The Police Auditor reports his report to the city council and the city council considers what services they'll serve to community events (like, you know, Lakefair).

Almost every week this is the "What's on the city council's plate this week" review. I don't cover everything, so if you want the full rundown, read the packet and agenda yourself.

Of course, these two things aren't actually on the city council's plate, but rather on the general government committee of the council, but the council itself is boring this week.

1. I'm mad at the police auditor because his pdf file that is attached to the city council packet isn't the kind of pdf file that you can cut and paste. Crap, so I actually have to write.

It also seems like he can't count. On the fifth page of his report, he counts four sustained cases (of 46 total), but when you go up and try to find out what kinds of cases were sustained against officers, you only count three. Weirdness.

Of those three, two were cases of unresponsiveness/unsatisfactory conduct and one was a case of illegal profiling/discrimination.

Read the entire report for even more details.

2. The biggest issue with city events the last couple of years has been the disparity between the costs for Lakefair (which is huge and runs several days) and other events like Artswalk. Artswalk is cheap, Lakefair is hugely expensive for the city.

So, in that regard, here are the values that the staff would like to bring to the conversation:

a. There’s no blank check from the City. For events held on City property, event sponsors must assume responsibility for planning and executing events that are within the City’s and sponsor’s financial and resource means to nurture, support, and sustain.
b. Let’s seize the opportunities. Sponsors of public events should be aware of and attempt to advance the Council’s Goals through their event promotion and activities.
c. Favoritism is Not Acceptable. City consideration and approval of special events on City-owned property will be conducted in a fair and equitable manner, with no favoritism shown to any one group or sponsor.

I'm kind of reading between the lines here, but it sounds like the city is preparing to end Lakefair's, ahem, "free ride."

Here is the specific language regarding the fee structure, which I'm almost positive will be the sticking point:

3. City Fees and Charges
Staff Services and Support for Public Events Staff recommends that:

a. Event sponsors pay all ordinary City fees and charges and reimburse the City for labor, supplies, material and equipment costs;

b. City ordinance shall provide for the waiver of the following fees, charges and labor reimbursements for nonprofit organizations who are located in Thurston County and are registered by the Secretary of State:
1. License and permit fees except for the Business License Fee and any park usage fees;
2. Business and Occupation Tax for any vendor at a public event that is a non profit organization located in Thurston County.
3. Admissions Tax for the carnival operator at a public event if a minimum of 15% of the carnival operator’s gross revenue from the event is paid to the event sponsor.
4. City staff labor costs for services provided to the event during regular work hours; 5. De minimis equipment, supply and material costs incurred by the City to provide services for the event;
6. Recycling and composting services provided to the event, if the sponsor filed a recycling plan with its event application.

c. The City Manager shall have discretion to waive additional labor costs if the event is sponsored by a Thurston County based nonprofit organization registered with the Secretary of State and there is no collection of vendor or participant fees or selling of goods, services, and food at the event. This would allow us to waive reimbursement for labor costs for small events and parades if the City Manager determines there is sufficient budget and staff resource to provide the services.

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G_PoliceAuditorAnnualReport_ATT1.pdf	604.59 KB