul O’Leary, a business owner, on creative ways to strongly increase their revenues, the Exchange Club said that it would work harder on the business side of the show to earn a fatter profit.
Following the meeting, Exchange Clubbers circled around Mr. Tipton, in the lobby of City Hall.
At $19,000 “we are about as far down as we can be,” Mr. Tipton soberly told the Exchangers. “You guys will need to come back with something.”
As sponsors of the day-before-Mothers-Day spectacle, the Exchange Club every year has sought and received a $10,000 fee waiver.
Going into the meeting, the outlook was shaky.
Observers in Council Chambers had to run fast to keep pace with the tide changes. With only four members voting —Mayor Scott Malsin, a member of the club, recused himself —first the Car Show looked off, then on, then maybe off again.
Andy Weissman and Mr. O’Leary, the first two members to speak, did not seem inclined to accede to the Exchangers’ request.
But Mr. Armenta and Mr. Silbiger said that as a matter of civic pride, rather than dollars and sense, they were determined not to let the Car Show founder.
Now it looks likely to happen as planned, even though it won’t be official until next Monday night, two months before the event that supporters say brings 10,000 visitors Downtown for ther 6-hour extravaganza of classic cars.
History is on the Exchange Club’s side. In each of the first five years, when it has sought a fee waiver in the range of the $10,000 it is seeking this year, the City Council has haggled and groaned but always said yes.
