By Susan Motander
After a very lengthy period of public comment, the Monrovia City Council voted to give L.A. PartyWorks at least six more weeks to operate the Friday night street fair. City Manager Oliver Chi had requested that the city council immediately terminate its agreement with the company based on what he called “operational,” “procedural,” and “reliability” concerns. The public comments ran strongly in support of giving the company more time to come into compliance with its contract and to work out its disagreements with the city.
Chi first outlined what he described as the problems he, city staff, downtown merchants, and the street fair vendors had had with the company. Chi said that since it was granted the exclusive franchise agreement to run the street fair, the company had shown “an inability to be a good partner.” He also said that the city had worked hard to assist the company but that the city had “a set of values and norms different from L.A. PartyWorks.”
He said when the contract was first awarded “we knew there would be bumps in the road” but he went on to say that despite the city’s continuing efforts to assist L.A. PartyWorks, city staff had had to intervene and mediate between the company and both Old Town Merchants and Street Fair vendors. He also noted that the company had been in direct competition with downtown merchants and had shown a total disregard for the rules. In addition, Chi said that on multiple occasions L.A. PartyWorks said they would not continue to stage the festival if they were not allowed to violate their own contract.
Chi said that it was this threat not to run the festival that had prompted him to begin looking for an alternative vendor to run the event. He proposed Greenleaf Events, Inc. (GLEI) run the festival on an interim basis. Chi also proposed that their performance be reviewed while the city staff members prepared a new RFP for running the festival and that this review will be done within three months.
When the matter was opened for public comment, more than a dozen people rose to support L.A. PartyWorks, praising the changes made. For example, Enrique Carvajal, who identified himself as a ten-year resident, said, “We have seen a noticeable difference; there have been a lot of positive changes.”
This sentiment was repeated by most of those supporting L.A. PartyWorks. The new fair was praised for its “signage,” “branding” and use of social media.
Others criticized the oversight committee for not intervening so that the city manager and staff did not have to do so. Most requested that the company be given more time to come into compliance with it contract and to repair the deficiencies cited by Chi.
Several of those who spoke implied that if the city council did not give the company more time that there would be repercussions politically. Patricia Thewes questioned the integrity of the council saying, “It isn’t up to the level of the city of Bell, but we can’t trust you.”
Others objected to the choice of GLEI as the new vendor, pointing out that the principals in that company had worked for the previous event manager, Family Festival Productions, Inc., and that as such would provide a street fair like that which the city had just gotten rid of.
Pam Fitzpatrick, who is the merchant at large on the oversight committee, said that while many people saw the superficial improvements that had been made by L.A. PartyWorks, they were not aware of the deeper problems with the behind the scenes management of the event.
Gayle Montgomery also spoke in support of Chi’s recommendation, saying she thought the company “was in over its head,” and that it was her “heartfelt recommendation that the contract be terminated.” She also said, “Our allegiance should be with our city and our city manager.”
Both David Nemetz, a principal with L.A. PartyWorks and the contact person for the city, and Eric Elkam, the company’s president, spoke to the council. Nemetz denied several of the claims made by Chi. He said the company had received training from Niles in Public Works and that this same individual had approved the trash collection done by the company each week. He also said that each week the company had been improving.
Nemetz also said he felt the city would be in breach of contract if their exclusive agreement were terminated.
Elkam first thanked the people who showed up who “came here to support me.” He also said that he has asked “dozens of times” to meet with the oversight committee.
After the public comments, Mayor Tom Adams called upon Chi again who reiterated his concerns and told the council that he had received several complaints from street fair vendors who reported to him that they had felt pressured by L.A. PartyWorks to attend the council meeting and support the company. He called the show of support for the company “orchestrated” which drew jeers from the audience. They were admonished by the mayor to show the city manager the same respect he had shown to them when they were speaking.
Ultimately, when the council discussed the issue, it became clear that several members of the council were reticent to terminate the contract without giving L.A. PartyWorks more time to come into compliance. Others were reluctant to continue the relationship.
Councilmember Gloria Crudgington bemoaned the way in which the contract with L.A. PartyWorks had been entered. She noted it had been done at a special council meeting called after the election had changed the makeup of the city council, but before that new council had been seated. She said it seemed like a lame duck action.
Adams said he was in favor of terminating the contract because of L.A. PartyWorks’ failure to comply with all the terms of its contract. He said, “It is like contracting with someone to mow your front and back lawns and having them mow only the front. It looks good from the street, but behind the scenes, it is not good.”
Councilmember Alex Blackburn first suggested that the company be given three months to correct the problems, but modified that in his final motion to six weeks. It was also Blackburn’s suggestion that since there seemed to be a personality conflict between the designated contact person at L.A. PartyWorks and city staff, that the city work with the company in interviewing a new liaison to be employed by the company. He also included in his motion that the members and the role of the oversight committee be reviewed.
Ultimately, it was this motion that was adopted by the council with Blackburn, Councilmembers Becky Shevlin, Larry Spicer, and Gloria Crudgington (noting her vote was reluctantly cast) voting for the action and Mayor Adams casting the lone negative vote.
