Fifth in a series
Re “Sponsors Set a Record for Summer Music Festival”
[img]2657|right|Gary Mandell||no_popup[/img]On the eve of Thursday evening’s Week Three of Culver City’s Boulevard Music Summer Festival – Surf City, spotlighting hits by the Beach Boys and by Jan and Dean – contract relations between City Hall and the producer remain vexingly prickly.
After saying last week that “I would prefer not to get a contract where there are changes made without discussing them with me,” Gary Mandell cited an illustration. In recent years, cleanup has been added to Mr. Mandell’s agenda for the six-week series in the Courtyard of City Hall. “Last year we steamcleaned after the third and sixth shows, which I thought was adequate,” he said.
“They thought they needed more – cleaning after every show. I thought spot-cleaning was fine. That is their decision. The problem was, they wanted me to pay for (the added nights of cleaning). That is one more expense. At $400 a show, it is $1600.
“What’s more,” said Mr. Mandell, now in his 14th season, “because I am in charge, and I am responsible if anything happens, I am there when they do the steamcleaning. I am there until 1 in the morning (after the 7 o’clock concerts).
“That is not something I had to do before, as the producer, when the city was doing it. So I never agreed to go into the steamcleaning business.”
For Mr. Mandell, the contract wrinkles extend beyond economics.
“I also said to the city, ‘I think you have find a balance between water conservation (since the state is in a severe drought) and how clean you want the Courtyard, especially because every city in the world is promoting conservation.’”
(To be continued)
[img]2655|exact|||no_popup[/img]
