Zuma Dogg Talks Event Waivers with Greig Smith
Zuma Dogg interviews Council member Greig Smith about his efforts to cut back on "special event waivers" which result in a loss of significant city revenue. Smith wants to cut back about 50% on these waivers which give planners of large events breaks on fees generally charged by the city for police protection, traffic management, etc.
Labels: event waivers, greig smith, zuma dogg
Posted by Michael Higby @ 5/04/2008 10:38:00 PM
11 Comments:
It's precisely some of these big events like the film stuff, Emmys/ Oscars/ Golden Globes/ Festivals, that give L A its identity and bring in a LOT more PR and business than the cost.
These are NOT like the endless Mexican fiestas/ parades, the Fiesta Broadway/ El Grito/ Cinco de Mayos/ Blessing of the Animals/ Huizar's Winter Wonderland -- then each Mexican has some. OR the endless Janice Hahn/ Jan Perry events to promote themselves.
It's naive and stupid to say event waivers should only be for local events. Those biggies are events New York and other cities would love and have been trying to take; in some cases, L A had to build the Kodak theatre to keep them, since the Shrine was so inadequate. So it would be even more stupid to just look at the short-term.
Stick your ugly horse's ass in things you know about, zuma, along with those stupid, low-class women who yammer against these events in Van Nuys every week. Those idiots and Zuma are NOT who we need making decisions about the local economy.
By the way -- Smith singles out the Emmys and Oscars as those that bring in "billions of dollars" and need to be kept in a special designation, along with other non-profits. (The women in Van Nuys, on the other hand, have been lobbying against these events specifically. Just one reason no one listens to their "priorities.")
He's not saying it in so many words, but he seems to be including events like the Fiesta Broadway in categories that need to be more self-sufficient.
(Huizar was questioned about that in Budget Comm., but says L A has to compete with "a smaller city nextdoor" which has a bigger one. Which city, and why? Clearly, he's carrying water for all the Mexicans on that, but they do have sponsors, and since it's basically a local, ethnic draw, it has to survive on its own. Like Hahn/ Perry's block parties; BUT if the community wants to give out info on aids or abuse intervention or literacy programs, those should be funded.)
Smith is basically right about his priorities, he's no dummy.
I am so glad that Greig Smith spoke to Zuma for one thing! I'm glad that he is against fee waivers, sort of. Or at least a 50% reduction. Still, I must disagree with him on those Oscars. Yes, the Kodak was built for them. That's why they'll stay here. Besides, more of them live here than in New York.
They will stay and they can afford to pay for their own street closings. It's crazy for us to have to do it.
I'm kind of having a hard time reconciling that "billions of dollars" he claims they bring here to local businesses though. Can anyone give me some examples?
What I would like someone to explain is why is it that some council members spend so much more in their districts then others? Is there not one amount per district? If that's not the case then of course the Westside, Hollywood and others get more money in special event waivers. I hardly ever see anything for the valley? Who spends the most in these waivers? I think Bitter Bernie cause he puts all the rich USC stuff waived.
Who cares what 3:45 thinks, any more than the same bitching from the three women who show up in Van Nuys every day to say that same stupid thing.
Save everyone the money of listening to you people in person, anyway. And did you see Greig Smith run when zuma said "we" at the end, lumping him in with him on the waiver issue? That's one YouTube appearance Smith doesn't need.
What part of "fee" and "waiver" is it that you don't get here? And who out there with half a brain doesn't already understand that when the City of L.A. says "fee" it means TAX?
Waiving the "fees" the city charges groups to hold events here is nothing more than a tax break for the people who: 1) ALREADY pay taxes here, and 2) Usually do the work to put these events on without making a dime -- that's where the VAST majority of these waivers go.
These fees are nothing more than DOUBLE-taxing us to use city facilities WE'VE ALREADY PAID FOR, more than once, and at grossly overstated charges.
And now, this so-called "Republican" blog has become one of the focal points for the DEFENSE of double- and triple-taxing us.
Cripes, the words you geniuses use, you'd think the city was GIVING money to the organizers of community events, instead of just NOT making them PAY this disguised TAX.
Maybe we should charge community groups EXTRA high fees and never waive them when they're beneficial to community building. Then, nobody could afford to hold events here EXCEPT the Emmys and Oscars.
Reduce the amount of fees waived, and most of these events just would never happen. OR, the ones that offer free attendance would have to start charging people to attend (and there you go again -- paying TWICE for the same city service, only indirectly this time).
And what if some of the BIG rich events get their costs jacked up? Guess what . . . they just go elsewhere, and take all the tourist money associated with them, away.
(That's known as eating your seed corn, Einstein's (penny wise/pound foolish). Think you're "saving" thousands in waivers? Nope, you're losing hundreds of thousands in economic stimulus.
Beside, doesn't the city OWE us things like "police protection" and "traffic management" already? Aren't we already paying most per capita for it than most major cities?
Don't encourage them to rob us any more (at least not on a "GOP" blog).
Gosh, I didn't know this was a "GOP" blog.
Chill "fee" "tax" guy. Problem is special event waivers were meant for non profits in the community that couldn't afford to pay to get a street closed. Now, they're all political payback favors. Look how many times Bitter Bernie waives USC rich folks for football games. What about Fiesta Broadway as was posted here that waived $162,000 even though the corporate sponsors were At&T, Burger King, Crytsler, Dodgwe, Jeep, Bank of America. What about the LA Marathon that has tons of corporate sponsors and then LA Times did a story where Yvonne Burke's husband who runs it was getting tons of money and having her family members getting money as well. Special Event Waivers have become another corrupt tool for council members to use. WE should do our own investigation each week as to who uses them more.
Very few non profits should get a few waiver. A lot of them are big business and have lots of money.
That is SUCH B.S. Take a look at the list next time the waivers come through.
Most are run entirely by volunteers, have NO regular income, no paid employees, no grants, and raise a few thousand a year for events like these for which they want their fees waived.
Not waiving fees would put them out oe business.
No, YOU are full of BS. Maybe one of us should track the fee waivers just to prove YOU wrong.
Or Mr./Ms. Fee-Waiver Defender, you could track them all to prove us wrong.
Ain't gonna happen.
More free events? What are you, crazy? We get double taxed for events that we are all running to as fast as we can get there.
I had a super time at the Fiesta Broadway. Whatever the fuck that is. I'm glad we paid for the Kodak and we pay (with our taxes) the fee waiver so that they can close our streets so that the off-duty, but being paid for just for this award show can beat me up if I get too close to a "star". And that Blessing of the Animals is one of the most jammin' events in the city right?
I don't think that the Emmys, Oscars or the Golden Globes give us our identity. It's the studios stupid. Not their award shows. People come here to go to the Price is Right, not to watch the Emmys and don't pretend like they do.
Nobody would go to New York to attend the awards shows. They're lazy. They don't want to fly there and they all live here.
Therefore, YOU are the biggest BS'er.
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