Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Funding problems may force Pickerington fests into retirement
By TAMARIA L. KULEMEKA
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
tkulemeka@nncogannett.com


PICKERINGTON - Events that draw thousands of people to downtown Pickerington each year could be on the chopping block in 2006.
The Olde Pickerington Village Business Association recently presented a letter to the City Council expressing concern attractions, such as the Jazz and Rib Fest, Pet Fest, Cruise-In and Market Days, could be canceled if contributions from the city continue to dwindle.

''Olde Pickerington Village has a charm about it, and we work real hard to keep the integrity there,'' said Deblin Jennings. ''We're still hoping that the city will say this is a viable organization that we need to support.''
Jennings is the incoming president for the OPVBA, a group of downtown businesses that promotes the Olde Pickerington Village and hosts events to attract people to downtown.
The events help raise money for organizations such as the Pickerington Relay for Life, Pickerington Food Pantry and Fairfield Area Humane Society and serve as a venue for nonprofit organizations that use the events to raise public awareness, Jennings said.
The organization's contributions from the city dropped from $10,000 in 2002 to a budgeted $2,500 in 2006. The group received $5,000 this year.
The group could receive an additional $2,500 from the city, but that amount remains on the city's contingency list for now. The list consists of projects that could or could not be funded in 2006, depending on what the city can afford when revenues start coming in.
The top priorities on the contingency list are hiring a police officer and buying a new police cruiser, City Manager Judy Gilleland said.
Other items on the contingency list are street paving, hiring a part-time deputy clerk of council and a full-time finance clerk, hiring another police officer, and the Violet Festival, an event that drew 40,000 visitors this past summer. Those items are not ranked in any particular order.
''Hopefully, we will be able to fund the OPVBA at the full $5,000. However, we want to ensure that some of the basic city needs are met as well, like a much needed police cruiser and a much needed police officer,'' Gilleland said.
The city was able to fund about 90 percent of the projects on its contingency list this past year.
Jennings said the city has been supportive of the organization, but she also said the association must determine in advance what events it can afford to host. If cuts ensue, the Market Days, a Farmer's Market event and Cruise-In, will be canceled first.
The group will maintain its First Friday Shoppe Hop events, but those will be scaled back, Jennings said.
''There's also a possibility that the Pet Fest and Jazz and Rib Fest will be cut out,'' Jennings said. ''We're still excited about this year, but some decisions have to be made.'' Mary Herron, outgoing treasurer of the OPVBA, said she understands the city has to do the best it can with what it has.
''The city just doesn't have the funding, and there are other groups that receive money,'' Herron said.
There may be some opportunities for the Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce to partner with the association on some projects, said Helen Mayle, president of the Chamber.
Gilleland said the city probably won't know if it can contribute additional money to the association until the end of the first quarter of 2006, which would be at the end of March.
''We're going to meet with the association in January and discuss their plans and perhaps give them some guidance from a policy level,'' Gilleland said. ''The OPVBA is a valuable organization ... and we understand the importance of providing them some funding.''

Follow the money trail

Where will Pickerington cut funding? Let?’s look at some of the opportunities. The Senior Center is on the contingency list. Should we cut their funding? OPVBA? How important are these events? Last year they had the highest attendance ever. Violet Festival? Allegedly drew 40,000 visitors but what did they spend in the local economy? Next to nothing. What do the OPVBA draw in revenues to the city? Next to nothing.

I am not saying we shouldn?’t have these fun family events even for the sake of that ?– fun and family oriented events. I just gotta see some return on my investment of my tax dollars. Why can?’t these events charge for something? How about the OPVBA events being held somewhere that it could be contained and an admission fee charged? Why doesn?’t the Violet Festival charge admission? A portion of the gate goes to vendors and then they reduce prices?

Anyway, we have some pretty creative minds in this area. Matter of fact, according to these postings we just lost one of the best off council. How about the city look at perhaps taking over the Senior Center and make it a part of the park and recreation department? How about the city take a more active and decisive role in the rest of the events to assure that all steps are taken to assure that these events are at least on the road towards financial self-sufficiency?

Oh that?’s right, they?’re busy hiring yet another cop to not deal with the crime we supposedly have. After all, didn?’t Smith and Sabatino say we need more cops? Not sure what data they based that on or how much they dove into that data but a campaign promise is a promise, right?
Time to peel back the budget onion and I think that is what Ms. Jennings is alluding to here. Don?’t sit idly by while your city whines about being bare bones, broke, underfunded or whatever. We get enough of that song and dance from the schools. The money is assuredly there Ms. Jennings. All you gotta do is find the right person to look for it.

Matter of fact, according to these postings we just lost one of the best off council.

kinda funny

that you mention this. I had a talk with someone from the city that said a month ago or so that the budget looked real tight and that some of this support would be cut. I asked this person where our illustrious chairwoman of finance was during the budget development so she could represent her constituents and defend the civic pride of her community. Unfortunately she was too busy to help on the budget or had other interests occupying her time. Or maybe more unfortunately she hadn't a clue as to what was going on in budget land.

Cut it out!

The city, and for that matter the twp, should put NO money into these festivals. Cutting back to basics is called for. The city/twp should not spend a dime to put on these dubious events. They are all the same, same food, same rides, etc. Let the organizations who want to sponsor them do it all themselves. If they fail to get these things going by themselves, then just how necessary were they to begin with, and why should our tax money go to prop them up?

95% of all the money that comes in comes from people in greater Pickerington, and just how much of it actually stays here? I would wager that 95% of that money leaves this area when the vendors pull up stakes after their two or three days.

By Anon