As the city turns. Or, more appropriately, as it evolves. As Banbridge morphs into the council-manager system, an intriguing civics lesson involving that transformation presented itself during the last week.
Unbeknownst to the City Council, directors of several departments started meeting late last year to establish a special events permit process in order to pay for the supplies and support the departments that provide dozens of community events held on the island each year. That’s the way things were done under the city’s version of the mayor-council form of government.
The effort, led by City Administrator Mark Dombroski, stemmed primarily from the realization that the city – especially the police and public works departments – should be reimbursed for the community’s use of its employees and equipment. As a result, since Jan. 1 the city has collected about $5,000 from its participation of a couple dozen community events.
This wasn’t made public until Kevin Dwyer, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, told the council last week that the free lunch the Grand Old Fourth of July celebration has been enjoying from the city has ended.
This year the chamber’s annual bash will have to pay for the cost of four city police officers ($95 per hour for each, including benefits and liability insurance) working a shift during the event.
Dwyer said that to his knowledge it will be the first time the chamber has been charged any amount by the city. Initially, the city said it would require nine uniformed officers on duty during the event, but Dwyer negotiated that down to four officers, with volunteers doing the rest.
Overall, he estimates the chamber will need to give as much as $6,000 to the city for this year’s event. However, members of the council’s Community Relations Committee told him Monday that they would do what they can to get city LTAC (Lodging Tax Advisory Committee) funding to help pay for the city’s service and equipment costs.
“For years we’ve been providing services for free and now we can’t do that,” said Lance Newkirk, deputy director of the Public Works Operations and Maintenance Division. “We aren’t a rental agency.”
In the past, while the Grand Old Fourth slipped by without paying because it’s an important event for community and businesses, most other events paid (usually around $39 per hour) for use of the off-duty officers (in uniform). So, until this year the fees were not regulated equally.
Deputy Chief Jon Fehlman said officers working an event usually would be paid on-site by check, which he said was objectionable since it could raise at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. Instead, as most cities do, the city now bills the event for use of the service or equipment.
Debbie Vancil, along with fellow CRC members Bill Knobloch and Kim Brackett, said it’s a policy issue that Dombroski, who, as the city manager now reports directly to the council, needs to bring to the full council. The purpose will be to establish a long-term policy that also takes the community’s needs into account.
Very interesting.
In this case, the new permit process seems justified and best for all. However, one could assume, that in the future an issue that affects much of the community directly should be aired before a decision is made. In other words, it should be a community determination, not an “adminstrative” one.
