Consent Agenda items …
e. Commission approval of Special Event Permit application for Village Grille’s “Jazz in the Square” event, every Friday evening, 4:30 PM till 11:30 PM, May 16, 2009 thru May 15, 2010 (Assistant Town Manager Olinzock)
Comm. Dodd pulled this one for discussion…and invited Dave Gadsby up to speak about the renewal for his permit for Jazz on the Square for another year…Dave said he could not begin to count the number of times he received thanks from everyone over the last five years for this venture of his…but if the town did not want to continue it…he would find something else to do with his Friday nights…Comm. Dodd asked him if he had any comment on the Vice Mayor’s comments made the previous evening when McIntee wanted to start charging “a stipend” for using the city streets and put money into a “lock box” to use for town events….Dave referred to the comment made by the Town Manager the previous evening when she compared the $1750 cost of Comm. Clotteys’ Lynn University concert next month to the past cost of $12,000 for “Stargazing” …saying that amount is equal to his expenditures every weekend…and that Jazz on the Square fills every parking spot in town……He also pays for eleven spots and the application fee of $100 dollars…Comm Clottey remarked that she knows his music stops at 10 pm and he cleans up afterward, wanting that to be made clear to those who contacted her out of concern that the agenda stated an 11:30 stop time…Comm. Silverstone has really gone around the bend…and really needs to rethink his role of late, as antagonizer of businesses …Mayor Minnet and Comm. Dodd…apologizing to Dave for not addressing this item on Tues. night and trying to pin it on the Mayor (wrong, and she stated it!)…Then he waxed on with Silverstone -Clottey and McIntee “doctrines” of charging the businesses “based on fairness” because Jazz night and the long time “goodwill” it’s produced is something “other people have latched on to”…(The Marchelos brothers)…and then tried to justify a charge for using the street by comparing it to a “sidewalk cafe”…throwing out figures like $18 a square foot ….Dave Gatsby spoke of the costs of the event…months of making money and months of losing money…as the Manager “baited” by Silverstone (looking like a rehearsed baiting) said it would be roughly $200…Then the “gambler” to the stage…Vice Mayor Mcintee looking for a “cut to the chase”…”figuring” out $200 “and some” dollars…tossing out 7 hours…compared to longer hours…until Comm. Dodd had enough…and asked for a point of order…where was the VM getting these “figures” and why were they not provided to all?…
This produced the best quip of the night…as the Mayor said “Sounds like nickels and dimes to me!”…the audience just roared with laughter!
The Vice Mayor went on with his juggling act…giving Dave kudos, while trying to appear he was not doing him any “real” financial harm…going so far as to tell Dave if the town asked Dave to donate the amount desired for that “lock box” Dave being the good guy that he is would donate it in a heartbeat…and then went even further in his quest for the upper hand …by telling Dave if he was making “a big chunk” …you give and the “Town picks up a little something” and if you’re losing money … come tell him (Jerry) and he’ll take your word for it and the money won’t be expected…but with 4500 square feet…of Town property it’s justified…”a win-win for both of us”…HMMM..Sure sounds like a “shake down ” to this writer!… Then just when you think the “Gang of 3” couldn’t descend any further into the “muck”…Comm. Clottey says…Dave put on alot of events for this town …tally it up …and give the VM $100-150 …just take it off the past donations and he (Dave) won’t have to pay it for the next 20 years!…Comm. Silverstone concurred!…He said Dave paid his dues…Then airing his (Jimmy’s) personal life said “My life’s been a living hell the past two days”…which produced a quip from his better half in the audience…Comm. Dodd followed the Mayor’s lead about nickel and dimes and the $100 dollars along with making it clear he was adamantly against taking money from the businesses to pay for Town parties…he called for a motion on the consent item as stated…for 1 year…Comm. Silverstone apparently liking the “living hell” he is in..asked for a friendly amendment of 3 months to get the “figures” together …Comm. Dodd said it was wrong to do…and it seemed for just a moment…this shameful act was about to stop with Silverstone’s second to Dodd’s motion…But McIntee was ready to do a “sucker punch” by amending the motion…putting the 3 months back on…BFF (must trump fiance’) seconded it…and it passed Mc-Gang of 3- 2 (Mayor Minet and Clottey)…OUCH!…
f. Commission approval of Special Event Permit application for Athena by the Sea’s “Music by the Sea” event, every Saturday evening, 4:00 PM till 11:00 PM, May 28, 2009 thru May 27, 2010 (Assistant Town Manager Olinzock)
Round 2 came…Comm. Dodd called up Athena…Louis Marchelos put the Silverstone sidewalk cafe scenario into terms that showed it’s inequitable comparison…saying a sidewalk cafe was exclusive to the business of who could sit there…while a street event was open to the public at large…Louis went on to speak of the comments made by the VM the evening before with the latest attempt to take aim at their livelihood with the number of people permitted to attend…200 vs a stated VM count of 500…but without benefit of the code officer paid overtime to check out the numbers…HMMM…who authorized the overtime?…Spiro Marchelos took a moment to talk of the combined efforts of Athena/Kilwins/Village Grille and 101 Ocean …to help the community…explaining that 30 weeks out of 52 was the reality …when you took into account canceled events due to weather and other circumstances…Comm. Clottey got her little jab in (as she promised from the dais at a previous meeting) to evaluate having an event at the same time as a Town event (4th of July…surprised she did not throw in the 2 day events she said she would no longer support)…The Mayor concurred that the Manager was taking care to stop back to back events…Comm. Silverstone imposed the same 3 month return date for “figures” forthcoming and no 4th of July …Comm Dodd wondered if this vote might cause a problem if there was a sudden change of plan and the pier was required for the fireworks…leaving Silverstone to “pounce” with insinuations of Comm. Dodd not working as a “team” …”working against Marc Furth”…and accusing him of doing some underhanded acts behind the scenes…Comm. Dodd said he did no such thing and spoke of the letters that came late on the 28th and 29th to follow up on the July 4th beach fire display…..questioning the pier vs the beach for fireworks from DEP / Fish and Wildlife Comm…..which they all received…Comm. Silverstone backed down…reluctantly…and this one passed 4-1 (Mayor Minnet dissenting)…
So these businesses will need to return in 3 months to be “strong armed ” once again…
Nickles and dimes…will cost all of us in the long run….with quiet Friday and Saturday nights…
more to come….
Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, local government, Local Politics, Scoops
