Downtown Director of Events and Special projects = bankrupt

[Defend Youngstown]

I apologize...I forgot to give thanks to City Council as well for passing the legislation (7-0)! Special thanks to all members of Council!

Don't forget: First event of the season begins tomorrow night with Party on the Plaza. Wear your Kelly Pavlik and/or any other  "Pro-Yo" gear you have as HBO as well as the documentary crew in town will be filming between 4-6pm!

[jay]

THANK YOU
JAY!

[Defend Youngstown]

$38,000.00. Thank you Mayor Williams. Game on.

[Defend Youngstown]

Good news. I met with the Mayor who stepped up to the plate is going to make whatever needs to happen, happen to make sure adequate funding is in place. The Request will be in front of the Finance Comm this evening and, hopefully, we will have the Legislation in place by sun up tomorrow. Lets get it on.

Phil

[ForumManager]

Thank you again,
I'm sorry to open that can of worms.  I also have questions about it coming out of your events budget. I know you are doing the best you can and I find it refreshing that you have shared the previous financials with the public on your blog.  Is there any where else online where Youngstown posts its financial information? Thank you for taking the time to explain the process and outline the issues you are facing.

[Defend Youngstown]

Yes, that is the figure. As I am literally learning this position as I go, I am finding that there are numerous dollars expended and practices that require detailed explanation, however, my focus at present is to best manage the hand that is dealt to me and get through this first event season. Trust me, there will be house cleaning to follow once we reach calmer waters...  In the mean time, thank you for your concern. I'll keep the board posted as learn more. Be well.

PK

[Elmo-Ytown]

Sorry to sound frustrated, I like things on the straight and narrow, and it doesn't sound like that's the way they're treating your postion and it's budget.

Just to be clear, it's $3350.00 a month out of your budget for the cleaning services?

[Elmo-Ytown]

Sounds kind of fishy to me that whomever had your position before you arranged the contract with CCA, and now they don't want you to have anything to do with it. If it is coming out of your budget, than you would think that you would at least get some say on it. Maybe they all oughta stick their noses in someone else's business and let you figure out how to use the money that is allocated to you, or take the money out of someone elses budget.

Also, who was in your position before you, and why is he/she handling this contract now that they aren't in the position?

[ForumManager]

Thanks for responding.  Hope things work out.

[Defend Youngstown]

Sorry for the delay in response. Monday's downtown community meeting is canceled as Finance nor the Mayor has yet to respond to my itemized budget request of 29,803.75  for this year's event series. I'd like to hear from these departments first so that we know what we are working with and what, if any, changes will need to be made. Obviously, the budget situation could not come at a more ciritical time period, as we begin the event season this week with Party on the Plaza this Friday 5pm.   

In regards to the contract situation with CCA: This was a contract that was created prior to my appointment by the previous Downtown Director of Events/Special Projects. Upon my start of this position in January, I was instructed that the CCA contract would be handled by that individual and I was to focus my efforts on events. I do not know very much about the history of the contract other than how much has been paid monthly which is $3,350.00 and what services are rendered (daily early morning downtown clean up). Finance has the exact dollar figure as to how much is owed on this contract and how much exceeds my orginal 2008 allocation of $40,000.

Obviously, my immediate concern is obtaining $29,803.75 to make sure events scheduled for this year are properly funded. I believe this is a completely reasonable request given the fact that $87,000 was spent in the D of E/SP postion last year (recorded purchase orders) as well as the fact that the current request is $10,100.00 less that what was orginally allocated for 2008. All special project funding has been cut from the budget request. To be contined....

[jay]

The Downtown Community meeting is at the same time as the Block Watch Summit.

[ForumManager]

I looked at the 2007 purchase order report on the 44503 blog and wondered why it costs so much to clean up.
Questions in regard to the CCA cleanup charge of $3350 a month:
1. Why is it so expensive?
2. What is specifically cleaned up in the winter months when there are no street activities other than normal traffic,
3. Why is that charge  part of Downtown Events?
     - Does it fall under a general maintenance category or is it just for clean up after events?
4. Can the cleanup be done by volunteer groups needing community service hours instead of CCA?
5. Is CCA a group of supervised minimum security prisoners?
    - When do they do the cleaning?... I've never seen them.

[Defend Youngstown]

Today, I learned through the Finance department that the Federal Plaza Director's account is actually in a negative balance. This is due in part to previous contacts/invoices that were not paid off in the last fiscal year (CCA downtown clean up contracts mainly - $3,350.00 monthly). My original allocation was $40,000 for fiscal year '08 but the unpaid invoices total more than that amount allocated (how much more so was not specified). I have aprox $1,500 of invoices that I must pay for services rendered since I assumed this position. Finance is asking how much I may need to meet my critical costs. What that means, exactly, I have not determined. No matter what the allocation, it would total no more than $15-$20,000 (liberal figure). These dollars would then have to be spread over a number of events and justification would have to be provided.

This begs a very important question that I believe needs to be answered (as the budget crisis brings exposure to the issue): Should event subsidy continue to be a role of the downtown event/sp director? If so, is it good government practice for one person to dictate who gets how much and why or should a board be formed consisting of the downtown business community, YSU student body, and citizen base (with the Director serving as a non-voting member who manages the board and approves allocation of city funding based on board recommendations...those seeking city funding would submit - much like a grant request - an itemized budget with quotes attached and make requests not exceed x amount)?

There are still events that the city can make happen such as Movies on the Mahoning (B&O Station), Music at the Monument (Friday afternoons/evenings; Saturday evenings) and would require minimal, singular investments and a little bit of sponsorship (ex. screens, pa system, etc).

In the mean time, we must deal with the budget situation at present for this year. When asking for additional/any funding this year, should dollars requested be for continued subsidization or should a focus be placed on a high quality marketing and promotion campaign for events and general downtown nightlife that are and will continue to happen regardless of city funding (ex. Party on the Plaza (x7), StreetScape, Italian Festival, JonesFest, VexFest as well as promotion of general happenings)?

I will be calling a Downtown Community Meeting to discuss this issue with all parties interested this Monday, May 19th @ 5:30pm @ the B&O Station (outdoor patio). As time is a major factor at present, I would greatly appreciate you input. Thanks.

Phil