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   Discussion on Special Events

   discussed

   Council held a work session to discuss special events in Sims Park, addressing concerns about park maintenance/wear and tear, family-friendly content, commercialization, economic benefit to local businesses, and city costs (e.g., security, crowd control) charged to event organizers. Council members shared individual perspectives but reached no formal decision; public comment was invited.

   📍Sims Park🏢Chamber of Commerce🏢Chasco Fiesta🏢Harley Davidson dealer🏢Main Street Program🏢Wrights National Market👤Councilman Altman👤Councilman Murphy👤Mario👤Mr. Rivera👤Scott McPherson#Arts and Economic Prosperity Report#Bike Fest#Chasco Fiesta#Christmas Parade#Fourth of July Fireworks#Millennial Party 2000#Seafood Festival#Sims Park special events#blackout dates policy#special event cost-recovery ordinance

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   [00:00:18] Very good. [00:00:19] I appreciate all of you coming out tonight. [00:00:20] This is the second workshop in a row we've had a good crowd for. [00:00:26] Would you care to say anything to get us started here? [00:00:29] Sure. [00:00:30] I can get you started, Mr. Mayor. [00:00:32] With your permission, I'll do so. [00:00:36] The popularity of Sims Park has grown in recent years in large part due to the capital improvement [00:00:45] expenditure at that location, and as such, the use of it has increased as well. [00:00:55] From time to time, you as a legislative body have indicated to me that you're concerned [00:01:02] that we appropriately maintain the park, and in response to that, we have programmed some [00:01:09] blackout dates into the calendar, but I know that you may want to talk about that a little [00:01:14] bit more this evening. [00:01:18] The other perspective that I've heard expressed by you is that the theme or the activities [00:01:25] that are programmed as part of the special event may or may not reflect the community [00:01:32] culture, and we might want to talk a little bit tonight about how to refine that. [00:01:39] And lastly, there has been consideration given to whether or not the events hosted in Sims [00:01:46] Park truly are an economic benefit to our business community, and we want to ensure [00:01:51] that they are. [00:01:53] With that being said, those are what I expect to be the variables, although there may be [00:01:59] more that I haven't thought of or heard about that you'll want to discuss at this work session. [00:02:06] Thank you. [00:02:07] I'm going to open it up for public comment. [00:02:10] Any of you wish to say anything before we ask the public to come forward? [00:02:13] I want to wait until we hear the public speak. [00:02:16] I'd like to have us all say a few words before we bite them down. [00:02:23] So I get to go first? [00:02:24] Sure. [00:02:25] Go first. [00:02:26] Okay, this has been a topic for months, years, years, I can say years, and I think that we [00:02:35] are a diverse community. [00:02:36] I think some of the events that we have in this community have always been an economic [00:02:41] value. [00:02:42] Actually, Mario, if you come down here, I want him to talk about a couple things, because [00:02:48] he and I have talked a lot about this, him being the economic developer in the community. [00:02:54] I am very proud of a community that can one week have a bike fest, the next week have [00:02:59] a gay pride event, and two weeks later have a veterans event. [00:03:03] My concern about the park, yes, we are using it 49 days out of 365 at this point for events. [00:03:11] I don't think that's a huge amount when we compare it to some of the other venues across [00:03:15] the Tampa Bay area. [00:03:18] I also want to, I don't want this to become a, my event's better than your event, or my [00:03:23] event should stand out. [00:03:25] I think that if the events are involved in helping the community, both in awareness and [00:03:33] helping non-profits, I welcome them with open arms. [00:03:37] If they're a commercial adventure, I'm not so eager for that, but I don't really want [00:03:43] to repeat that. [00:03:44] I really don't want it to be a, my event's better than your event, or let's make sure [00:03:51] my event keeps on the calendar. [00:03:54] Mario, you and I talked about the economic value, and I'd like you to talk a little bit [00:04:00] about that. [00:04:02] I think the request was, I think that the city manager had forwarded the arts and economic [00:04:06] prosperity report. [00:04:08] I have. [00:04:09] Which was what I felt was a really great researched document, and it's a nationwide organization, [00:04:20] and they did quite a number of studies in terms of the economic benefit, and they broke [00:04:25] it down to what the average benefit from a dollar-wise per attendee, and it talked about [00:04:36] meals, it talked about hotel, transportation, and the number that is the national average [00:04:43] is about $33 per attendee. [00:04:45] That would include a one-night stay, but if you back that out, you get a quantified dollar [00:04:49] value in terms of when people come to the community and participate in the arts, which [00:04:55] is how they kind of define the events, that there is a benefit. [00:05:00] And the report also talks about, I believe it's a third of the attendees of an event [00:05:06] comes from outside the area, so it's just like you're importing, you know, dollars [00:05:12] in the community when you have these events, but a lot of them are focused around arts [00:05:15] and non-profit organizations, and I provided it to the city manager, and the database table [00:05:20] is associated with that. [00:05:23] And there's a lot of questions that we talked about, too, was businesses downtown, and we [00:05:30] came up with a term. [00:05:31] What was the term? [00:05:33] Well, I used to be a professor of entrepreneurship, and we used to teach small... [00:05:38] Don't avoid the term. [00:05:39] Come up with a term. [00:05:40] It's called relational buyers. [00:05:41] Relational buyers, and where that applies to us in downtown is that we have the park, [00:05:46] you know, within a block of a lot of businesses, and we don't want them to be excluded. [00:05:50] We want them to be included, and that's what this... [00:05:52] Go ahead and explain what this... [00:05:54] Well, when I used to counsel businesses, a lot of people want to start and grow businesses, [00:05:58] and most urban core communities like this have a lot of small businesses that have been [00:06:01] servicing the community for years, and one of the things we try to emphasize amongst [00:06:06] those small businesses is that your customers are relational. [00:06:09] In other words, not only do they pay you for the value they provide you, but you're always [00:06:15] getting a little bit of a premium because they like your referrals, they like, you know, [00:06:20] the knowledge you have. [00:06:21] I think Wrights National Market is a classic example where they build strong relationships [00:06:25] with their people over 20-some years, and so there's a bit of an expectation that that [00:06:31] customer will pay a little bit more for that transaction. [00:06:37] The other term that we talk about are called transactional buyers, where people want the [00:06:40] lowest possible price, and they like couponing and things like that. [00:06:46] So with businesses, and I try to coach them that, is that, you know, if you have a transactional [00:06:51] buyer in a proximity, that's an opportunity of getting in the door and explaining the [00:06:54] value that you have to them and why I have to charge a little bit more for, because they [00:06:59] need to, you know, they don't have scale or size, so they have to find a way of earning [00:07:03] a living, and they love being in the community, so, you know, most of the... [00:07:06] And one of the challenges, I think, during the Bike Fest was the Harley Davidson dealer [00:07:12] down on 54, they wanted the businesses, here's all these bikes within a couple miles of their [00:07:19] business and tried to get them downtown, from downtown down to their shop, and what they [00:07:24] did is they had a couple girls walking around with iPads, and you could register to win [00:07:29] a bike, and so if you registered to win a bike, needless to say, all of a sudden you're [00:07:33] on their, you know, social media site, and any time anything's going on, they're relating. [00:07:39] So they used that tool to get, you know, to get a list of bikers to come to their shop, [00:07:46] even though the high percentage of them weren't actually from downtown New Port Richey, or [00:07:50] in any of the other events. [00:07:52] So I think that some of the businesses need to keep that in mind when the events are downtown, [00:07:57] the economic value that they can extract from them if they come to the park, because it [00:08:02] doesn't have to necessarily have a venue in the park, but be able to utilize the park [00:08:10] to get customers to come to their place. [00:08:12] Thank you. [00:08:13] Mr. Allman, do you have anything that you want to? [00:08:20] Thank you. [00:08:21] I hadn't intended to, but maybe I'll just throw the topics that I'm interested in talking [00:08:25] to my colleagues about that are issues that I have felt. [00:08:29] First of all, with events, one of the biggest moments in my life back in my old days when [00:08:37] I was mayor was in the year 2000 when we had the Millennial Party in Sims Park. [00:08:42] It was the grand opening of the new band shell. [00:08:45] It was the first time we used it, and we had a big renovation of the park, and so that [00:08:50] was its unveiling then. [00:08:52] We've gone through that again recently with the new building and the new improvements [00:08:55] of the park, but the benefit that I think has to be included in this discussion is the [00:09:04] benefit to the public. [00:09:05] When you look out at some of these events and you see the folks, whether it's us on [00:09:09] the floats during the parade and you see the lines and lines of children and parents who [00:09:14] were here to enjoy a free event, that is a part of community, a sense of community [00:09:24] and belonging. [00:09:25] The Chasco Fiesta, the Fourth of July has become, back in the days it used to be at [00:09:31] the mall, we have got 19 on the mall to watch it. [00:09:35] So the city has really embraced its role as the host of West Pasco, and the challenge [00:09:43] to our small city of 16,000 people is to be the host of 200,000. [00:09:48] And so some of these stresses that we are experiencing in the use of the park are natural [00:09:56] and it comes as our host role, and so we need the help of other people. [00:10:01] The events have historically been identified as New Port Richey's Chasco Fiesta or New Port Richey Christmas Parade, or the New Port Richey Fireworks, and they have been put [00:10:12] on by volunteers who work a lot of time and hours without fee, and who also generally [00:10:19] are members of civic organizations, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Program, or other [00:10:25] non-profit or civic associations. [00:10:29] Just from history, in the old days, for over 40 years, the city had an ordinance on the [00:10:33] books that said, if a civic organization holds an event that is sponsored or endorsed [00:10:38] by the city, then the city may not charge for crowd control. [00:10:43] In other words, back in the old days, we wanted that kind of stuff to happen and it was our [00:10:47] role. [00:10:50] One of the things that I understand, I talked to Mayor Scott McPherson a couple days ago [00:10:56] about his time, when the city went through really hard times, 2008, 2009, 2010, when [00:11:03] the economy tanked, housing dropped, and the revenue coming into our redevelopment fund [00:11:10] emptied out and left us exposed to some debt payments that the general fund had to pay. [00:11:15] As a result of those hard times, an ordinance replaced that ordinance and set up a committee [00:11:21] that would go and look at all the costs that were included and establish a procedure to [00:11:27] have these special events pay back the city for their out-of-pocket costs. [00:11:32] So I have, my personal desire, is that those major events and ones that we really want [00:11:40] to sponsor and endorse, particularly, that we go back to our old strategy of supporting [00:11:47] those events. [00:11:48] It's my understanding that the Christmas parade that just passed got like a $10,000 bill from [00:11:56] the city for the expenses of the city related to the Christmas parade. [00:12:02] I haven't seen the bill. [00:12:03] But there are costs and we do incur them and we budget for them and we've got substantial [00:12:10] budgets in our law enforcement area. [00:12:13] So I think you adjust what you do for the times. [00:12:18] The city was desperate to kind of survive. [00:12:20] It created a revenue stream by expecting the events to contribute and my biggest problem [00:12:26] is us telling them that they have to hire us. [00:12:30] If we need security, if we have those needs on events in our park, I don't understand [00:12:38] why in the old days the law in the city said if somebody needs security, they may ask the [00:12:45] city to provide it if they want. [00:12:47] We now have a provision where we tell events how much security they need, what it's going [00:12:53] to cost them, and we charge them time and a half. [00:12:56] So I'm against that. [00:12:57] Can I ask you just a quick question regarding that because you were on council prior to [00:13:01] me. [00:13:02] Right. [00:13:03] When you talk about the old days and having events in the city, was that when alcohol [00:13:05] sales were allowed in the park when we would provide services? [00:13:08] No, and I certainly understand that's a difference and that's a cost that should be borne by [00:13:12] the person that's making money selling alcohol. [00:13:14] I'm just talking about that we have the Christmas parade, we have massive crowds, we have general [00:13:21] crowd control, and some of these events we close the streets, you know. [00:13:26] So I'm not saying that everything should be free and we should let all events be free, [00:13:30] but I would personally like to revisit what the time now calls for as we're in this expansive [00:13:37] mode, and I don't want to see the events finding themselves in a battle for funding with the [00:13:45] other thing we've talked about, which is downtown promotion. [00:13:47] I think part of the problem as we started, and I was there when Scott and the council [00:13:53] were scrunching the numbers, we did not have a good handle on how much it was costing for [00:14:03] the special events, and when Chasco alone was pushing the better part of $100,000 cost [00:14:10] to the city, that's when we said, wait a minute, time out. [00:14:14] Chasco's a wonderful event, but you can't just hand the Chasco organizers, or anybody else, [00:14:24] a blank check and say, have at it, we'll pay for everything with no limitations. [00:14:30] That's what was happening, and that's why we put limits on it and said, Chasco, here's what we're [00:14:36] going to provide in the way of a sponsorship, and we did the same thing with the other [00:14:42] specific events, and of course, part of that was the alcohol sales were supposed to have [00:14:52] helped on that, but anyway, Councilman Murphy, any comments? [00:14:58] I just want to say. [00:15:00] You know, I agree with what Councilman Altman is saying as far as having to charge. [00:15:05] It's kind of a balancing act because obviously, you know, it's great that the park is so popular and people want to use it and have events, [00:15:12] but there is a cost with that, just maintenance alone. [00:15:16] So that's kind of what we really need to look at as far as balancing and then the events themselves. [00:15:21] I mean, I tell anybody that's putting on an event that, you know, [00:15:25] always look at it from a way, how can it benefit the city and how can it benefit the downtown and businesses? [00:15:31] Because they do get kind of left out sometimes during events and have in the past. [00:15:36] And I say the same thing to the businesses. [00:15:38] When we're having events, what ways can you do to embrace the event and make it profitable for you also? [00:15:45] So it's kind of a two-way street. [00:15:47] And obviously, we've got a lot of people here and we'll hear from everyone about that. [00:15:52] So looking forward to hearing your comments on that. [00:15:57] I've been pretty vocal about my concerns with large events in the park. [00:16:01] I'm just going to reiterate what they are. [00:16:04] My biggest concern, probably as far as the rest aren't prioritized, but this is one I keep bringing up, [00:16:09] is that the events in Sims Park are family-friendly. [00:16:12] We had an event last year that was pitched to us at Council as a family-friendly event. [00:16:17] Yet when it went to start, there were vendors in the park selling adult novelty items. [00:16:21] I don't understand. [00:16:23] Sexual preference set aside? [00:16:25] It's not my place, I don't feel, as a Council member to judge someone's sexual preference and orientation. [00:16:32] I don't think that's my job. [00:16:33] But it is my job, I think, to help regulate the events that are held in the park, [00:16:37] the wear and tear they take on the park, they have on the park, whether or not they're beneficial for the city. [00:16:43] And once again, if they're family-friendly. [00:16:46] I don't think that a bikini contest with girls in G-string on our bandshell is a family-friendly atmosphere either. [00:16:54] I really don't. [00:16:55] So I'm not picking on anybody's event. [00:16:57] I'm not trying to pick on any event organizer. [00:16:59] But that's one of the biggest concerns I have, is whether or not these events in our park are family-friendly. [00:17:04] Number two, the number of large events held in the park and the size of the events. [00:17:08] The wear and tear in Sims Park, we've seen it, right? [00:17:11] The landscape looks great down by the river. [00:17:14] Thanks for doing that. [00:17:15] Thank you, Mr. Rivera. [00:17:16] Thank you, Mr. Rivera, for that. [00:17:18] So we have to look at that. [00:17:19] I mean, you had a concern with putting in landscaping prior to Chasco. [00:17:23] To me, that shouldn't be a concern. [00:17:25] Landscaping the park should be able to be planted in the park regardless of what event's coming up. [00:17:30] So the fact that we're even having to have that discussion, to me, is an issue. [00:17:34] Cigarette butts all over the playground after large events. [00:17:36] I have an issue with that. [00:17:37] It's gross. [00:17:38] Our kids are going there. [00:17:39] It doesn't look good in the park. [00:17:42] Another issue I have is the commercialization. [00:17:44] I've been vocal about this as well. [00:17:46] The commercialization of our park during events. [00:17:49] I don't think the primary goal should be to sponsor an event so you can get as much marketing for your business out there as possible. [00:17:56] That's not what it should be about. [00:17:58] And I'm seeing more and more of it as the events grow and as we have more events in the park, and I take issue to it. [00:18:04] You know, if you want to advertise your business, do it on your own dime. [00:18:07] I'm not saying you can't have a banner up in the park and your business name printed on flyers and things like that, [00:18:12] but we have to draw a line at some point. [00:18:15] I really feel that we do. [00:18:16] And then the last concern I'll bring up, and I have many, many more of these. [00:18:20] These are just the main topics. [00:18:21] Are the events beneficial to our city residents and our business owners? [00:18:25] A lot of people come up here and speak and say I'm a resident of New Port Richey. [00:18:28] Well, that may be, but you're not a resident of the city of New Port Richey. [00:18:31] And that's my top priority. [00:18:33] We have to look out for our city residents that elected us, that live here day in and day out, [00:18:37] that have businesses in here day in and day out, that are paying city tax dollars that we're responsible for. [00:18:43] So I'm not saying if you're not a city resident, you shouldn't have any say whatsoever. [00:18:47] However, we have to, you know, we're trying to build a downtown atmosphere for our city, [00:18:52] and a lot of that has to do with Sims Park. [00:18:54] You know, when we were designing the park, a lot of people had recommendations. [00:18:59] A lot of people disagreed with a lot of the things that we proposed, [00:19:02] and we went ahead and implemented in the park. [00:19:05] But at the end of the day, it was a great move, and it's had a huge economic impact on our downtown area. [00:19:11] So it was everyone on council at the time, everyone on council leading up to that, people on council now, [00:19:16] we all understand the benefit of that investment in our park. [00:19:19] And like I made clear, you know, a few meetings ago, it's slipping. [00:19:23] The landscaping was slipping. [00:19:24] The look of the park, the presentation of our park is slipping. [00:19:28] And I'm not saying it's all because of large events, but large events do have an impact on our park. [00:19:33] We have a band shell. [00:19:34] We have that for a reason. [00:19:35] I'm not saying we shouldn't have any large events in the city. [00:19:38] We just have to be careful here. [00:19:39] We can't have a large event there every weekend when it's nice outside. [00:19:43] And I understand the demand. [00:19:45] I understand that, unfortunately, our county really doesn't have any other venues in our area to hold such events. [00:19:51] With a river running through, with a beautiful downtown area with oak trees covering up for shade when it's hot out, [00:19:56] it's a great venue, and I appreciate everybody that, you know, works hard to put their events on in the park. [00:20:02] But I see things just enveloping stretch and stretch and stretch, [00:20:05] and I just think we need to take a step back and reassess our goal for Sims Park and our goal for large events. [00:20:12] Like you brought up Chasco, and I look back as a kid, [00:20:15] some of my fondest memories of being a New Portage Residence were Chasco Fiesta. [00:20:18] However, I made it clear before my friends on the Chasco Steering Committee that we have to remember, [00:20:24] our acreage downtown isn't growing. [00:20:26] It's actually shrinking as more development comes. [00:20:28] So we have to be careful the size of the events that we have, whether or not we're shutting down streets, [00:20:33] how long we're shutting streets down for, which streets we're shutting down, [00:20:36] what preference are we giving on that compared to other event organizers. [00:20:39] Those are the things I think we just have to be cognizant of and consider. [00:20:43] We're not going to come up with any answers today. [00:20:45] There's a lot of people in the audience that want to speak. [00:20:47] But just letting you all know, from one council member's point of view, [00:20:51] those are the main concerns I have when we're discussing large events in the park. [00:20:55] And I've got very similar concerns. [00:20:58] First of all, the family-friendly nature. [00:21:01] And we have had a need to dial back some of the events. [00:21:09] We had one that had a bakery that was selling stuff that I don't think was legal, [00:21:16] weed crispies and pot brownies. [00:21:20] We had the adult novelties and the G-strings, [00:21:25] and even Chasco with the advent of the alcohol sales. [00:21:31] And they're aware of it. [00:21:33] They've had to deal with the issue of what happens when somebody gets up on street parades Saturday morning, [00:21:43] and by the time the parade gets to them, they're already three sheets to the wind, [00:21:46] and then they go into the park. [00:21:49] It's an issue. [00:21:52] But one of the things that I am concerned about as far as the appearance of the park [00:21:59] is just when some of these events happen, particularly big events. [00:22:05] And I'm not sure why Chasco is in the spring, [00:22:08] but I think that's part of the whole season for those type things. [00:22:13] But it happens in March or April typically, [00:22:17] and that is right at the early warm part of the dry season. [00:22:24] And then sometimes a matter of two or three weeks later, [00:22:29] we have another big event, which historically has been the Seafood Festival. [00:22:36] And staff not talk about even just trying to do landscaping before Chasco. [00:22:42] They don't even have a chance after Chasco before the next event hits. [00:22:47] And the park is maybe not even recovering from that. [00:22:53] And then we hit Main Street Blast. [00:22:55] All three big, big events all in the dry season, [00:22:59] which is the worst possible time for us to be hammering the landscaping, [00:23:05] the grass and everything else. [00:23:08] Assuming that Chasco needs to stay pretty much where it is, [00:23:14] I would have no argument scaling back everything between that and the 4th of July [00:23:23] and just basically say, you know, let's let the park have a chance to recover [00:23:27] because it's not going to do well so long as it's bone dry. [00:23:31] And, you know, give it a chance, [00:23:34] and that would give us a chance to do some of the stuff that needs to be done [00:23:39] to repair the park because there will be damage when Chasco happens. [00:23:42] It's nine days long, and it's going to have to be rehabilitated afterwards. [00:23:49] There's no question. [00:23:51] And that's part of the expense that the city picks up as a result of having [00:23:58] what I really view as probably our cornerstone event here in the city. [00:24:06] I think we ought to have a 4th of July, [00:24:08] and I love the fact that we've got a Christmas parade and boat parade [00:24:13] and the stuff going on there. [00:24:16] Beyond that, I don't know that we need to have a lot of big events. [00:24:20] There was a period, and again, this was back when Scott McPherson was mayor, [00:24:26] and we had one year where nonprofit groups, [00:24:38] and they weren't from West Pasco or New Port Richey, [00:24:41] but coming out of Pinellas County were coming up here and running carnivals. [00:24:48] And we had one year where in a four-month period, [00:24:52] I think we had 12 weeks of street closures. [00:24:56] We would no sooner open up the streets before the next one would come in. [00:25:01] It was one right after the other. [00:25:05] And some of them were multi-week. [00:25:08] Probably the worst offender in that regard was they had a carnival for the Christmas holidays. [00:25:15] They ran the carnival on each of the two weekends, [00:25:17] and it was shut down during the week, [00:25:19] but the traffic was still completely hosed for that entire week in between. [00:25:25] So you had the week before the event, you had the weekend between the two weekends, [00:25:30] and then the following week where there was basically nothing moving [00:25:34] in that whole section of the city. [00:25:37] That's going to probably take care of itself pretty quickly. [00:25:42] I think the Chasco Committee is well aware of the fact [00:25:47] that this is probably the last year they can have a carnival in the downtown [00:25:51] because there physically won't be a place for them to put it. [00:25:55] As soon as the Hacienda Hotel opens, the Swanson Lot is gone, [00:26:02] and they're going to lose the stuff around Orange Lake as well, [00:26:06] unless you guys as my colleagues all want to be fielding phone calls [00:26:11] from people that live in apartments on Orange Lake complaining about the fact [00:26:15] that there's carnival rides running until 10 or 11 o'clock at night [00:26:19] right outside their bedroom window. [00:26:22] It's changing. [00:26:25] That's where I'm coming from, but I definitely want to hear from the folks here [00:26:30] that took the effort to come and talk to us tonight. [00:26:34] I would ask that we try to keep the comments succinct [00:26:41] because I would like my colleagues and I to have a chance to talk about this [00:26:45] before we have to break. [00:26:48] With that, Greg, do you want to kick off by talking to us a little bit? [00:26:59] Good evening. I'm Greg Armstrong. [00:27:01] I own Caldwell Banker F.I. Gray in New Port Richey. [00:27:05] I come to you tonight proud of New Port Richey and where it's come from. [00:27:08] In the last 12 years, we've done something I could never have imagined. [00:27:13] I would venture to say that there's few municipalities in the United States [00:27:17] that suffered the effects of the Great Recession like New Port Richey did. [00:27:21] Just the way things fell, purchases, sales, it was just the way it happened. [00:27:27] Once we had leadership in place that started looking at what we could do [00:27:31] instead of what we couldn't do, we started moving forward. [00:27:35] And to that end, we started to recover, and now we're having a growth spurt [00:27:39] like I haven't seen in the last 40 years. [00:27:42] And I could not be prouder of downtown New Port Richey. [00:27:45] With that said, I know that growth, as you said, Mayor, [00:27:48] growth and change go hand in hand, and we have to live with that. [00:27:51] We have to find ways to live with that and to work with it. [00:27:55] But there are two things that concern me as we go forward. [00:27:59] One is, and I encountered this with the holiday parade, [00:28:04] something that's happened in the United States that seems to be creeping into our community. [00:28:09] A lot of negativity. [00:28:10] Everybody picks up on the negative instead of the positive. [00:28:14] If you go out tomorrow, what you said tonight that was negative [00:28:17] will be what you hear about tomorrow, not the positive. [00:28:22] So we all out in the audience need to remember we need to be positive on what we can do [00:28:27] and realize there's things that we can't do. [00:28:30] With that said, during the holiday parade, [00:28:33] and I have done 67 consecutive parades in New Port Richey, [00:28:39] I have never encountered the amount of comments and negative [00:28:43] and downright rude comments from citizens about the parade [00:28:48] and volunteers and everybody else. [00:28:51] I don't know where it comes from. [00:28:53] I thought we had a fantastic parade. [00:28:57] We had a record crowd. [00:28:58] We even had a high school come from Sunlake, [00:29:01] and just like Trinity coming in for the Christmas festival, [00:29:06] now we had people coming from Sunlake. [00:29:08] I was amazed at how many parents came up to me and said, [00:29:10] wow, we didn't know Pasco County had this. [00:29:13] So many more people were exposed to this. [00:29:17] So I don't want to lose track that we have a great downtown. [00:29:22] Most of Pasco County still doesn't know it. [00:29:25] It's just like a business. [00:29:26] If you think everybody knows you're there, you're going out of business because they don't. [00:29:31] You have to keep telling people that you're there. [00:29:34] I even encountered after the holiday parade one county official [00:29:37] who's trying to rid the county of all the barricades, [00:29:41] which the City of New Port Richey Holiday Rotary Club [00:29:45] and New Port Richey Rotary Club fought hard back in 2000, [00:29:50] and I believe it was 2006, fought very hard. [00:29:54] Robert Rivera was on that committee with us. [00:29:57] We fought very hard to get those barricades purchased. [00:30:00] With TDC money, but it wasn't just TDC money their city of New Port Richey money [00:30:04] I realized that last night when I was thinking about what I was going to say [00:30:08] City put some money in holiday Rotary put money in New Port Richey Rotary put money in [00:30:15] Trinity Rotary put money in because everybody in the community saw how important that was [00:30:19] But now because it's an inconvenience one county official wants to make those go away [00:30:24] That would be that would be catastrophic to our community and I intend to fight and make sure that doesn't happen [00:30:32] The holiday parade before the and you need to know this in the history before we [00:30:39] Had the recession it was the city of New Port Richey holiday parade [00:30:45] State are put on by the West Pasco Chamber and staged by the holiday Rotary [00:30:50] The city got credit because it was the city's parade whether you have a sponsor or not [00:30:56] It's the city's parade if something goes right. It's the city's parade if something goes wrong [00:31:00] Guess who's going to get the phone call you guys are you guys and gals? [00:31:05] That's who's going to get the call [00:31:06] So I would really like to see that that parade in particular goes back to being the city's parade [00:31:13] Go back the way we were we did what we had to do to survive to continue to have a Christmas parade [00:31:19] I can tell you in the last 12 years twice [00:31:21] We've gotten down to the threshold of having to cancel it that would have been a just awful for the community [00:31:27] It's one time when 80 85,000 people get in downtown New Port Richey and just feel good [00:31:33] And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that [00:31:36] also, I [00:31:38] Was disturbed at the land and I've lost track of my notes, but I was disturbed at the last [00:31:44] Work session that I attended because I heard a lot of comments from the audience not [00:31:49] small events [00:31:51] large events [00:31:52] It was an either-or and I don't think that's a correct discussion and I any business that doesn't see that there's a need for both [00:32:00] Is not needs to study marketing 101 because of this fact [00:32:05] Your small events get something going on that gets everybody [00:32:08] That's in that circle around that business gets a man and gets them downtown gets them going [00:32:13] The bigger events are designed to be advertised promoted outside of that circle to bring people in that don't know [00:32:20] It's there like the holiday parade is as much as it's about feeling good [00:32:24] We brought people in from out on 54 that didn't know downtown [00:32:28] Existed and I can tell you I got an email from a couple of the other day that went to the Japanese restaurant [00:32:33] Because they just happened to walk by it when they were here for the parade [00:32:37] So it is good for the businesses because it draws in more people [00:32:42] It makes more people want to live here [00:32:44] If you want to raise property values [00:32:45] The best way to do it is if we can all make people more people want to live in the city of New Port Richey we're going in the right direction. You've done a fantastic job, but we need to continue that I [00:32:56] will tell you that [00:32:58] because of all the the grief that I took and all of the lack of [00:33:03] My ability to get volunteers that I am stepping down from the parades [00:33:08] after 67 [00:33:10] I'm beat up and it's time for new blood and that's okay. We need somebody [00:33:15] With fresh ideas to spruce it up to to get a new face on it, and that's fine [00:33:21] But I hope that this that we can work and keep the holiday parade [00:33:26] Chasco prays completely different it brings in those people from outside. I go every year I have for [00:33:33] 25 years to the strawberry festival parade to the Gasparilla parade many of the others have already gone away [00:33:39] but those are successful because they [00:33:43] Those businesses want people to come in from outside and see what they've got and come in and spend money there and keep coming back [00:33:50] and want to live there and [00:33:52] That's what the kind of culture. We need here in New Port Richey [00:33:56] We've got we're on the cusp of having people [00:33:59] More and more people wanting to live here, and if we can increase demand we will increase our success [00:34:05] We'll raise property values businesses will succeed and we'll go forward. Thank you [00:34:10] And as a disclaimer [00:34:12] Mr.. Armstrong will be glad to sell you a house if you want to move to New Port Richey [00:34:18] Thank you, hopefully moving in not moving out moving in I said [00:34:21] Moving to New Port Richey [00:34:27] And you were there before me so thank you, thank you very much [00:34:36] I'm gonna open it up, and I would ask you try to keep it shortened to the point and [00:34:41] We'll get as many people as we can to have their say [00:34:51] You [00:35:10] My name is a pastor Victor McCluskey, I'm the pastor of KGB Baptist Church here in New Port Richey and [00:35:16] I [00:35:18] Brought forth my opposition last summer against the gay pride [00:35:24] festival that we just started last year and [00:35:28] Already you have seen that it brings in corruption with the adult novelty [00:35:36] Items which was a man's part edible man's part [00:35:41] private part and [00:35:44] And what do we expect when we bring in an event that is based upon [00:35:50] Sexual orientation that has nothing to do with diversity [00:35:54] Diversity is red yellow black and white we have the Chasco Fiesta, which is about Indians. There's nothing sinful about that [00:36:01] There's nothing sinful about the Christmas parade. There's nothing sinful about 4th of July [00:36:07] But when you have a group of people that have an agenda [00:36:10] To force their sexual preference on our society [00:36:15] Then there's something wrong with that and it should not be promoted the city should not be promoting things [00:36:21] Like this gay pride festival which destroys society it destroys marriage and it destroys the family [00:36:29] You know if marriage means anything then it means nothing and the Bible is clear [00:36:35] You know we have our founding fathers that tell us that basically our country was founded upon the Bible you have a [00:36:43] Carpet on a wall back there with the Liberty Bell that has a Bible verse on it proclaim Liberty throughout the land you go to [00:36:49] Washington DC and [00:36:51] There's Bible verses everywhere there our country. There's only two countries in the whole world founded upon the Bible [00:36:56] Israel and United States and the Bible is clearly against the homosexual agenda and [00:37:03] I believe that homosexual adoption is child abuse [00:37:08] Because they are putting into those. That's why you know it's unfortunate that there is a a school [00:37:15] Meeting going on tonight because there'll be more people here [00:37:20] There's a meeting going on tonight with the school board and it has to do with gender to where [00:37:28] basically the principal [00:37:30] Forced tried to force a teacher to absorb a girl a [00:37:34] Female who proclaimed to be a male to shower with the boys [00:37:39] That's where this is going. That's where this homosexual agenda is going so you have parents. They're disputing that and you have decent people here [00:37:48] Disputing this gay pride [00:37:50] Agenda, thank you [00:37:53] I would ask that we try to keep this to discussions of [00:37:57] Special events and not go off on [00:38:01] religious [00:38:02] Other diatribes, please this is this is the morality of our nation, okay? [00:38:07] I know we try to separate religion from everything else [00:38:10] Okay, but God is a part of our government [00:38:14] That's where we get our laws from and if I could just read one verse here [00:38:17] It says Isaiah 3 9 the show of their countenance doth witness against them [00:38:22] And they declare their sin as Sodom they hide it not woe unto their souls for they have rewarded evil unto themselves [00:38:30] Thank you. Thank you next [00:38:35] Mr.. Mayor and City Council [00:38:38] Firstly there was only one God and his name is Jesus, and we are here standing with him for him [00:38:43] I notice in the foyer a painting with a Bible the same Bible which proclaims homosexual transsexual behavior [00:38:51] Ma'am we're here to talk about [00:38:57] No you are out of order we're talking about special events, okay, I do not want to get a lecture on [00:39:04] on sermons or religion or somebody's [00:39:07] Anything to do with the Lord that I should obey him [00:39:10] We want to talk about special events you are keeping other people that want to talk about special events from speaking [00:39:17] Please either get on the topic or sit down okay this special event it promotes [00:39:25] Depravity in our city I [00:39:27] Want to just bring up some photographs that I have sir of the depravity in our city [00:39:34] Okay, we want this on the streets in this fine city. Is this what we want [00:39:40] Is this a role model for your grandchildren and children [00:39:44] Mr.. Mayor, thank you [00:40:02] I'm going to ask for order ma'am. Would you please sit down? [00:40:06] we want to get information from our [00:40:09] Our citizens about the special events and what they would [00:40:14] They feel about the stuff that we are discussing. Can we have some please sit down? [00:40:23] Excuse me, we're doing events. We're dealing with events man events [00:40:32] Please have a seat [00:40:39] Chief can you clear these people out of the audience? [00:40:42] I [00:41:06] Minute break a break yeah [00:41:13] Any other group and it makes me sick to see people [00:41:22] Claiming to be religious people [00:41:26] Doing what they've just done. No you are out of order ma'am. You've got the floor [00:41:32] Thank You mayor first off. Let me introduce myself. My name is Nina borders [00:41:36] I'm the current president of Pasco pride, and I'd like to give him [00:41:40] Thanks as well because I attended that boat River fest and that was fantastic event [00:41:45] I'm gonna start off by addressing some of your concerns [00:41:49] Mr.. Starkey, and they are all of our concerns to be honest as [00:41:53] The president I can assure you on record that this year [00:41:57] We will be completely in control and make sure that does not happen again for our Sunday festival happening on October 6th [00:42:03] That that is a family event we purposely do not sell alcohol because of that now as for our future plans [00:42:10] I cannot really speak on that other than that we had a large economic impact because we brought people downtown [00:42:15] We did not serve food or alcohol [00:42:17] we invited people in turn to go down to Main Street businesses and and eat and visit shops and buy stuff and [00:42:24] From what I'm hearing from all of the local businesses. That was a fantastic idea, and they were really appreciative of it [00:42:30] We've taken [00:42:31] the following months following pride in October and we've come together and we've [00:42:36] Come up with a great plan to pull in the businesses in downtown New Port Richey [00:42:41] We've already been talking about partnering with rock the boat [00:42:45] And in turn opening up a pride committee for this event now [00:42:48] This is the reason for that pride committee is because we want the businesses of New Port Richey to be involved [00:42:53] We want them to have a say in what we do and how we put together the events [00:42:58] We want them to have a say in what we do and how we proceed [00:43:01] We are a non-profit and this event is not for profit in turn [00:43:05] We sold things essentially just to cover our bill with the city. It was it's all for the people. It's love and why we do it [00:43:13] We will be partnering with the downtown businesses and now expanding [00:43:17] We want to draw people in and the best way to do that is to ask the people [00:43:20] That have spent their time and money working downtown and how they actually feel about it [00:43:24] Um, I won't take up too much of your time, but I would honestly yeah [00:43:28] Thank you for listening and thank you for this work session. Thank you [00:43:31] next [00:43:36] It's matt stidham, I am a city resident and [00:43:39] I want to express my concerns [00:43:41] Yeah, thank you. Yeah, i'd like to express my concerns as well and um, the pasco pride event and [00:43:48] And the concerns that you've expressed here tonight. It is not a family-friendly event [00:43:53] Uh the drag queen race [00:43:55] The provocative items. It's not an event. I as a parent that I could bring my son to [00:44:02] I had to play to even play in the playground that day and and uh, the risque dress and [00:44:08] That is not a family-friendly event [00:44:10] As a pastor i'm a pastor as well bible baptist church here in town [00:44:15] And now it is sinful event. It is against [00:44:19] The word of god i'm not going to preach to you and expound upon that any more than it has been [00:44:24] But it is something we need to consider, you know sin is a reproach to any people [00:44:29] the bible says [00:44:30] and on [00:44:32] Please consider those [00:44:34] You know to express this event. That's family-friendly. It is not [00:44:38] And um when they come and bring provocative dress the drag queen such [00:44:43] Please consider these things. Thank you. Thank you [00:44:48] Just just take that off the side on let's just put it over here [00:44:55] Hi, my name is jennifer eichenberger, um, I moved to New Port Richey a decade ago [00:45:00] from the New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania area. [00:45:04] My biggest concern when I moved here [00:45:06] was the lack of diversity. [00:45:08] I came from an area where you can take a subway [00:45:11] and hear 20 different languages [00:45:13] on my way to work every morning. [00:45:15] And over the past decade, [00:45:17] I have seen the New Port Richey City change [00:45:20] and grow in ways that were totally unexpected. [00:45:24] When people say that some of the events [00:45:26] are not family-friendly, [00:45:28] I would say, maybe for your family, [00:45:31] but for my family, everything is welcome. [00:45:35] I do not drive a Harley. [00:45:37] So you know what I don't do? [00:45:38] I don't go to the Bike Fest. [00:45:40] But I go to all the other ones [00:45:41] because we should have a choice, [00:45:43] what we attend, what we don't attend. [00:45:45] But the more diversity, the better for the city. [00:45:49] It not only draws people in, [00:45:51] it makes people wanna move here. [00:45:53] It makes people wanna open their businesses here. [00:45:56] And I just think it's all good. [00:45:59] And everyone's personal reasons for not attending, [00:46:03] then don't, there's plenty of people that will. [00:46:05] Thank you. [00:46:06] Thank you. [00:46:07] Thank you. [00:46:08] Thank you. [00:46:09] Thank you. [00:46:10] Thank you. [00:46:11] Thank you. [00:46:12] Thank you. [00:46:12] Thank you. [00:46:13] Thank you. [00:46:14] Thank you. [00:46:15] Thank you. [00:46:16] Thank you, Councilman. [00:46:20] All right Bob, this is about the events. [00:46:23] It's just like when we have Chaska or any parade thing, [00:46:25] I'm Gene Sullivan, I own the Boulevard Lounge downtown. [00:46:27] I live on Lafayette, on the river there. [00:46:30] But when we have these events, [00:46:31] and it's been like this forever, I've lived here forever. [00:46:35] Everybody lines up with their trucks in the back, [00:46:38] back up to Main Street and all, [00:46:39] start drinking at one, two o'clock in the afternoon. [00:46:41] And it's not the business people, [00:46:43] and it's not the bars that are hurting or going around, [00:46:47] because I'm there all the time. [00:46:49] So it's these people on the back of the pickup trucks, [00:46:51] a lot of them underage, [00:46:53] and I always thought drinking on these trucks was illegal, [00:46:56] but that's what's causing a lot of problems [00:47:00] after the event's over, [00:47:01] when they start walking around town, [00:47:03] acting like assholes, excuse my language, [00:47:06] but that's what they are, it's childish. [00:47:09] And that's what causes the problems later at night, [00:47:12] when everything's cleaned up, [00:47:14] the families are gone and everything. [00:47:16] But the bars, we always have doorman, [00:47:19] we're pretty responsible, I've been doing this all my life. [00:47:21] I mean, my motto at my place is, [00:47:24] they open their mouth to you, call the police, [00:47:26] don't talk back, which is a nice butthole. [00:47:29] But the things on the back of the pickup trucks, [00:47:32] they're back there for three or four hours [00:47:34] before the parade even starts, [00:47:35] and they're drinking and walking around town, [00:47:37] but when it's all over, they're drunk, [00:47:40] they're legally drunk. [00:47:41] But that's causing a lot of the problems, [00:47:43] and I agree with what you're saying there. [00:47:45] But the events I enjoy, it's beneficial to downtown, [00:47:48] I know all the business people downtown, [00:47:50] we all make money from it, that's a good thing. [00:47:52] And I try to help as much as I can, [00:47:54] but that's the problem I have with the people [00:47:57] drinking on the back of the, in the cars, and illegal. [00:48:00] Yeah, they park the trucks there starting about Thursday [00:48:03] for the Saturday morning parade. [00:48:05] Pardon me? [00:48:07] They park the trucks on Thursday. [00:48:08] Yeah, they pull up in the parking, yep, they sure do. [00:48:11] They park ahead of time, but anyway. [00:48:14] Thank you, thank you very much. [00:48:16] Good evening, my name is Lisa Virgilio, [00:48:19] I'm the Development Director at A Fire of Pasco County. [00:48:22] We are a very small, but mighty, non-profit. [00:48:26] We are an adult day training center [00:48:28] for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. [00:48:31] We are volunteers for the city at your events downtown. [00:48:37] We're volunteers, we collect tips at the beer trucks. [00:48:40] We collect tips at the beer trucks. [00:48:43] We do that because 21% of the intellectual [00:48:48] and developmental disabled adults in this state [00:48:50] live below the poverty level. [00:48:52] In order for us to keep our rates low enough [00:48:56] to provide this service, we have to do fundraisers. [00:49:00] Mr. Mayor, I know you were talking about, [00:49:03] what I understood, perhaps eliminating the Seafood Fest. [00:49:06] You were talking about no events [00:49:08] between Chasco and Main Street Last. [00:49:13] I urge you to reconsider. [00:49:16] On a three-day weekend, we make $1,100 in tips. [00:49:21] That particular weekend, we do our Ducktona. [00:49:24] We sell ducks, we allow other non-profits [00:49:28] to come in and collect 50% of what they sell [00:49:32] for their worthy causes. [00:49:36] That entire weekend alone, we generate [00:49:39] more than $4,000 worth of revenue to provide services [00:49:43] to those that are not able to afford it in this city. [00:49:47] And make no bones about it, [00:49:49] most of our clients live in this city. [00:49:52] They attend the events. [00:49:54] I just ask you to please reconsider. [00:49:56] During that three-day weekend, we have 84 volunteers, [00:50:01] all of them working three-hour shifts. [00:50:04] We don't sell beer to persons that are drunk. [00:50:09] We check IDs of every single person. [00:50:12] Police Department is with us. [00:50:15] If we have an issue with selling alcohol, we don't do it. [00:50:20] We'll go to them and say, [00:50:21] please, this person wants to buy alcohol. [00:50:24] We believe him to be impaired. [00:50:27] They're right there with us. [00:50:28] We are good citizens, we're good community neighbors. [00:50:32] I urge you to please reconsider doing away [00:50:35] with the Seafood Fest. [00:50:36] Reschedule, reschedule one of the events. [00:50:39] That is a huge, huge fundraiser for not only us, [00:50:42] but other small non-profits in the city. [00:50:45] Thank you. Thank you. [00:50:46] Thank you. [00:50:47] Thank you. [00:50:48] Thank you. [00:50:49] Thank you. [00:50:53] Hello, my name is Charlie Russo. [00:50:54] I am also a pastor here in New Port Richey. [00:50:58] I wanted to address the family friendliness [00:51:00] of some of the events. [00:51:01] I do believe the Pride Festival was geared towards families, [00:51:07] couples with families, straight, gay, [00:51:09] it doesn't matter, families with children of all ages. [00:51:14] The Board of Pride actually had in place [00:51:16] a clause to prevent the type of incident that happened. [00:51:19] And so in that case, it was a policing incident [00:51:23] that allowed that to go through. [00:51:24] But it certainly was not something [00:51:26] that the event organizers had anticipated happening. [00:51:31] And there are plans in place to prevent that going forward. [00:51:33] Again, I know there are partnerships [00:51:35] with at least a half dozen or more businesses in downtown. [00:51:39] And the goal was to drive more business to downtown [00:51:43] to make it a destination area for people to come [00:51:46] to New Port Richey. [00:51:47] Even the mayor himself spoke on a news article [00:51:50] saying that Pride Festival did it right [00:51:52] by promoting cooperation with downtown business. [00:51:55] And that's just, the plan is to continue to grow that [00:51:59] as Pride moves forward. [00:52:00] Because this is a diverse community, [00:52:03] and like it or not, there's a lot of people [00:52:07] in this community that identify as LGBT. [00:52:10] And so the job of the city is to represent [00:52:12] every single member of the community [00:52:14] and not just a small voice of opposition. [00:52:16] So I'd encourage you to continue with this specific event. [00:52:20] Thank you so much. [00:52:22] Thank you. [00:52:23] I know we've got some business owners, [00:52:26] downtown business owners, if any of you would like [00:52:28] to talk about what you'd like to say, [00:52:31] I would appreciate it. [00:52:42] Hi, my name is Bonita Berean. [00:52:44] I have a New Port Richey address. [00:52:46] And I want to say that economic growth [00:52:48] at the expense of polluting children's minds [00:52:51] is never worth it. [00:52:52] We need to stand up for the children and the community. [00:52:55] And I am concerned when we have public events [00:52:59] in the open park that celebrate the way that people have sex. [00:53:05] Children in a park should not be exposed to that. [00:53:09] They want to play. [00:53:11] They want to have fun. [00:53:12] They need to be thinking of innocent things. [00:53:14] Instead, we have public events that promote [00:53:17] the way that people have sex. [00:53:19] I mean, I wouldn't be there for any kind of sex. [00:53:21] Our public events in the park, the open park, [00:53:26] where children are, should not be about promoting [00:53:28] the way that people have sex. [00:53:29] That's very, very wrong. [00:53:31] I'm very sad. [00:53:32] I love New Port Richey. [00:53:33] New Port Richey is a beautiful town. [00:53:35] I have a New Port Richey address. [00:53:36] But my town, the town that I love, [00:53:39] is becoming a cesspool of just, you know, [00:53:44] just, it's not conducive, it's not for children anymore. [00:53:49] And that concerns me very much. [00:53:51] So I would like to see events. [00:53:54] I'm with Mr. Starkey over there. [00:53:56] I don't think they should have the women [00:53:57] dressed like that either, you know. [00:53:58] But I certainly don't think that we should have [00:54:01] an event that is all about, I mean, [00:54:05] the purpose of the event is to celebrate [00:54:08] the way that people have sex. [00:54:10] I think it's very wrong. [00:54:11] Thank you. [00:54:11] I think we have beat this particular topic to death. [00:54:14] Can we talk about some of the other events in town? [00:54:22] Good evening. [00:54:24] My name's Jeff Wright. [00:54:25] My wife and I own Wright's Natural Market. [00:54:27] We've had it 25 years. [00:54:29] We're celebrating 25 years this month. [00:54:32] I've just got a few bullet points [00:54:35] I'd like to mention first. [00:54:37] Just sort of a correction, Greg. [00:54:40] I don't think the last workshop was about small or large. [00:54:45] I think we all see a place for all those events. [00:54:49] And I agree, for marketing purposes, [00:54:51] they have different target markets [00:54:53] or different value propositions. [00:54:58] My concern as a business owner was, [00:55:02] while I was not open for one of the largest events [00:55:05] we've had recently, I was talking to one of the promoters [00:55:13] and it happened to be Bike Fest. [00:55:17] And I'm not against Bike Fest, per se, at all. [00:55:19] But I think we need to find a win-win situation. [00:55:24] The large events or some of the large events [00:55:26] are truly hurting the revenue of downtown businesses. [00:55:31] The way Bike Fest happened this last time, [00:55:35] my regular patrons would not be able to come to my store, [00:55:38] which is actually potentially gonna harm my business [00:55:41] 12 to $15,000. [00:55:44] That's a lot of money to me. [00:55:46] So I think we need to find a way [00:55:47] to have a win-win situation. [00:55:51] Not a have to do this, we have to do it that way. [00:55:54] I think we need to rethink how we're doing things [00:55:57] to find a win-win situation instead of a win-lose [00:56:00] because there is none. [00:56:01] It's either a lose-lose or a win-win. [00:56:03] So I think events need to make sure [00:56:06] they're enhancing the community, [00:56:08] the image of New Port Richey. [00:56:10] I think that events should not unnecessarily [00:56:15] financially harm the downtown businesses [00:56:17] that are here every day. [00:56:25] I think if you talk to some of the other businesses [00:56:27] that weren't able to make it here tonight, [00:56:29] they could probably give you better numbers. [00:56:31] Since I haven't been downtown, I don't have comps, [00:56:33] but I have talked to some of them [00:56:35] and they do have some negative comps [00:56:38] on some of those events. [00:56:39] And I think we need to think about that [00:56:41] and be cognizant of who that target market is [00:56:45] that that event is possibly reaching [00:56:47] and how can we make that a win-win situation. [00:56:50] Thank you very much for your time. [00:56:53] Thank you. [00:57:01] Good evening, Frank Starkey, 5939 Grand Boulevard. [00:57:04] I would suggest that we try to break down, [00:57:10] this is what I was trying to explain, [00:57:12] Chopper and I spoke briefly about this the other night [00:57:14] and I apologize, I was kind of crabby [00:57:16] because I was really hungry. [00:57:17] So I was a little short-tempered. [00:57:19] But you might not have read it that night either, so. [00:57:22] Right. [00:57:25] There are activities in the park [00:57:28] that are entertainments for the town [00:57:30] that enrich the life of our citizenry. [00:57:31] Those are wonderful. [00:57:33] Concerts, movies, fireworks even on the 4th of July, [00:57:37] things that last a couple of maybe three or four hours. [00:57:40] They tend to have really good spillover [00:57:42] for downtown businesses [00:57:44] because people can grab a meal or a drink [00:57:47] before or afterwards and patronize the downtown businesses. [00:57:51] Those are good. [00:57:52] I don't know that they're heavy wear and tear on the park, [00:57:54] but if they are, maybe the timing needs to be addressed. [00:57:58] It's worth thinking about that. [00:57:59] But those are wonderful. [00:58:03] And then kind of moving up the scale, [00:58:04] there are the one-day or half-day festivals [00:58:08] like EcoFest, which used to be down in Sims Park, [00:58:12] or the Pasco Upcycle Festival, [00:58:14] which used to be in Sims Park, [00:58:16] which has moved out of the city, unfortunately, [00:58:19] and it would be great to have back. [00:58:21] Pride is in that category. [00:58:23] If there were other cultural festivals, [00:58:25] they would be in that category. [00:58:27] That are part of the day. [00:58:29] Pride did a particularly good job [00:58:31] of going to the downtown businesses [00:58:33] and getting their support in advance [00:58:35] and getting their, communicating with them [00:58:38] about what was coming up. [00:58:39] And it's the only event that I've seen [00:58:41] where there was that much communication [00:58:44] and connection with the downtown businesses [00:58:46] in advance of the event, [00:58:47] instead of just assuming that, [00:58:49] oh, because we're having an event, [00:58:51] you must be benefiting as a downtown business. [00:58:53] They actually, Denise actually walked the streets, [00:58:57] her joke intended, to get that support. [00:59:02] And on the day of the event, [00:59:06] I just thought I would buy a handful of pride flags [00:59:10] and hand them out to whoever wanted them [00:59:12] downtown of the businesses. [00:59:14] I could have gotten, I could have given away 20 or 30. [00:59:18] I think I got a half a dozen. [00:59:20] And there was lots of support for the event. [00:59:25] And in return, there was a lot of business [00:59:27] that came to downtown businesses. [00:59:29] And all of the business owners that I've spoken with [00:59:32] were very happy with the benefit [00:59:35] that they received from that. [00:59:36] It's not just that it's about pride in that subject, [00:59:39] which obviously is controversial, [00:59:40] but the same could be a Mexican heritage, [00:59:45] or New Port Richey has an old Polish, [00:59:49] or a Finnish-American club, [00:59:50] which still has its own facility. [00:59:53] Ethnic communities, those kinds of events, [00:59:55] those are wonderful, they enrich the life of the town. [01:00:00] demonstrate our diversity, as the other speaker spoke about. [01:00:03] Those are wonderful, and they don't really detract [01:00:06] from downtown, in fact, when they're done right, [01:00:09] like Pride was, they can actually benefit [01:00:10] the downtown businesses. [01:00:13] And then there are events that take place in the downtown [01:00:17] that are primarily for promoting the downtown businesses, [01:00:21] like the Sunday in the City this week, [01:00:23] which for its first time was all over the news, [01:00:27] had lots of attendance, was a great time. [01:00:30] The Halloween events that were wonderful, [01:00:37] Locals Night, which is a monthly event, [01:00:39] it's just terrific, Shop and Sip, [01:00:41] those kinds of things that are by, for, [01:00:45] and in the downtown businesses. [01:00:47] The goal of those, and the goal of a lot of events [01:00:50] should be to get businesses, to get people [01:00:52] into the businesses every day of the year, [01:00:54] not just during the events. [01:00:56] I think it's a misnomer, as I said last week, [01:00:58] if we just think about events as getting people [01:01:00] into the businesses the day of the event, [01:01:02] if they don't come back, and they've driven away [01:01:07] the people who normally would come on that day, [01:01:10] then you've really got a net negative for the downtown. [01:01:13] And I think that's been the case [01:01:15] with a lot of the large events. [01:01:17] Then moving up, what I would categorize the blowouts [01:01:20] are the events that take place both in the park [01:01:24] and downtown, and those are, by virtue of their size alone, [01:01:30] overwhelm the parking, [01:01:33] tend to drive regular customers away from downtown, [01:01:37] regardless of the nature of the event. [01:01:38] We can argue whether we are more offended [01:01:41] by gay people in the park, [01:01:45] or by women flashing their breasts on Main Street. [01:01:50] That's really a sideshow to the main point. [01:01:53] What are the purposes of these events? [01:01:56] And so my last point is, [01:02:00] events should fall into the category [01:02:02] of either expressing community pride of our town, [01:02:07] or subgroups within our town, ethnic communities, [01:02:11] the LGBT community, et cetera. [01:02:14] Promoting downtown businesses, [01:02:16] enriching the life for our citizens [01:02:19] through the entertainments, the Christmas parades, [01:02:22] things like that. [01:02:23] And supporting non-profit organizations, [01:02:25] as the lady who was here earlier, yes, spoke. [01:02:30] Which I hear repeatedly is a justification [01:02:33] and a reason for Chasco and things. [01:02:37] But I think we should think about those individual things. [01:02:41] Community pride, promoting businesses, [01:02:43] enriching life for our citizens, [01:02:45] and supporting our non-profits [01:02:47] who do good work in our community. [01:02:49] As different categories of things, [01:02:53] and if we kind of think of each event, [01:02:55] and does it do one of those four things, [01:02:59] and is it of a scale that's overwhelming downtown [01:03:02] and displacing regular customers, [01:03:06] while not necessarily bringing in repeat customers, [01:03:09] then is it worth that cost? [01:03:13] Is it worth that cost to ask any business owner [01:03:16] to forego business for a weekend, [01:03:18] in order that another business may get a windfall? [01:03:22] That's a tough thing, [01:03:23] if you just strip it down to that ask that you're asking. [01:03:27] And then the fifth possible thing is, [01:03:30] or category, is attracting tourists. [01:03:33] I think we should think long and hard [01:03:34] about attracting tourists to events. [01:03:38] If we have a wonderful town that's a great place to live, [01:03:43] and has a vibrant downtown with exciting businesses [01:03:46] and great offerings, tourists will be drawn to that. [01:03:50] Tourists are drawn to wonderful cities. [01:03:53] San Francisco is primarily a tourist draw [01:03:56] because it's a great city. [01:03:57] Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia. [01:04:01] Washington, D.C., even beyond just the monuments [01:04:04] and the museums there, a big draw of that [01:04:08] is because it's a great city. [01:04:09] New York City is a draw largely [01:04:10] because it's just a great city to visit. [01:04:13] So towns can be a tourist attraction in themselves [01:04:18] without having to throw on, throw tourist events [01:04:22] that actually detract from the creation of that town. [01:04:26] I will shut up now, thank you. [01:04:28] Thank you, Mr. Starkey. [01:04:36] Hello, my name is Ryan Rapp. [01:04:37] I don't own a business downtown, [01:04:40] but I was renovating a house downtown [01:04:42] for the last year and some change. [01:04:45] It was right on Grand Boulevard. [01:04:46] I went through every event that downtown [01:04:49] had to offer during that time. [01:04:54] Just by the amount of trash I had to pick up [01:04:56] in the front yard, there was one event [01:04:58] that kind of stood out, and that was the bike fest. [01:05:02] Countless amounts of trash. [01:05:04] There was actually a person that came [01:05:06] and tried kicking down the front door of that house [01:05:08] looking for a friend that does not live there. [01:05:12] I'll probably make some enemies for this, [01:05:14] but I kind of think that motorcycle-related festivals [01:05:18] are the barbed wire tattoos of festivals. [01:05:20] They were cool for a while. [01:05:23] They're not anymore. [01:05:25] They have a stigma about them. [01:05:26] I think the young people want hipper, cooler festivals [01:05:30] that they can go to. [01:05:34] Last session I was watching, there was a gentleman [01:05:36] that said that we've done a good job rebranding the city, [01:05:39] and I really think we have. [01:05:40] I think you all have done an excellent job, [01:05:42] every one of you. [01:05:43] I think people are subconsciously [01:05:44] and consciously rebranding downtown. [01:05:49] Again, I'll probably get some enemies. [01:05:50] I think the best thing we could do to rebrand [01:05:52] is to throttle back, bike week, [01:05:56] or just do away with it completely. [01:05:58] I understand that there's an economic benefit from it, [01:06:01] but I think it goes on for too long, [01:06:05] and it's just a little too outdated. [01:06:09] I'd love to see it kind of replaced with some, [01:06:13] or throttled back, and some eco-type festival, [01:06:15] or something like that, in its place. [01:06:19] Something a little different. [01:06:20] Again, I know that there is some benefit to it [01:06:22] for some businesses. [01:06:25] The second thing I want to talk about, [01:06:26] and then I'm out of here, is events downtown [01:06:32] do not promote or force what they're promoting on you. [01:06:37] If they did that, everybody with a seafood allergy [01:06:39] would go into anaphylactic shock during the seafood festival. [01:06:44] Just because there's something going on that you don't like, [01:06:47] don't go to it. [01:06:49] That's all I got. [01:06:51] Thank you. [01:06:52] Thank you, by the way, Raleigh. [01:06:56] What'd you say? [01:06:59] I'll remember something. [01:07:01] Yes, ma'am. [01:07:02] Yes, my name's Judy Spaeth, [01:07:04] and I am not a resident in New Port Richey, [01:07:07] but I do work here. [01:07:09] I've just been hired to be an assistant [01:07:11] over at the Gateway Gallery and Studio. [01:07:18] Usually, when there's something big going on [01:07:21] down at Sims Park, we don't see too much result from it. [01:07:26] Again, because there's nothing to draw people into the town. [01:07:33] A lot of those festivals I don't go to [01:07:35] because I'm not a biker, so I don't go to the biker. [01:07:38] I go to the Chasco because I like the barbecue, [01:07:40] but that doesn't help downtown. [01:07:43] I did go to the Pasco Pride, and I did go downtown [01:07:47] and ate one of the best Cuban sandwiches I ever ate. [01:07:51] New Port Richey. [01:07:53] I do think that that's something for us to look at [01:07:55] is what do each of these festivals intend to do [01:08:00] to help the resident businesses there? [01:08:04] When we're at the studio, [01:08:06] and there's something going on at Sims Park, [01:08:08] it's like, oh, gee, maybe we'll see more people. [01:08:11] Nah, they don't get that far. [01:08:13] We're over at Missouri and Grand, [01:08:15] and people never get that far. [01:08:17] So, you know, I just wanted to say, [01:08:21] if you're looking at benefiting your downtown, [01:08:25] some of these festivals need to perhaps [01:08:29] offer a little more incentive for people [01:08:31] to come and visit the whole downtown. [01:08:34] And I think that's about it. [01:08:37] I don't know. [01:08:38] Before you sit down, I understand you're doing [01:08:41] an event of some sort Saturday? [01:08:44] Yes, we're having a party Saturday. [01:08:47] Everybody can come if they want to. [01:08:50] What's the time? [01:08:51] She's starting at noon. [01:08:53] We're having potluck dinner. [01:08:55] And we're painting her car, [01:08:57] because it's so ugly, it's green. [01:09:01] So the owner is having us. [01:09:05] Noon till when? [01:09:05] Noon till, probably until dark, [01:09:08] because after dark, you can't paint. [01:09:11] And not, unless you really want some strange results. [01:09:16] I hear people at home listen to this too, so just. [01:09:18] Oh yeah, absolutely. [01:09:20] No, this is not in the park. [01:09:22] This is at the Gateway Gallery, the studio, [01:09:25] which is behind the gallery. [01:09:26] And yes, everybody's invited to come down. [01:09:29] You can help paint the car. [01:09:30] You can either paint something nice on there, [01:09:32] or we'll throw water balloons with paint in it. [01:09:36] And we will have some food, and it's open to everybody. [01:09:39] This is everybody's gallery, and everybody's studio. [01:09:43] We're there for the city. [01:09:46] Thank you. [01:09:47] Please come down. [01:09:48] Thank you. [01:09:48] Thank you. [01:09:49] Thank you. [01:09:50] Thank you. [01:09:51] Thank you. [01:09:52] Thank you. [01:09:56] My name is Carmen Passarella. [01:09:57] I've lived in the city, just inside and outside the city [01:10:02] for over 40 years. [01:10:03] Owned several businesses in the city, so did my family. [01:10:07] And listening to a handful of people talk about [01:10:10] some of the little cutesy events, [01:10:12] bike rides and eco, whatever they may be. [01:10:16] Some of these small events, [01:10:17] I certainly have no issue with them, [01:10:19] but they do absolutely nothing to draw any kind of attention [01:10:22] to New Port Richey and what we're trying to build here [01:10:25] in New Port Richey and the growth of New Port Richey. [01:10:29] Again, they're a must to have, and I'm all for them, [01:10:32] but without the big events, [01:10:35] there's absolutely no reason for anybody outside [01:10:37] of the city to have a different idea [01:10:40] of what New Port Richey or Newport Rickety, [01:10:42] as most people outside the city will call it, [01:10:44] because there hasn't been a lot going on here [01:10:46] since the beginning of time. [01:10:48] And you talk about these other bigger cities [01:10:50] and what they have to offer, [01:10:51] and the fact that people don't go there [01:10:53] just because of big events. [01:10:55] They go there because of what those cities provide. [01:10:58] The city doesn't provide, [01:10:59] New Port Richey doesn't provide those things yet. [01:11:01] We haven't grown there yet. [01:11:03] And in order to get there, [01:11:04] you've got to have people that come and put eyes on us [01:11:06] and see these things. [01:11:07] And whether or not Rights Nutrients [01:11:10] or some of these other places [01:11:13] maybe don't make a dollar that day, [01:11:15] in the long run, they're going to benefit [01:11:17] by the city growing and from people coming in here, [01:11:20] seeing what the city has going on [01:11:22] and all the new businesses that are popping up here. [01:11:26] I live in Trinity right now, just outside the city, [01:11:28] but I do own two businesses inside [01:11:30] and several properties inside the city. [01:11:33] And I've got people that, in the Trinity area, [01:11:36] that compliment me constantly [01:11:38] on all the things that are going on [01:11:40] and how big of a change there are [01:11:41] with these new businesses that are opening. [01:11:43] Restaurants, not enough of them, but restaurants, [01:11:46] and some of the other smaller boutique type of pubs [01:11:48] and so forth. [01:11:50] And again, whether or not you have the type of business [01:11:54] that when a bike fest, [01:11:56] which draws 15 plus thousand people downtown, [01:11:59] or a Chasco, or the, [01:12:02] used to be United of Tropics, [01:12:04] which that went away because of cost. [01:12:06] But when you draw that many people downtown, [01:12:09] you're not just looking at what am I making today, [01:12:12] although I will tell you that [01:12:13] the overwhelming amount of businesses downtown [01:12:17] make a lot of money during those events. [01:12:20] And to say that you're not making any money [01:12:22] or you lose money is ridiculous. [01:12:24] And it's really agenda based, as far as I'm concerned, [01:12:27] because everybody benefits. [01:12:28] When there's something in the park, [01:12:29] even when it isn't downtown, we benefit greatly. [01:12:32] People come downtown, they spend money all over the place. [01:12:35] People are walking around New Port Richey now, [01:12:37] or they didn't do it years ago, [01:12:39] or they actually did years ago when there was nothing else. [01:12:42] Back in the 80s, when there was fewer places, [01:12:45] there was more actual people walking around. [01:12:48] I lived it, I was here. [01:12:50] We're getting back to that. [01:12:51] We went through about 20 years of stagnancy, [01:12:54] and people didn't come downtown, [01:12:55] and there's still a lot of people that, [01:12:58] again, live outside the city, [01:13:00] that still think that there's nothing to do, [01:13:02] we're Newport nowhere. [01:13:03] It is changing, and I know some members of the board [01:13:07] would like to see that kind of go away [01:13:09] and just be, as I stated before, Mayberry. [01:13:12] But if that happens, I think it's gonna stagnate growth. [01:13:17] And for the most part, if you just regulate things [01:13:19] and pretty much get out of the way [01:13:21] and let business take over, [01:13:22] I think it'll be beneficial to the city. [01:13:24] Thank you very much. [01:13:25] That's it, thank you. [01:13:26] Thank you. [01:13:27] Thank you. [01:13:28] Thank you. [01:13:29] Thank you. [01:13:29] Thank you. [01:13:30] Hi, I'm Denise Johnson. [01:13:32] I'm the founder of Pasco Pride, [01:13:34] and I would like to just briefly talk about [01:13:38] some of the things that have been mentioned here. [01:13:40] It was a very family-friendly event. [01:13:42] It wasn't a bill of goods just sold to you. [01:13:47] All of the paperwork that we got from the rec center [01:13:53] explained all the rules for Simps Park. [01:13:58] Not only that, we added to those rules. [01:14:01] It was explained several times in the packet [01:14:05] that each vendor signed for [01:14:08] that this was a very family-friendly event. [01:14:12] The one vendor who thought it would be cute [01:14:16] to bring out this adult novelty item, [01:14:21] as soon as it was brought to my attention, [01:14:23] that was immediately ceased. [01:14:26] There was another vendor in the park [01:14:29] that I take full responsibility [01:14:31] for allowing them to initially set up. [01:14:36] I did not understand the ordinance fully [01:14:39] on what was allowed and what wasn't allowed. [01:14:42] It was a nightclub vendor. [01:14:46] As soon as that was brought to my attention, [01:14:49] they immediately packed up and left. [01:14:52] So, as far as it being a family-friendly event, [01:14:55] it absolutely was. [01:14:57] It was promoted as such, and I feel very. [01:15:00] good that we did the best that we could do. None of us had ever put a Pride Festival together, [01:15:08] and I think we did a very good job, this being our first year. A lot of lessons were learned, [01:15:13] and I am in support of, even though I'm no longer with that organization, I am in support [01:15:19] of please allow the Pride Festival to continue at Sims Park. It is a very beautiful park. [01:15:26] It has a lot of amenities. It is not New Port Richey Pride, it is Pasco Pride. I am sure [01:15:34] there are other venues within the county that could be looked at and considered. When I [01:15:40] was on board, I didn't look at anything. I looked at Sims Park because it's a great place [01:15:46] to have a venue. We anticipated, we tried to anticipate everything that we could do. [01:15:54] We had two set meetings. As you all are aware, that's part of the process to have events [01:16:00] at the parks, but we had two of them just to make sure that everything was squared away [01:16:05] and on the up and up. When the fire marshal walked around to do his inspections, again, [01:16:13] every single vendor was told to be set up by 9 o'clock and ready for inspection. When [01:16:19] I walked around with the fire marshal doing those inspections, vendors that were not ready, [01:16:24] I told them they need to pack up and leave. The fire marshal gave them 10 minutes to finish [01:16:29] doing whatever they were doing. We came back around and they were done. But I reiterated [01:16:36] to those vendors, again, each vendor signed for receiving the rules, reading them, understanding [01:16:43] them. I was ready to boot them out. We kept a tight control over that as best we could. [01:16:51] As what some other folks have said here tonight, if you don't like the events that are taking [01:16:56] place, don't go to it. New Port Richey has a diverse community and I am very, very proud [01:17:05] of not only who I am, but who I represent as the LGBTQ community. If you want to come [01:17:12] and protest our events, it's America. Come do that. But you are not driving us away or [01:17:18] shutting us down. Thank you all very much. [01:17:25] Hello, my name is Jacob Fierce. I've been a resident of New Port Richey for most of [01:17:36] my life. This is, as of last year, this is the first time that we've ever had an event [01:17:44] like the LGBT event that we had last year. And I just wanted to bring to your guys' attention [01:17:49] that these events have a tendency to devolve into more revealing things as far as more [01:17:58] nudity being shown. I mean, you can look at St. Pete Pride, for an example. They usually [01:18:04] have a tendency to have women wearing completely topless, but they'll have some stickers on. [01:18:14] Let's put it that way. Also, what I really fear is that if this event specifically is [01:18:23] allowed to continue to go on, is that the rules that may be in place at the time as [01:18:31] far as not allowing for any adult novelty items to be sold or flaunted at the event, [01:18:40] that those rules will probably relax over time and that, like I said, it'll end up devolving [01:18:46] into something that nobody really has any control over anymore. [01:18:50] Also, I hope that we are really considering, for all of us, you know, not everybody is [01:18:59] always looking over their children, okay? They just trust that New Port Richey is a [01:19:04] good city and they just allow their kids to go ahead and go down to the park, especially [01:19:09] since the Splash Park and the new park's been put in place. I mean, it's definitely, it's [01:19:15] a fun time for a lot of children from all around Pasco. And I encourage a lot of people [01:19:21] to come down to New Port Richey just because it's a fun, free place where they can feel [01:19:28] safe about having their kids come and play there. [01:19:31] When we, you know, allow for something like the LGBTQ event to happen, you know, there's [01:19:43] a lot of negative effects that y'all might not be thinking about as of right now that [01:19:48] could end up happening. So, I just also wanted to urge you guys to think about also the negative [01:19:55] impact that this specific event may have upon the community, okay? As more businesses [01:20:05] show their support for such activities, they are actually marginalizing a large sector [01:20:12] of the New Port Richey community, which is the Christian community. I mean, there's a [01:20:15] lot of churches in New Port Richey that do not agree with the celebration of what they [01:20:23] see to be a sin, what I would see to be a sin as well, okay? And they believe it is [01:20:30] corrupting the youth, okay? So, you might also see, you know, an economic negative drawback [01:20:40] to having such events and the support of such events. So, I would just like that to be, [01:20:46] you know, kind of a warning, I guess, to businesses around this community that them [01:20:54] showing support of such events, they may end up marginalizing Christian supporters, okay? [01:21:01] So, I would urge you all to think about that and to also think about, I mean, I know that [01:21:09] a lot of us as Christians are looked at as haters and intolerant. I could see that's [01:21:14] especially viewed by you, Mr. Mayor. But, you know, we genuinely, we care about the [01:21:23] well-being of other people, okay? We care about the well-being of the children in this [01:21:29] community and I just would like you guys to also think about that if this event is allowed [01:21:35] to continue to happen, there will definitely be protests, most definitely, every time, [01:21:41] okay? So, I just wanted to let you all think about that. [01:21:44] And I do, as a Christian, I do object to having my religion hijacked by a group. [01:21:49] I don't believe you're a Christian, sir. [01:21:51] Yes, sir. So, please have a seat. [01:21:57] My name is Timothy Fussell. I own Little Corona Cigar Lounge in downtown New Port Richey. And I'd just like to point out to you, young man, that you have no idea who you're [01:22:06] talking to. And I think God will hate you later on for that. So, with that said, I thought, [01:22:16] well, stay true then, brother, stay true. I just wanted to say that I didn't know we were [01:22:21] coming here to talk about the LBGTQ whatever name it is, but I thought we were coming here [01:22:29] to talk about main events downtown New Port Richey. And I'm here to tell you that the [01:22:35] main events downtown is what keeps me in business. I've been in business for 11 years. [01:22:42] Every bit of it is because of what happens downtown. Last year was the best bike week we've [01:22:49] had yet. And I'll say this to you now, I'm going to get on you a little bit, talking about the [01:22:54] cigarette butts and all this. I know for a fact that that man sitting back there, well, he's not [01:23:01] there, but his wife is, went around himself picking up cigarette butts for days during that [01:23:09] event. Had his own crew come down with blowers and vacuums to clean the streets after the event [01:23:18] at not a single penny cost to the city. Did it all on his own because he wanted to make a good [01:23:26] event. And by God he did. It was the best bike fest we've had yet. And I'd like to ask him, [01:23:33] how many arrests did you have during bike fest? I don't know that we had even one. Not one. [01:23:40] Not one. None. No issues. You know what, if you don't like motorcycles, don't come down. [01:23:49] Stay home. Enjoy. You'll appreciate, I tried to get them to put more of the vendors up [01:23:56] right in front of my place so they would be right across the street from yours. I would love it. [01:24:01] I would love it. I did my best. I'm all for it. You asked Dita. I'm good with it. She takes care [01:24:07] of me. We take care of each other. And that's what makes downtown work for us. The worst thing [01:24:15] that happened downtown is we did away with the Main Street Blast. That was a great event. [01:24:23] It was awesome. We had good times. Everybody had a good time. Unfortunately, the monies weren't [01:24:29] there to do it. No, it wasn't the Main Street Blast. You're thinking of July. Night in the [01:24:36] tropics. You got me. Night in the tropics. Main Street Blast still happened. It's still a good [01:24:41] event. I've always advocated do night in the tropics in like November. I'm good with that. [01:24:48] August is just brutal out there on the street. We're in Florida, man. It's the tropics, okay. [01:24:54] Thank you very, very much. But I'm telling you, the big events, the events that take place [01:24:59] are what makes it work. Now the EcoFest, I'm all for it. The Gay Pride, when they came around [01:25:06] wanting us to support them, yeah, yeah, I'll sign that. Yeah, I'm good with it. Do what you want. [01:25:11] It's not like I'm going to go. But help yourself. How many people are coming to any of these other [01:25:18] events from another country? None. None. They all come. If they're coming to Bike Fest, they could [01:25:26] be from Norway, Denmark, Sweden. I've met people from every country, Ireland, Scotland, that come [01:25:36] into my place from other countries just for this event. That's how you bring people downtown. [01:25:42] That's how you let them see what we have to offer. That's who's buying places in downtown. [01:25:48] Thank you for your time. Thank you. And I, given the hour and on that note, let's have, [01:25:57] you were asked, wanted to say something and then we're going to ask for final comments from the [01:26:01] council. Hello everyone. My name is M.J. Fagusi. And I just wanted to state, firstly, I'm a capitalist, [01:26:10] but a capitalist with strict governance. And what I've been hearing with everybody [01:26:15] tonight is the fact that with all these issues going on, and I believe that it's due to the [01:26:21] fact that there is no governance within the events. I believe it's just, it's a simple [01:26:25] problem with a simple solution. All we need is just, you have a problem, just offer the solution. [01:26:31] The solution is just to have a board or committee that is strictly enforcing a governance board [01:26:36] for those events. You could have the biggest events in the world, but it's just, it's that [01:26:42] simple. Now going back to my background in education with one of my degrees, having the [01:26:49] basic business methodologies of Lean and Six Sigma, and we could also learn a lot about [01:26:53] psychologists and philosophers such as Gustav Le Bon, Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays, and Walter [01:26:57] Littman. And if we just apply their psychological concepts within the city, specifically learning [01:27:04] from Cesar Ritz. Now Cesar Ritz, he's the one who started the Ritz Hotels. And if anyone knew [01:27:09] anything about Cesar Ritz, what he did was he used to take hotels that were literally low-key [01:27:15] hotels, and that he made them superstar hotels due to the fact that he understood the culture [01:27:21] within the cities that he was going to, either through the French Riviera, all over Switzerland, [01:27:27] and it all came down to the fact of events. That's how Ritz got well known. It was due to events, [01:27:34] but he understood that people wanted governance within the events, and people wanted to feel [01:27:39] special within those events. So the fact that if we could bring the young crowd, the gay crowd, [01:27:44] black people, white people, it doesn't matter what event we throw. It's just if it's organized. [01:27:49] Everyone respects one another. Everyone has their own boundaries. As far as I know, [01:27:53] money has no emotion. Money has no language. We all come from greenbacks over here. We're all [01:27:58] looking for opportunity over here. So due to the fact that we're either trying to shut down [01:28:03] low-key events or shut down big events, I think that we should even put in more events. [01:28:08] We have a massive stage that even George Bush came here due to that fact. He came here due to [01:28:14] the fact that, hey, listen, this is New Port Richey. Look how many people showed up. [01:28:19] Look at Chasco Fiesta. Look at the fireworks show. Look at the Christmas parade. [01:28:24] If we don't harness that energy, especially with Generation Y and Generation Z who are coming to [01:28:31] New Port Richey for that specific reason, then people are not going to be spending their money [01:28:35] here. People are not going to open businesses here. They're going to go to St. Pete. They're [01:28:37] going to go to Dunedin, which is exactly what we're seeing now. That's why St. Pete, Dunedin, [01:28:42] and Tampa is really, really popular and famous. It's due to that fact that nobody in New Port Richey has harnessed that energy over here. And if we just take that money, that energy, [01:28:51] and that new mentality of our generation coming up here, I believe that New Port Richey is literally [01:28:58] a golden goose, and it's a hidden gem that we could capitalize on. It all comes down to [01:29:04] governance. If we could just keep it organized and simple, then I think New Port Richey would be [01:29:08] massively successful. And yeah, I guess that's it. Thank you for your time. [01:29:13] Thank you very much. [01:29:13] If anybody wants to talk from Chasco, there's... [01:29:20] They did. [01:29:22] No, from Chasco, right there, they... [01:29:25] Gary, you or anyone want to speak about Chasco? Jeff? [01:29:30] Greg spoke briefly about it. [01:29:34] Jeff Crensh, Executive Director of Chasco Fiesta. We want to thank you guys for what you do to [01:29:41] support Chasco. As you know, it is a nine-day event. It's a year-round planning process. [01:29:48] We listen to what you ask of Chasco before we go in and make our decisions for the next year. [01:29:54] I know Councilman Starkey, you had asked for better entertainment. [01:30:00] better things coming into the park and we listen to that. [01:30:05] We actually teamed up with Ruth Eckert Hall this year [01:30:08] to help us with our classic rock concert. [01:30:12] So we're actually doing things differently this year [01:30:14] to help preserve the park as well. [01:30:16] One of the things that we're gonna be doing [01:30:18] is last year we eliminate the amount of golf carts [01:30:23] in the park. [01:30:24] So even our utility vehicles that we personally use, [01:30:27] we used less last year. [01:30:29] But once it was eight, we cut down to four. [01:30:32] The only one that runs through the park religiously [01:30:34] is the guy that drives around with the ice [01:30:36] to provide our vendors with ice. [01:30:40] We also made concessions to stop the local carts [01:30:43] from coming in because we know how badly [01:30:44] that tears up the park. [01:30:51] We hear how local businesses are losing business [01:30:54] because of the size of the event. [01:30:56] We don't promote it. [01:30:57] We absolutely do promote it because I personally [01:30:59] supply Coral Reef with four of their port-a-lets [01:31:04] because we get a discounted rate. [01:31:05] So we provide that for them. [01:31:08] We want the downtown area to become [01:31:12] more involved with Chasco. [01:31:14] Again, we get done 10, 30, 11 o'clock. [01:31:17] People still wanna keep going. [01:31:18] We have a whole downtown full of new businesses, [01:31:21] new bars, new restaurants. [01:31:23] Take advantage of it. [01:31:24] That's what we're here for is to promote the business, [01:31:26] get the people inside the park, inside the city. [01:31:29] What happens to them after we shut down [01:31:32] and start our cleanup process is up to the local business. [01:31:36] If you're promoting yourself properly [01:31:37] during those nine days, you should have an influx [01:31:39] of people coming in and visiting. [01:31:41] I know I frequent the local businesses [01:31:42] the whole time I'm down here. [01:31:44] I don't live in New Port Richey, [01:31:46] but I arrive to the park every morning during Chasco [01:31:48] at seven in the morning, and I don't leave [01:31:50] until two or three o'clock in the morning. [01:31:52] I'm walking around with Kim's officers [01:31:56] making sure that there's, excuse me, [01:31:57] nobody doing something that they shouldn't be doing, [01:32:00] keeping that extra set of eyes. [01:32:02] We're very respectful of what goes on down here. [01:32:04] We hope to continue Chasco. [01:32:07] We're pleased with what we've done. [01:32:10] We're pleased with the way the city looks. [01:32:12] Debbie Manns, when she first came in, [01:32:13] I was with the American Cancer Society. [01:32:15] I wanted to bring the walk down to the park. [01:32:17] At that time, I believe the city [01:32:19] was almost 65% occupied, not even. [01:32:22] Now we're, what, 95, almost 100? [01:32:25] Almost every business has got somebody inside those doors. [01:32:30] So I think helping, working with the local businesses, [01:32:34] get them to capitalize on what we're doing, [01:32:36] because again, you may not like [01:32:39] gut truck food that's served in the park. [01:32:41] Well, if you have a restaurant, let's promote them, [01:32:43] get them down to your restaurant, [01:32:44] and then they come in and they enjoy the entertainment. [01:32:47] So if anything that we can do on the Chasco side [01:32:50] to help promote the business, work with the business, [01:32:52] please reach out to us. [01:32:53] We're not here to shut you guys down. [01:32:55] We're here to help you and bring new eyes [01:32:57] that have not been in Pasco County or New Port Richey [01:33:00] to look at your business. [01:33:01] You know, if they don't see you, [01:33:02] they don't know you're there. [01:33:04] So we're here to help. [01:33:05] Thank you very much. [01:33:07] If we could just, quick comments around before we close. [01:33:10] Ask Jim from La Hacienda if he wants to speak. [01:33:12] I'm sorry? [01:33:13] Jim from La Hacienda. [01:33:14] Jim Gunderson. [01:33:16] Is Jim here? [01:33:17] You want to speak? [01:33:18] Opera wants to know if you want to speak, Jim. [01:33:20] You can say yes or no question. [01:33:24] Jeff, did you sign those sheets? [01:33:29] Well, Jim Gunderson, this has been very, very interesting [01:33:37] and very, very enlightening. [01:33:40] For those that don't know, [01:33:42] I'm restoring the Hacienda Hotel. [01:33:46] So clearly activities in the park [01:33:50] will certainly be very, very important to me, to us. [01:33:58] I come from, I live in a community [01:33:59] and have a hotel in a community, [01:34:02] a Mount Dora, which does a lot of events, [01:34:08] big festivals and things of that sort. [01:34:10] So I do have certainly a good amount of experience [01:34:12] with festivals and events and things of that sort. [01:34:16] I think a lot of what you're talking about [01:34:20] holds true no matter whether it's Mount Dora [01:34:24] or New Port Richey. [01:34:25] I think that the gentleman that was just talking [01:34:32] about good governance, I believe he's spot on. [01:34:35] I think having a very, very strong set of guidelines [01:34:42] and rules and regulations and things of that sort, [01:34:44] I don't think there's anything we can go wrong [01:34:48] with any of that. [01:34:49] I do from, I will simply, I will be looking at events [01:34:53] very differently perhaps than a lot of businesses [01:34:56] because for me, events are all about bringing people [01:34:59] into New Port Richey from much further out. [01:35:04] So it's not necessarily somebody coming from [01:35:07] the east side of town to the west side of town or whatnot. [01:35:10] It's about whether or not the event can draw people [01:35:13] in from Orlando, from Sarasota, from Jacksonville, [01:35:19] from wherever. [01:35:20] And so, and I do think that events are positive [01:35:26] in that regard because when people will want to come [01:35:31] to New Port Richey, they will, and a question that will [01:35:37] always come up is, is there anything going on that weekend? [01:35:40] Or is there something going on in the community? [01:35:45] And having that opportunity to be able to promote [01:35:47] those kinds of things are really, really important. [01:35:50] The big events like Chasco and some of the others, [01:35:54] they will automatically bring in a ton of people [01:35:56] because, and needing hotel rooms and things of that sort. [01:36:00] But it's all the other little events that, [01:36:03] and medium-sized events that just provide a level [01:36:06] of activity and such. [01:36:08] I do recognize that the impact on the park [01:36:10] is probably very, very hard. [01:36:14] On the grass and the grounds and things of that sort, [01:36:17] there's no question. [01:36:19] But from my perspective, one of the nice things [01:36:23] about the park is certainly the drive, the small street [01:36:28] and things of that sort on bank and whatnot. [01:36:31] So it does provide some relief. [01:36:35] And you also have a very interesting thing here, [01:36:38] which we don't necessarily have so much in Mount Dora, [01:36:41] is that you have the main street is such an important artery [01:36:46] because of the bridges and things of that nature. [01:36:49] So there are some interesting. [01:36:50] But it's been, it certainly has been [01:36:52] an interesting conversation. [01:36:55] And I look forward to working with anybody and everybody [01:36:59] as well as we possibly can going forward. [01:37:04] I will take a moment to advertise the fact [01:37:06] that things are going along nicely. [01:37:10] You don't really see us other than my guys emerging [01:37:13] from the building from time to time, [01:37:14] bringing out a lot of old stuff out of the building. [01:37:17] So we're getting through a big phase of that right now [01:37:23] and for the last several months. [01:37:26] So if you were to walk into the building right now [01:37:28] and look at it, you would probably be shocked. [01:37:32] But it's getting through all of that [01:37:35] and will enable us to speed things up as we move forward. [01:37:40] And I'm also happy to report that the windows [01:37:42] and all the windows are going to start going in [01:37:46] within about two weeks. [01:37:48] The product has arrived and such. [01:37:50] So the windows will start going back in, [01:37:53] which is very, very exciting, especially for my guys, [01:37:57] because they all have to go around [01:37:58] with miners helmets on and whatever, [01:38:00] because they can't see, it's dark in there. [01:38:03] But, so it's very exciting. [01:38:05] I think the hotel is going to be hopefully a nice addition [01:38:09] or re-addition to the community. [01:38:11] So I don't know if that helps or not, but. [01:38:13] It helps. [01:38:14] Thank you. [01:38:14] Thank you. [01:38:15] Thank you. [01:38:16] Thank you. [01:38:17] Thank you. [01:38:18] Thank you. [01:38:19] Are those guys the ghosts of Hacienda? [01:38:22] Yeah, they haven't seen any ghosts yet, [01:38:23] so they don't look like ghosts. [01:38:25] Just a quick plug for Jim. [01:38:26] If you've never been to Mount Dora, [01:38:27] you should definitely visit it. [01:38:28] It's about two hours away. [01:38:30] He's done an absolutely phenomenal job [01:38:32] with the Lakeside Inn. [01:38:33] It's the oldest operating, continuously operating hotel [01:38:36] in the state of Florida, [01:38:37] and Jim has just done wonders with it. [01:38:38] It's a really, really cool place. [01:38:40] So if you haven't been, go visit. [01:38:41] And my next comment is that I think [01:38:43] that we're actually personally has done a pretty good job [01:38:44] harnessing energy over the last few years. [01:38:47] We saw a lot of energy in the room tonight. [01:38:49] Everyone is very, very passionate about their opinions. [01:38:52] I would urge everyone that, just to point out, [01:38:55] there's a little plaque there on that podium. [01:38:57] It's called the Pledge of Civility. [01:38:59] When you walk through these doors during a meeting, [01:39:01] you have to carry yourself in a responsible manner. [01:39:03] You can't just come here and start yelling [01:39:05] what you want to yell. [01:39:06] That's not how it works. [01:39:07] You'll be escorted out. [01:39:08] I don't know if that's posted on the outside of those doors, [01:39:10] but if not, maybe we should think about doing that. [01:39:12] So it's very clear that when people come to council meetings [01:39:15] what behavior is tolerated and what behavior is not tolerated. [01:39:18] As we saw tonight, I expected to see [01:39:20] a lot of different opinions on different events. [01:39:22] I'm gonna stick to my guns on my main concerns. [01:39:25] I'm not opposed to large events. [01:39:26] I think they're extremely beneficial for the city. [01:39:29] I just agree with the gentleman in the back of the room. [01:39:31] There does need to be governance. [01:39:32] That's what this meeting's about. [01:39:33] That's what we're talking about. [01:39:35] We can't just let events keep growing and growing [01:39:37] and growing and not be regulated at all, [01:39:38] as far as the number of events, the size of the events. [01:39:40] I think they are beneficial, but I think the smaller events [01:39:43] are extremely beneficial as well. [01:39:44] So thank you for everyone that came and spoke tonight. [01:39:46] I know everyone, like I said, was very, very passionate [01:39:49] about their points of view, and I respect that. [01:39:53] We have a lot of discussing to do, I think. [01:39:56] I'm not really with the mayor on as far as [01:39:58] just having two events from March until the 4th of July [01:40:02] blast, I think the park can take more of that. [01:40:04] But it just might be open discussions with event organizers, [01:40:09] which I believe we already have, that if damage is done [01:40:12] to the park, we're gonna use some of your deposit money [01:40:14] to revamp that and bring the park up to where it was, [01:40:18] the standards where it was, landscaping and whatnot, [01:40:21] prior to that event. [01:40:22] But once again, I'm not opposed to large events. [01:40:25] I know that certain people like some of the large events. [01:40:27] There's certain people don't like some of the large events. [01:40:29] I get that. [01:40:30] If you're not a biker, you may not wanna go to Bike Fest, [01:40:31] but I'm still gonna stick to my guns on whether you like [01:40:34] an event or not, what events we have in the city [01:40:37] are a reflection of us as a city. [01:40:38] It's a reflection of me as a city resident, [01:40:40] as a council member. [01:40:41] I do celebrate diversity. [01:40:43] I think diverse events are beneficial for the city. [01:40:45] However, it's a city park. [01:40:49] It's not a fairground. [01:40:50] It's not an open spot on a public beach. [01:40:52] It's a city park. [01:40:53] So even if it's Bike Fest, if it's Pasco Pride, whatever, [01:40:58] I wanna feel comfortable walking my son or daughter [01:41:00] through the park during that event [01:41:02] and not have to shield their eyes and their ears. [01:41:04] So that's where I'm at on that. [01:41:05] I'm not opposed to any one event. [01:41:07] I applaud all the event organizers. [01:41:09] I understand you guys work your butts off [01:41:11] and I appreciate all you do. [01:41:14] But like I said, my points, I'm gonna stick to [01:41:16] and I just think we need to continue [01:41:18] to have open discussions and make sure it's crystal clear [01:41:21] with the event organizers what's expected of them, [01:41:24] you know, what's allowed, what's not allowed. [01:41:26] And if they have issues with what may be not be allowed, [01:41:29] then bring it to us on council and we'll discuss it, [01:41:31] you know, so thanks for everyone for coming out tonight. [01:41:33] Thank you. [01:41:36] I wanna give a specific shout out to two events [01:41:39] that did something very right this last year. [01:41:45] Pasco Pride for its failings did a good job [01:41:49] in integrating with the downtown businesses. [01:41:53] I think that was an excellent move on their part. [01:41:59] Faith Baptist Church had an event [01:42:02] and it was only a one day event, [01:42:05] but they did something that I have never seen [01:42:07] at one of our events before. [01:42:09] And that was they arranged shuttle service. [01:42:12] And they invited me to participate. [01:42:17] They actually sent one of the golf carts over [01:42:19] to pick me up as soon as I was done with our choir anthem [01:42:24] during the Sunday service and took me over [01:42:26] so that I could participate in their program. [01:42:28] But they had shuttles. [01:42:30] And that's something that we have talked about. [01:42:32] That's something that I shared with some of the folks [01:42:35] with Chasco and they're making adjustments [01:42:40] because of the difference in what's going to be available [01:42:43] this year in parking. [01:42:44] They're changing with the times. [01:42:46] I give them kudos for starting to work in that regard. [01:42:52] And you don't have to like everything we do [01:42:56] in every event that's out there, [01:42:58] but there's something here for everybody. [01:43:00] So I would concur with you. [01:43:03] I will agree to disagree on the spring. [01:43:06] It's just too dry. [01:43:08] But that's not to say that something like a Seafood Fest [01:43:11] couldn't be rescheduled for some time [01:43:13] when it's not going to create quite as much [01:43:16] of a negative impact on the park. [01:43:20] Mr. Murphy? [01:43:22] A lot of things to think about and consider, [01:43:24] a lot of good points. [01:43:26] I think, I just believe that there's a place [01:43:28] for everyone here in the city, [01:43:30] a place for everybody's events, whether big or small, [01:43:33] as long as we are all respectful of each other. [01:43:37] That's what makes a good diverse community. [01:43:39] So that's my thoughts right now. [01:43:41] Mr. Allman? [01:43:43] Yes. [01:43:45] I think it is appearing to me that there's a consensus [01:43:50] that's just growing in the room as to the support [01:43:54] held for both the small business generating [01:43:59] weekly, daily promotions and the events. [01:44:04] I think I'm feeling there's a consensus [01:44:07] among my colleagues here to look at each event [01:44:11] and trying to figure out how to make it a little better [01:44:13] versus throwing the baby out with the bathwater approach [01:44:17] because we don't like one particular event or another. [01:44:21] And I would concur with that feeling [01:44:22] if I'm getting it right. [01:44:25] I did hear something else that I think is important [01:44:29] for those that are here to realize is that this growth, [01:44:34] as Mr. Armstrong said, does create change. [01:44:36] We are going to have to change some of our [01:44:39] longstanding traditions. [01:44:43] I was part of the group with Chaska [01:44:46] when we brought the carnival back in [01:44:48] because it was out on the highway. [01:44:50] And at one point it was up in Hudson, I believe, [01:44:53] even as the Chaska was diversified [01:44:56] with the idea that we would keep people active [01:44:59] and in this sort of. [01:45:00] environment, I think there are some possibilities. I'll just share, when I was a child, the Junior [01:45:07] Service League put on the Games of Chance, and they ran it up and down Nebraska Avenue, [01:45:11] I think, by the theater. And so that was the small town deal. The nonprofits made money [01:45:17] on the games, and they were dressed, they were local people, they weren't out-of-towners, [01:45:23] and I, for one, would support the city looking at a way to lift up our nonprofits by, even [01:45:32] if we have to, helping to fund some kind of a replacement plan that would allow maybe [01:45:38] the nonprofits to make some money off of those things in the old days. The duck pickup, the [01:45:43] shooting the water into the fish's mouth, or whatever. I know one of our former mayors, [01:45:51] Wendy Brenner, has told me that on Lake Michigan, there's only five lakes, I'm beginning to [01:45:56] get it wrong probably, whatever lake she lives on, that they have a community, Lake Huron? [01:46:03] Lake Huron? Lake Erie. Lake Erie. I was down the two left. But they have their community [01:46:13] college folks, according to her, dress nicely, and they attend their fairs, and they run [01:46:19] those kind of things. Now the Chasco has a $50,000 budget revenue from that, and that's [01:46:26] what helps to provide all the logistics and to support the free events. The Native Festival [01:46:31] doesn't cost to go into the boat parade, the other things. And it's not the time to solve [01:46:37] that, but if we're going to be crowded, we've been looking at parking spaces, maybe we can [01:46:42] also think creatively about ways we can support the efforts of all these volunteers, and all [01:46:49] so maybe clean up the footprint a little bit. If it generates more money for non-profits, [01:46:56] if it allows us to step up the pace on food or other items to get it to talk of food trucks [01:47:02] and other things. This is not something that the committee has talked about, and just by [01:47:08] disclosure, I'm on the Chasco Fiesta Committee, and it's a voluntary thing, and we don't get [01:47:12] paid. But I think that each event, as we look at it, and think of, as I think Mr. Starkey [01:47:20] said, if there's four or five things, whatever they might be, does it help the community, [01:47:25] does it help the business, is it for the residents? Kind of put some tests, like Rotary has, you [01:47:32] know, on these things, and figure, you know, how do we get to that? And supporting all [01:47:40] of those volunteers and all the hours. Those of you who are here, who helped to put these [01:47:44] things on, and put all your effort out, just, we're grateful, I'm grateful. [01:47:50] Thank you. Chopper? [01:47:52] Just a couple things. I'm on the Tourist Development Board too, Pasco Tourist Development Board, [01:47:59] as a result of being on City Council, and the monies are given out by advertising outside [01:48:06] of the community, and there's only two events that have ever got any money, is Chasco and [01:48:12] the Bike Fest, which means they're trying to advertise outside the community, as well [01:48:16] as they're trying to get the people locally to come. The other thing is that it donated, [01:48:21] we gave some money to Eric Soin in New Port Richey to do a film about living on the coastline, [01:48:29] and I think if you haven't seen it, you need to see it, because you couldn't tell whether [01:48:33] it was New Port Richey or New Port Richey, because there's pictures up and down the river, [01:48:36] there's pictures in the wetlands and on the coast and stuff. So there's some things going [01:48:43] on in the county, you know, from businesses or non-profits in town trying to promote New [01:48:49] New Port Richey and what's going on here. I love the term, harness the energy, by the way, [01:48:55] I think that's great, but I think if you've ever been on a SET committee with the Rec [01:49:02] Center and four New Port Richey events, that you'll find that there is some government [01:49:08] going on to try to control that. I think where the loss is right now is that even the people [01:49:15] in the SET committee, which might be on the board of that event, are aware of the rules [01:49:19] and they signed the vendor, you know, and had their vendors sign the rules, but their [01:49:24] volunteers don't necessarily all know what's going on. So they sometimes take things into [01:49:30] their own hands to try to deal with certain situations. So I think maybe a communications [01:49:36] is more of the situation that needs to be spread out there. The volunteers definitely [01:49:41] need it. And adapt, I think that's a real important thing that we now take from one [01:49:48] event to the next, but adapt as time changes, you know, in going to the future. And I'll [01:49:54] leave you with one comment, and it's, you know, you're supposed to treat your neighbor [01:50:03] as you would treat yourself. I think there's something similar to that in the Bible. I [01:50:07] won't try to quote the Bible, but, you know, treat your fellow man as you would treat yourself. [01:50:13] On that note, we will adjourn the work session. We've run a bit over, so we will convene the [01:50:18] regular city council meeting at 7.15.

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3. 3Adjournment