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View Winners → Monrovia Begins Negotiations With Yet Another Street Fair Manager
Monrovia Weekly May 18, 2016
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– Courtesy photo
By Susan Motander
The Monrovia City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night, May 17, to enter into negotiations with Raw Inspirations to manage its Friday Night Street Fair. The decision came after months of interviews and site visitations by members of the Street Fair Operator Assessment Review Team.
If the city reaches an agreement with Raw Inspirations, the company will become the fourth to run the production in the last two years.
Until July of last year, Family Festival Productions ran the fair. On July 1, 2015, LA PartyWorks took over the fair. After complaints from merchants and residents, the city brought in Green Leaf Events Inc. to handle management of the fair, with LA PartyWorks retaining the authority over the promotions portion of the event.
At the May 17 meeting many of the fair vendors addressed the council, voicing their support for Green Leaf and citing concerns about the proposal from Raw Inspirations. Some of them raised concerns about the electrical system, closure of the street, and potential competition with existing restaurants.
John Edwards, president of Raw Inspiration, also spoke to the council. He said that some of the issues raised, such as a lack of responsiveness to vendors, were of concern to him and that the company needed “to look into that.” He also said that he felt the street fair, as currently structured, “does not represent the community.” He also claimed that his company would be making “a commitment to the city.”
During the discussion amongst the council members, which followed public input, all the issues raised by those who spoke earlier were asked by council members of the City Manager, Oliver Chi. Chi explained that these issues were all to be discussed during the upcoming negotiation period with Raw Inspirations.
Mayor Tom Adams put the issue at hand simply when he said to Chi, “This (the action before the council) is to authorize you to enter into negotiations and then you would bring that agreement back to us.” Chi assured him that was the question before the council.
