The Dalles City Council Monday gave the Fort Dalles Fourth Committee $5,000 to cover a deficit, contingent on the group working with The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce on a sustainable business model.
Councilor Dan Spatz made the motion that passed on a 4-1 vote, with Taner Elliott voting against.
“First off, the Fort Dalles Fourth Committee has done just an outstanding job with both of these productions,” Spatz said of fireworks displays the group put on in 2014 and 2015, “and the council without exception is in full support of what they’re trying to do.”
The challenge, he said, is that the city understood it would only be providing two years of start-up money — it gave $20,000 in 2014 and $25,000 for 2015 — and expected the event to be on its own after that.
He said that notion seemed to be evolving into a request for ongoing support. Indeed, Fort Dalles Fourth President Doug Kirchhofer told the council he hoped it would continue to support the event.
Adding a wrinkle to the scenario of a proposed partnership is a fractious relationship between the chamber and the Fort Dalles Fourth. Spatz said he’d heard there were “tensions” but said the two entities had to “work it out.”
Spatz said, “What I don’t want is different groups going along parallel tracks and not working together. Tourism needs to be guided, it needs to be coordinated and that’s what the chamber is there for. So folks, work it out.”
Chamber Director Lisa Farquharson said, “I will be taking the city council’s proposal to the chamber board of directors after I have had the opportunity to discuss the city’s request with a representative from the city. Once the chamber board knows the full scope of the proposal they can see how the chamber might best assist the [Fort Dalles Fourth] committee. I first heard of this proposal at the city council meeting on July 27. We do want to commend the FD4 on a fabulous event and to say a big ‘thank you’ for all the volunteer hours it took to make this happen in The Dalles.”
Kirchhofer said, “This is the first time I’ve heard the term ‘tensions’ used. The Fort Dalles Fourth Committee did in fact try to coordinate with the chamber in early 2014 and Main Street in early 2015. We’d be happy to help coordinate with the chamber to improve event production.
“We’ve launched 16 new events over the last 15 months and to be able to plug into a staffed and healthily city funded entity is an exciting proposition to us and certainly the community.”
At its July 27 meeting, Kirchhofer asked the council, which earlier gave $20,000 to the event, for another $5,000 because extremely hot weather resulted in lower attendance at a James Otto concert July 3 and fewer people attending a daylong festival July 4, hurting sales at vendor booths. Kirchhofer surmised that more typical weather would’ve resulted in more ticket sales and vendor sales, and the event likely would’ve started with a nest egg for next year’s event, rather than a deficit. The event overall cost about $125,000, Kirchhofer said, with about $60,000 of it being direct costs of the fireworks show. Other costs were for events including the concert, a fun run, and other costs.
Those events were themselves fundraisers for the entire event, Kirchhofer said.
Spatz said he wants the Fort Dalles Fourth to work with the chamber on a sustainable business model that does not rely on the city for a “preponderance of support.” He wants the two entities to report back to council in four months on their partnership progress.
Kirchhofer said of the city’s decision, “Although next year’s funds are uncertain, we hope whatever partner the city wants to place us with will follow council’s lead and continue this very successful partnership model.”
The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence took a dim view of the $5,000 request. “I’m very concerned because I was under the impression that we were paying for fireworks and it seems that their shortfall came from entertainment and putting on a music event. And as I expressed to city council, promoters are usually the ones that should take that risk. Because the temperatures were high and they didn’t have adequate sales I don’t think we should give them the $5,000 but I don’t have a vote. So there you go.”
The city will send its $5,000 directly to Western Display Fireworks, the Canby-based company that provided the fireworks.
Lawrence said the idea of the Fort Dalles Fourth and chamber partnering is uncharted territory. “I don’t think there’s any understanding of where that is at this point.” He has asked the chamber board and director “to be available to discuss the issue and they said they would be.”
Lawrence has also heard of tensions between the chamber and Fort Dalles Fourth. “There are silos of influence around town and those silos have to get together and I’m not sure if it’s possible at this point,” he said.
He added, “Silos of influence, which sometimes cause people to protect their turf.” Lawrence does see a future Independence Day event, but perhaps in a changed format.
“It won’t be the big party that they want, but it’ll be the Fourth of July."
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