Vice Mayor Mehaul O’Leary has assumed a familiar position — openmindedness — in advance of tonight’s possibly stormy City Council meeting at 7 o’clock in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The annually fragile status of the Summer Music Festival will be at stake.
Will it be diced and sliced, as the advisory Cultural Affairs Commission unanimously has recommended?
Or will it remain intact as an every Thursday night attraction, which is believed to be the Council’s majority sentiment?
“I want to hear what my colleagues have to say,” Mr. O’Leary said this afternoon.
“I have a personal opinion that the concert works very well where it is.”
But then the Vice Mayor, who doubles as Chair of the Redevelopment Agency, posed a blockbuster philosophical question:
“Is that what we are trying to do, just keep a free concert going? Or are we using it as a Redevelopment tool?
“I want to hear what my colleagues have to say. I am open to hear the public. I know it has become habitual for a lot of the residents. They love the concert series. They love the way it is. There will be an outcry.
“Again, I am open to go whatever way my colleagues see fit,” Mr. O’Leary said.
Even if called on first, the Vice Mayor said, he will respond that “I am open to go either way.
“As I said, I like the way it is. But if we are using it as a tool and our funds are limited, then we need to use it as a tool. If the Downtown Business Assn. deems it unnecessary and not a benefit anymore, then they are making a bold statement that they don’t need it anymore. The original purpose of the concert was to bring business to the Downtown area.”
A key component of the Cultural Affairs recommendation is shifting half of the eight concerts to a later Sunday afternoon start.
“I thought that was an interesting concept,” Mr. O’Leary said. “You are dealing with people who think this would benefit the Downtown businesses more. I would love to hear what they have to say.”
