Organizers protest Ventura event fees

April 11--Ventura-based events promoter Vincenzo Giammanco, who's had great success with his champagne and beer festivals, had been working on a new project. He'd been approached by the Rotary Club of Ventura, which hoped to bring fireworks back to the beach, the culmination to an all-day event featuring music, arts and kids zone.

Giammanco said the costs of putting on the July 1 event made it "impossible.

On Monday night, Giammanco and Rotary President-Elect Ellyn Dembowski were among the more than 15 people who asked the Ventura City Council to reject higher insurance requirements and other costs associated with putting on events.

The new requirements, many said, would force them to host events in other cities or cancel them altogether. For many, including the Diversity Collective Ventura County and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the events they host provide critical revenue that allows them to provide outreach to the community.

Though not disagreeing on specific staff recommendations, the Ventura City Council wanted those impacted to be able to provide input before they finalized any changes. The council asked for more information and how the proposal compared to requirements in other cities.

The council voted 6-0, with Council member Cheryl Heitmann absent, to develop a stakeholders group to weigh in best practices for hosting events, what other cities including Santa Barbara, Oxnard and Thousand Oaks charged and to provide a breakdown on the increased costs/fees.

Staff recommended the changes to minimize the city's risk when it comes to hosting an event. For instance, the city requires a $1 million insurance policy, the same as it's been since 1986.

That put taxpayers at risk for picking up the difference were the policy to fall short in case of an injury or accident, Risk Manager Lisa Oland said.

"It would only take one significant event" for the city to be on the hook for a lot of money, she said.

The city's excess reinsurer and insurance broker recommended the changes, which were presented at the Public Agency Risk Management Association's annual conference. PARMA advises city on risk and insurance matters, according to the staff report.

The changes included implementing a three-tiered system which takes into account event size, whether alcohol is involved and other factors. The current system using a one-size-fits-all approach, the staff report notes. It also includes set-up and break-down time when determining the rental time of a park or other city facility, it prohibits organizers from using park bathrooms, requires them to bring in portable bathrooms and mandates they put up hard barricades. Organizers must ensure recyclables are taken to the appropriate place.

Council member Matt LaVere questioned why the process needed to be changed when the last problem happened so many years ago (during a Kevin Costner concert, staff said).

"What we have seems to work," Council member Matt LaVere said.

Since joining the council in December, LaVere said he's never received as much negative feedback on an issue than this one.

Council member Mike Tracy said perhaps the city hadn't done a good job explaining why the changes were being made.

"I think the tiered system makes sense," he said. "I do think we've had a failure to communicate."

But the taxpayers need to be protected against what is a good likelihood for problems, he said.

"We live in a very litigious society," he said.

Tracy suggested phasing in the higher fees over several years.

City Manager Mark Watkins said in some cases, the city was just enforcing policies it had been inconsistent with previously.

The issue is one of communication and transparency, he said.

"What people want is predictability," he said. "Then they can make decisions based on that."

Giammanco has another couple of events planned for Ventura this year, including the Winter Wine Walk in December.

Next year, though, if the fees don't come down, he'll be forced to look at other cities. From experience hosting events in several other California cities, Giammanco knows Ventura's fees would be the highest.

City Attorney Gregory Diaz said it was a matter of sorting everything out.

"We just need to figure out what works," he said.

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