If fun is the path to economic development, then the City of Colusa could be on the right path. However, the seemingly endless amount of government spending on goods and services purchased out of the area, redirecting staff and paid overtime from regular job duties, wining and dining exclusive individuals, and plying donors with ” perks and bonuses” in the name of economic development raised more than a few eyebrows at Tuesdays City Council meeting.
Colusa Mayor Josh Hill opened the discussion for developing policies and procedures for city sponsored events at the request of Councilman Greg Ponciano, after preliminary tallies show city staff spent more than $100,000 in approximately 30 days for special events without discussion at the council level or approval of non-budgeted expenditures.
City officials said they also have concerns city employees misused and misappropriated taxpayer funds, sold alcohol without proper permits, allowed food vendors to operate without county public health permits, and violations of other established protocols for the conduction of the publics business.
” Clearly we dont have safeguards in place,” Ponciano said. ” And really, as a council member, Ive never really been given the opportunity to discuss with the council whether we should even be doing these events. It just sort of took place.”
Although some council members have admitted to being somewhat in the know about the ticketed Country in Colusa, Watermelon, Taco, and Duck Days festival prior to their rollout, they acknowledged City Manager Jesse Cain and Economic Development Director Kristy Levings organized the events on their own, without authorization. Nor did they follow current procurement and credit card policies.
City staff also authorized a Tourism Fund and solicited donations without council approval, although no fund existed until July 1, when the city established an economic development budget in the general fund, in which donations can now be deposited, according to Finance Director Ishrat Aziz-Khan.
According to the most recent response from a Public Records request, initiated by the Pioneer Review, the city received approximately $30,000 in donations to the Tourism Fund, largely from companies with planning issues currently before the council and city contractors.
City staff also authorized about $20,000 from federal COVID-19 funds to pay for hard assets, including picnic tables, umbrellas, and wine barrels, Aziz-Khan said. The city has not yet reported the cost to taxpayers for staff time and overtime, nor the total income raised from tickets sales and alcohol sales, which officials initially said was about $18,000. The city gave away 225 tickets to the country music festival, mostly to donors. The city also paid for food and alcohol for volunteers and city staff, provided ” Talent Passports” to entertainers to eat in downtown locations and have the bill sent to the city, spent tens of thousands of dollars on out-of-county equipment rentals and at big box stores, exceeded city credit card limits, and offered a minimum income to food trucks and then covered their losses, according to public records obtained.
Council members acknowledged Tuesday, in front of a larger than usual gathering of the public, the folly of not being involved in the process.
” I attended many of these events this summer,” Councilmember Denise Conrado said. ” People were excited about them; they were fun¦That being said, there were a lot of what I considered mistakes. We need to conduct business in a transparent and fiscally responsible manner, and we did not have the opportunity to do that.
Without City Manager Jesse Cain and Economic Development Director Kristy Levings in attendance, the City Council said it would be impossible to tackle a plan that evening without their input.
” We do need to have a workshop or discussion with the public, of course, to see if we want to carry forward with any of these events, because I do think they breathed new life into Colusa this summer,” Conrado added.
Several members of the public spoke in favor of the city continuing to organize festivals and events, although no suggestions were offered as to how to pay for them. Colusa voters failed to pass a sales tax increase in 2016, which officials argued at the time would have raised an additional $450,000 for parks, trees, recreation, and other services.
Councilman Daniel Vaca agreed that the excitement for the new events did not take away the need for the city to have and follow a budget.
” We need to have a budget…100 percent,” he said.
Vaca said the city should continue to work with citizens to see what events they would like to have, and if they are willing to step up and participate as Colusa moves forward.
Others suggested the city and nonprofits work together.
Colusa Mayor Josh Hill said getting the events started was the hard part, and turned out to be a headache for the city council, but now that they have the events established, hopefully non-profits could take them over.
Acknowledging that the events posed a learning curve, Hill suggested they move forward with discussing policies and procedures.
” We need to adapt and make this better for everybody, Hill said. ” Youre not going to hit a homerun the first time you get up to plate. You have to figure out how to adapt and work these things out. I think its a growing pain we are experiencing right now. I would love to see if we can turn over a successful event to some nonprofits in town – that would be everything. That way our nonprofits can have a turnkey event that benefits our town, benefits them, and continues our local traditions.
Ponciano also agreed that the events should be turned over to nonprofits to organize because that would ultimately benefit the community.
” That money you can see goes right back into the community,” he said. ” You can see it; you can feel it. If the city is the promoter, we are risking running our non-profits out because we are taking advantage of things they cant. Its not a level playing field. I just dont think large events should be taxpayer subsidized. If we can responsibly help, then Im in favor of that.
Ponciano thanked the council for agreeing to talk about the events, and agreed that more discussions will be needed.
Hill directed the city attorney to bring back a donation policy and a new credit card policy for the September meeting.
The council said they were also open to special meetings, workshops, and town hall gatherings to address the publics concerns.
Officials acknowledged City staff has yet to give the City Council a total for all expenses and staff time dedicated to recent events, and said invoices are continuing to trickle in.
” I just think we ran into this thing with our hair on fire and we got burnt,” Ponciano said. ” I think we just need to step back and let the merry-go-round stop a little bit; see when the dust settles what the costs were. We really dont know what we spent yet. Then we can see where to go, along with the publics input.” –