SUMMER CONCERTS

SUMMER CONCERTS

Looks Good But With Less

It looks like Culver City’s beloved summer music festival will happen this year-although there will be fewer concerts and some differences in the set-up and amenities, thanks to the City Council and Redevelopment Agency’s decision at their Monday night meeting.

They considered a proposal for a concert series made by longtime summer concert producer and Boulevard Music owner Gary Mandell.

According to Mandell’s proposal, he would produce a number of concerts, not as many as the series has had in the past, under the name Boulevard Music Festival. He would work to obtain sponsors and the City would contribute in-kind services only. These would amount to use of the City Hall courtyard and maintenance crews to close up the event space and clean up after each show.

Speaking before the Council, Mandell said he had talked to some potential sponsors who would be willing to donate. “I think it could be a quality show,” he added, although he noted that there might be as few as two concerts.

Set-up staff costs could also be reduced by having volunteers do set-up and breakdown of the stage. Mandell additionally suggested that costs could be reduced by hosing down rather than steam-cleaning the concert area after concerts.

An alternative proposal by staff was the creation of a single summer concert to be held in Media Park, using $7,500 in available funds from past sponsorships and from a cultural arts grant from Sony. This proposal was not discussed.

However, the $7,500 could be used to fund the proposed Mandell-produced concert series, the Council/Agency realized.

In addition, City Manager John Nachbar confirmed that there is a sum of $10,000 available in discretionary funds, some of which might be used to fund the concerts. $7,500 would probably fund at least four concerts, Mandell admitted.

Council member Jeff Cooper asked Mandell how much time he would need to book artists for the concerts.

“Booking of bands is not so much the critical thing,” Mandell replied. Getting sponsors, he explained, was the activity that would take time.

Cooper and Christopher Armenta were in agreement that while such ideas as a subcommittee that would brainstorm concert ideas and raise money for concerts was a good idea for the future, it was really important to firm up a plan for this coming summer’s concerts.

The Council and Agency directed staff to pursue Mandell’s proposal, to hold meetings with staff to plan a concert series using the available funds, and to discuss specifics. Cooper added that while the series could be called “Boulevard Music Festival,” he wanted the name of Culver City to appear somewhere in the title of the series.

Following the hearing, Mandell told reporters that when he talks with the City, he wants the roles defined. He said he was unable to give the City a figure for how much the concert series will actually cost per concert unless he had confirmation that volunteer labor would be used for the crew.

In other actions, the Council, in a dual role as the Culver City Parking Authority, passed two action items involving plans for improving downtown parking.

In the first of these items, the Council passed a resolution regarding on-street parking meters in the downtown commercial zone. Parking meter enforcement will be extended to 11 p.m .; enforcement will include Sundays (the Council noted that Sunday is a busy day in the downtown area due to the entertainment and restaurants in the area); parking meter rates will be set at $.050 above highest parking structure hourly rate, and the goal for peak-period on-street parking meter occupancy will be set at 85 %.

The Council/Authority postponed to the February 6 meeting another part of the item involving parking fee increases for the downtown parking facilities: three parking structures (Cardiff, Watseka, and Ince) and the Canfield parking lot. The problem with this resolution was that it would retain one hour of free parking at the Ince structure.

While speakers in public comment and Council members agreed that the one hour of free parking was an enticement for visitors and a boon for those with less money to spend on parking, there was concern about revenue loss as a result of the free parking. Staff will come back on February 6 with a report on the revenue issue.

A second item on parking involved the enforcement of parking regulations in the downtown area. The Council and Authority voted to adopt an 18-month supplemental parking enforcement pilot program that would include $167,480 for two full-time parking enforcement officers; $126,664 for two full-time Community Service Officers, two hand-held radios, and six coin vaults; $20,000 for four hand-held radios, $3,900 for six coin vaults, and $25,000 for one truck.

Both items were outcomes of the Walker Parking Study, a study that has been under Council/Parking Authority discussion for a long time.

At the meeting’s start, 20 students from El Marino Language Academy and from Colegio La Calma in Zapopan, Mexico were honored in a presentation by the Council. The students had participated in the Language Exchange program, with students from El Marino going to Mexico and students from Colegio La Calma coming to Culver City to study.

“They’re very brave, intelligent kids,” said Language Exchange Program director Sandy Levin. “It takes a lot of wherewithal to go to a foreign country when you’re only nine years old.”