Peace, Love, and Bunnies

Can we all just get along?

I think that's what the Good Old Boys Club, or GOBC, would say. I don't think anybody has any ill intentions. Not in the least. "Everyone" is offended, thinks they're right, everyone believes they "know what's best for us."

So, "Let's get along, and get Cove back to being idyllic place where everyone knew their place, and entities could spend money without any questions except the 'allowed' questions, because, well, peace and love, y'all."

Nobody got their knickers in a twist over any questions because, well, everyone did what they thought best, because it's offensive and off-putting to ask certain questions and it's mean to hold people accountable.

Because, well, peace and love, y'all.

Then when questions are asked of the status quo and they are asked WHY and HOW money is spent - public money, then the GOBC gets upset. It becomes construed as personal attacks.

Anyhoooo, I have probably sounded a little hard on Charlie Youngs and Marc Payne, or anyone who is a "don't-question-the-chamber" fan of the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce. But I'm not mean, I'm just a curmudgeon.

Charlie ran on the let's-get-everyone-together-again campaign, which worked for him. That and the general voting population was voting against anyone who voted for FATHOM. So now we've got an ax-grinder on the council and it's pretty sharp.

(Look out, city tourism department, look out! Has the city done a good job with "tourism"?? So-so. Beefing up community events? Yes. More on that another time.)

At the last Copperas Cove city council meeting in January, the chamber asked the council to change its mind about charging the chamber (up to) 25% of the profits for using city property for an event. That didn't happen. Not yet. We'll see what happens this Tuesday.

The way the chamber reps made it sound, the chamber was in danger of something like imminent ruin if the chamber had to pay the city ANY profits at all for using a city facility, like City Park. (Skeery stuff, y'all!)

What kind of expenses/profits are talking about here? Tens of thousands of dollars? How much did the chamber get billed for from the city during 2016 and 2017 because of that ordinance the council approved?

If you watch the meeting video online, you can hear Mr. Stubbs say the chamber doesn't have a problem paying the city for direct services the city provides like police support, barricades, extra trash cans,  etc. He especially wanted to make sure everybody understood that. For Rabbit Fest 2017, the chamber paid for a little bit more than 20-grand in services. "No problem."

You would think to yourself, just how much money does this set the chamber back, that it can't afford to share profits?

Really what it sounds like is: the chamber doesn't want to share any proceeds for events that the chamber charges the general public to attend (or otherwise, participate in). "Not fair, y'all!!"
"Because other groups use the park, tooooooo!!" (Frown-face)

But do the other groups charge admission and block off access to the whole park? Ummmm...don't think so.

Come to find out, if you keep watching the video, you will see that in 2016 the chamber was billed $1,563.99, or 10% of profits for the YEAR. Not 25%.

You will also see that in 2017, the chamber was billed $6,209.91, or $20% of its event profits. Not 25%.

Also, if you watch the video, the city manager says that instead of paying that 6-grand, she and the chamber negotiated a donation to the city for 5-grand. $5000.

So what's the problem? The chamber can't afford those amounts? Just askin'.

Maybe it's just the "general unfairness of it all."

Didn't the chamber used to donate funds from Rabbit Fest to the city, to help keep up the park over the years?

Somehow or sometime along the way that changed and it seems like the city received nothing until this ordinance was approved in 2015? What are we missing here? Why didn't the chamber continue to contribute to city park? Or, if they DID, why didn't they make a show of it like every other group or business in this city making a donation?

Then, at that same council meeting, things got interesting when councilman Marc Payne expressed his miffage over one of the new parking lots to be installed in City Park this spring.

He's worried about how a parking lot will affect the carnival setup during Rabbit Fest. This carnival is set up for about FIVE DAYS out of 365-day public access to the park.

FIVE DAYS in which the ENTIRE park is closed off to the PUBLIC for nearly FOUR DAYS and NOBODY CAN GET INTO THE PARK without a parking pass, for which the chamber gets MONEY (after giving their cut to the Masonic Lodge - yes, the lodge gets a chunk of those gate fees - or did) and the chamber wants to use THE WHOLE PARK for FREE?

Just askin'. Yep, I'm lumping it all together.

But sure, to go with Mr. Payne's seeming train of thought, let's change the parking lot plan. Don't put in a parking lot and paths so people won't turn their ankles and so people with mobility issues can't get around the park. Because, well, Rabbit Fest, y'all.

Yep, and it wasn't just Rabbit Fest, I should add, to be fair about what Mr. Payne talked about.

Mr. Payne said putting in parking lots, paths, curbs and stuff like that would keep the park from having "large events." If you have ever been in the park in Harker Heights, they seem to do just fine with events and parking lots and BIG events to boot. They figured it out. Just sayin'.

Of course many oldtimers are in love with Rabbit Fest, but why should the city have to accommodate a multi-million dollar project for ONE festival? That used to be great in its heyday for what it used to offer, but now doesn't distinguish itself from any other festival other than what it doesn't have.

So, coming back around to the beginning, let's let the financially-strapped chamber keep their profits and get rid of that ordinance.

Let's do what one councilman suggested and charge a fee for whoever wants EXCLUSIVE use of the park and charges admission/parking fee or whatever to get in.

You restrict the park access, you pay for the privilege. That goes for anybody.

Because, peace and love and bunnies, y'all. Let's be fair. Let's see what happens Tuesday...