Go 4th 2009 not a sure bet, organizers say

Mike Jewell, center, supervises the construction of the music stage at Lake Sacajawea for July's Go Fourth festivities. Greg Ebersole / Daily News file

Saturday, November 8, 2008 11:34 PM PST

By Amy M.E. Fischer

Organizers of Longview’s annual Fourth of July celebration say next year’s festival could be canceled due to a money shortage, but city officials are taking steps to help Go 4th go forth.

Friday, the Go 4th Festival Association — a volunteer committee — said if it can’t come up with $10,000 to pay for Longview Police security at the three-day community event at Lake Sacajawea, it may have no other option but to abort plans for the 2009 festival.

“We want the public to know we’re in trouble. We are in dire financial straits,” said Go 4th treasurer Marianne Chambers.

In previous years, the city supplied police officers at no charge to the festival, but because of a budget shortfall, the City Council decided last month to stop funding police overtime for non-city–sponsored events.

Arleen Hubble, director of the Go 4th association, said there was “no way” the committee could raise $10,000 in addition to all the other festival expenses, which totaled nearly $100,000 this year. Rising costs mean next year’s festival budget is expected to be $115,000 to $120,000, Chambers said.

But the committee is having trouble getting sponsors for the 2009 festival, which they’d planned to expand with new events such as canoe races, a movie night and a street dance, she said. Even without the $10,000 security charge, the committee is realizing it must scale back those plans, she said. Sales of Go 4th raffle buttons, priced at $1 since the late 1970s, were slow last summer, and button revenues fell $8,000 short. They didn’t cover the cost of the $20,000 fireworks display.

Then there’s the logging show, musical entertainment, insurance, operating expenses, portable toilets and trash collection to pay for, Chambers said.

Seeking outside help, the Go 4th association applied for city lodging tax money in June. Each year, the city allocates taxes collected by hotels and motels to groups holding events that promote tourism. However, the lodging tax advisory committee denied Go 4th’s request last month because of an error in the application, Chambers said.

Friday morning, she and Hubble met with City Manager Bob Gregory to plead their case.

Gregory said the City Council understands the importance of the festival and wants to see it happen. And so, the council decided last week to re-open the lodging tax application process so the Go 4th association could apply for funding to help cover the $10,000 police security expense, Gregory said Friday evening.

The lodging tax committee allocated only $14,600 of its $20,000 pot for 2009 and 2010, he said. That means there is $13,000 available for agency requests such as Go 4th’s, he said.

“Having said that, there’s no guarantees,” Gregory warned. “Who knows what other applications will come in for hotel/motel dollars.”

However, he added that any competing applications would have to be “awfully compelling” for the City Council not to support Go 4th.

The city will accept lodging tax requests in December and ask the lodging tax advisory committee to make a recommendation at the beginning of January for who will receive the funds, he said.

Chambers said the Go 4th committee begins writing checks and signing vendor contracts in December, and that by mid-January, the Go 4th buttons are in production.

“What happens if we finish and don’t have money to pay all the bills we’ve incurred?” Chambers asked. “Right now we’re trying to decide if the crapshoot is worth it.”