Lincoln City Council hears requests for funding of Juneteenth and Pride Celebrations

 

[April 15, 2022] 

At the next Monday night voting session of the Lincoln City Council, aldermen will be asked to approve sponsorship dollars for two upcoming one-day festivals within the city. Juneteenth will be held in Lincoln on June 19th and the following weekend a Pride Celebration will be hosted at the Logan County Fairgrounds.

Representatives from both festival committees were on hand to request funding from the city at the Committee of the Whole meetings on March 29th and again on April 12th.

At the March 29th council meeting, Jennifer Hunt spoke on behalf of the Juneteenth committee. She said that she had heard that the city had funded other Lincoln festivals and had given each one quite a bit of cash. She was there to ask that the city also provide funding for Juneteenth. Her request was for $10,000. Kelsey Edwards was representing the Pride committee and requested $3,500 for that celebration.

Hunt spoke first seeking the funding and talking about the value of the Juneteenth celebration to the community. She said the 2022 event will be the third annual in Lincoln. She explained that the event is about celebrating diversity in the community but it is moreover about celebrating Black culture and American History. She reminded the council that Juneteenth is now a Federal Holiday and should be regarded much like the July 4th Independence Day celebration.

Hunt said that the event was also good for the community and the city. She said that it would bring a diverse audience into the city, including visitors from outside the city, some of whom would stay over at local motels and would shop in local retails businesses. She said that she was expecting attendees from throughout the region and even from out of state.

Hunt was asked how many people she thought would attend the event and she said historically about 250 have attended.

She was asked by Alderman Rick Hoefle why she needed as much money as she was requesting. To him, $10,000 for an event for 250 people seemed excessive. Hunt said that because the target audience was typically going to be people without a great deal of financial resource, the entire event was going to be free. The event would include bounce houses, free food, games and activities, live entertainment, paid motivation speakers, dancers, free books and fireworks. She also said the money was needed for banners, signs, marketing costs and tee-shirts for the event.

Hoefle asked if the group was doing any fundraising or seeking sponsorships from other entities. Hunt said they were working on sponsorships, but did not have any at that time. Hoefle also said he felt they should reconsider offering everything free. They could at least charge for food and cover that cost without funding.

Alderman Sam Downs wondered if the city could fund the project out of American Recovery Plan (ARPA) dollars, which is where the money came from for the Balloons Over 66, Pigs and Swigs, Dock Dogs and Railsplitter Festival the city had awarded earlier this year.

Alderman Steve Parrott said the group should be talking to the tourism bureau, not the city. He said the city channeled money from the hotel motel tax to tourism so that the city would not be responsible for requests such as Hunts.

Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs said that she had concerns not about funding the festivals but about whether or not the city could afford to fund these events when the it has a responsibility to cover the costs of material things that matter to all the citizens such as infrastructure and funding police and fire.

She also reminded the council that when she was an alderwoman previously, requests were made annually at budget time, but she supposed that somewhere along the way that rule had gone to the wayside.

She said that if the city was going to offer funding to local festivals, then there should be a policy and a process to guide the aldermen so that all requests were considered fairly based on established rules.

Rohlfs also asked if the Juneteenth committee had a budget it could share with the city council. Hunt said she would get one put together and submit it to the mayor.

When Edwards came forward to submit her request for the Pride Celebration she said that in listening to the previous discussion she had noted the request for a budget and had emailed one to Mayor Tracy Welch.

She said the Pride celebration would be in its second year. Last year, the group had hosted a celebration that had celebrated the LGTB community in a family friendly atmosphere. She said the group had offered a free get together with food vendors but that people had also left throughout the day to eat in local restaurants and shop. The day-long event had included entertainment and booths that addressed topics of concern for the LGTB community such as health and mental health.

Edwards said the first year, they group had raised money through a go fund me account to cover some of the costs and had seen an attendance of about 200 people.

Both Hunt and Edwards were asked if their requests were an “all or nothing” scenario and both said they would like to have their “ask” but would take whatever the city could offer.

Throughout the first committee of the whole as well as the second, there were many topics that became tangled with the initial requests.

Aldermen expressed concern about the funding of festivals when the city has financial obligations that some referred to as more important to the constituents on the whole. Rohlfs said that she wasn’t aware of how the constituents felt about the two celebrations and that should also be considered. She said that she felt both groups could and should have their events, but if the constituents don’t support the city funding these events, aldermen do need to take that into considerations.

The discussion about ARPA funding was mute because the rules of the federal grant specify that the tourism-based activity being funded must have been ongoing since before the pandemic, or prior to 2019. Neither festival qualifies under that rule.

Parrott said that he felt the city was starting something it didn’t want to start. He noted that the tourism bureau is the place where these requests should be presented not the city. Welch didn’t exactly agree. He said that the city withheld five percent of hotel motel tax to support events and activities within the city.

Welch said if the council wanted the tourism bureau to be in total control, then the city should give the bureau 100 percent of the hotel motel tax, but that would mean no more Third Friday events in Lincoln as those are funded with hotel motel tax. Parrott said he wasn’t opposed to giving the bureau all the money.

City Treasurer Chuck Conzo said he was opposed to giving the bureau 100 percent, because that money was used for more than just Third Friday’s, such as picnic tables and the new pavilion going in at Postville Park.

At the April 12th Committee of the Whole meeting, former Logan County Board member Terry Carlton spoke about all this during public participation. He warned the city about getting involved in things of a political nature. He also said they were opening a door they might not want to walk through if they started funding requests for activities in the city. He said that the council has a responsibility to be fair and equitable and if they grant these two requests, they should plan to grant many more in the future.

Rohlfs asked Carlton if when he was on the county board were there certain obligations the county felt had to take precedence over others. Carlton said of course there were. He noted the money that was being set aside for the courthouse and said there had been times when someone would suggest money could be used from that fund to cover something else. He said the board had to stand firm that the money had a purpose and could not be used for anything other than that purpose. He said the county and the city both have obligations they have to fill first before looking at the extras.

Parrott said again that if the council would direct these groups to the tourism bureau, then it wouldn’t have to worry about any of it. Carlton said that is how the county did it also and tourism handled it from there.

When the topics came up on the agenda the Juneteenth committee was the first to address the council. On this evening, a four-person panel came to the speakers table for the Juneteenth celebration. Those present included Jeanette Harris with the Lincoln Diversity and Inclusion Commission, Hunt, Jessica Jackson and Rev. Adam Quine, also a member of the Diversity and Inclusion commission.

Hunt spoke first saying that she felt the need to define what Juneteenth is. She said it was an event to celebrate history, to educate, show love, peace and unity, and observe a federal holiday.

She said she wanted to draw on a comment by Carlton regarding discrimination of funding. She asked how many other festivals and events the city did support financially or at least has in the past. Through various aldermen a list was compiled that included the balloon festival for many years through sponsorship of a special shaped balloon, the more recent Dock Dogs and Up in Smoke barbecue, and the Railsplitter Festival. They were asked if they supported the annual Fourth of July events at the Lincoln Park District. The answer was in the past yes, but not recently.

Harris told the council that she was very disappointed that anyone would consider Juneteenth to be “political.” She said that it was not political, that it was historical and should be looked upon just like the annual July 4th celebration.

Hunt reminded the city that Lincoln College is closing and that the community on the whole is going to suffer from the closure. She said that the city needs to act now to promote diversity within the community because the diversity now lies within the student body of the college. The city should work to keep that diverse population through demonstrations of equality.

Jackson supported that statement saying that the community needs to “celebrate big to bring people to live here.”

Downs, early in the conversation said he would suggest the city consider awarding $2,500 to the celebrations, Hunt asked if the city could do $8,500.

Much of the evening was bantering back and forth between the panel and members of the city council. Rohlfs said that it was important that the council be responsible to all constituents as they are the taxpayers who fund the city. Hunt said she was a taxpayer and she supports the celebrations and she knows that many others do too.

Hoefle said he had been on the budget committee and yes, there is money budgeted for the balloons and the Pigs and Swigs, but he does not support giving funds to those groups either. He added that there was no way the city could afford to give the Juneteenth $8,500. He said “we have to keep the wheels on the bus,” and noted that others have said the requests will continue to come and the city has to be prepared for that financially if this is the route it plans to take.

There was a lengthy debate on the terminology. Is the city funding these events or sponsoring them? Rohlfs explained that sponsorships included some give and take. The city sponsors a specific component of an event such as the special balloon for balloon festival. In return they are touted by the event as being the sponsor through signage and other promotional materials.

She also asked of Conzo what amount of financial support the city has typically awarded to the other festivals in town. He said roughly $1,500 to $2,000 which was right in line with what Downs was recommending.

Hoefle said he was still concerned that the group is not working toward becoming self-sufficient. He wanted to see them doing fundraisers and seeking other sponsorships and he felt they should sell some of the items they will be offering this year, such as the food.

Alderman Tony Zurkammer asked if the group had done any fundraising. Harris said they had $500 from the United Way and that they will be sending out sponsorship letters in the near future.

Zurkammer also looked at the budget Harris had provided. He saw a total of $16,000 included $3,000 for fireworks. He said he didn’t believe there would be support for fireworks at Scully Park. Therefore, the group needed $13,000 and had $500. Parrott had said earlier that he would vote no to any request on principal. He does not want the city taking multiple requests when that is the job of the tourism bureau. Zurkammer now said he had a tendency to go along with Parrott. He supports the Juneteenth celebration but is hesitant to open this door of fielding requests and giving money to local festivals.

Hoefle and Parrott both noted this was only a one day event. The rules of the Tourism Bureau on one day events was $500 given to promote the event through advertising. They said that one day events were not proven to produce heads in beds that generate hotel motel tax revenue.

Again Welch said if the city was not going to help with activities in town, then the money gained by the hotel motel tax should be going to the tourism bureau. But at the same time, he doesn’t agree that is the right direction to take. He reminded the council that the tourism bureau supports county wide initiatives while what the city holds is exclusively for use in Lincoln.

Rev. Quine spoke only once during the evening. He said he heard what was being said about money for streets and such but there comes a time when the city should support people over objects.

After more than an hour of debate, the council settled on putting an item on the next voting agenda according to Downs’ original recommendation of $2,500.

Moving on to the Pride Celebration Taylor Lyon was on hand to speak to the council. She reported that the Pride committee has been fundraising and had received a $3,000 gift from the Lincoln Memorial Hospital Community Health Collaborative. The group is within about $1,000 of having what it needs to host this year’s event.

She shared that this year the event held at the Logan County Fairgrounds will include a “family friendly drag show,” face painting, kindness rock painting, bounce houses, Stuffed Aria pizza, and bottled water donated by LMH. There will be cotton candy and a disc jockey. The group will also have raffle baskets. In addition there will be books offered that have been written by gay authors. There will also be educational materials and information about health and wellness specific to the LGTB community.

Lyons said the committee would be grateful for whatever amount the city was willing to provide. She said it was more about support than dollars and told the council. “In your position, you represent us and it means a lot to us to have your support.”

Downs said he would suggest that the council entertain sponsoring the Pride Celebration with an award of $1,500. Aldermen seemed agreeable, and that is what will be put on the agenda for Monday April 18th.

Later in the evening as the council discussed the budget for the new fiscal year, there were suggestions about modifying the hotel motel tax allocations, but Conzo squelched those suggestions saying that the city has a limited amount of time to pass a new budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. He said that such a consideration needs time to discuss and work it out properly and the city doesn’t have that time. He said the council should use the next year to consider and discuss what is in the best interest of everyone, that it is not a decision that should be made in one night.

Aldermen agreed and that topic was dropped for the time being.

[Nila Smith]