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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/16/1993, C-2 - SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY POETRY FESTIVAL 11111�lnlln�n�j,� � f MEETING DATE IIIII'll Il�ull CI O Shc'1 L.,IIS OBISpO 3/16/93 No III I COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT ITEM NUMBER: r FROM: Ken Hampian, Assistant City Administrativi,Officer�� Prepared by: David Gray, Administrative Analyst,, C* SUBJECT: San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival CAO RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a resolution supporting the 10th Annual San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival with findings of special circumstances for waiver of conditions for use of the Community Room at the City/County Library. DISCUSSION: Background The San Luis Obispo Literary Council sent a memorandum to Mayor Pinard dated February 16, 1993 requesting a resolution supporting the 10th Annual San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival to benefit the Literacy Council (Attachment 1). The request for support included use of the City/County Library Community Room on the weekends of July 23-25 and July 30-August 1, 1993 from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. The festival will include poetry readings, an international exhibition of visual poetry and a book fair featuring the authors and literary presses in our county. The poetry festival is part of a month-long fund raising event for the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council from July 15 through August 15. The festival sponsors are the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council, a non-profit organization working to break the cycle of illiteracy in our county, and Karl Kempton and Kevin Patrick Sullivan. This year the festival organizers plan to expand the event by inviting a nationally recognized poet for a special reading, and donating ticket sales from this event to the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council. A unique tradition of the poetry festival is its practice of welcoming all poets at no charge, regardless of experience. The festival is open to the public and there is no charge for admission, except for the special reading to benefit the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council. The first eight festivals have been held at I.innnea!s Cafe in San Luis Obispo. Due to the increase in participation by both audiences and poets (54 last year),the ninth annual festival was held on Garden Street in downtown San Luis Obispo. The Street was closed by City permit on three consecutive weekends in July of 1992. Continued increases in participation have led the sponsors to seek a larger and more formal setting for the festival such as the City/County Library Community Room Waiver of Conditions In requesting City support of the San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival, the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council desires that customary conditions for Community Room use be waived. Those conditions are: (1) room rental fee of $50 per night for six nights be /� �u��H�111111111�1����1� city of San _.SIS OBISPO Ift COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT classified"exempt"; (2) closing time of 9:30 p.m.be extended to 1030 p.m.; and, (3) requests for dates no more than three months in advance be extended to four months in advance. (1) Fee Exemption - Community-Room fee is currently $100 per night for private and for-profit groups, and $50 for non-profit groups meeting more than three hours. The San Luis Obispo Literary Council is a tax exempt community oriented organization raising funds for public service. Findings of special circumstances are that nearly all festival events are free of charge and open to the general public, all poets are welcome, and all ticket sales from the paid admission event benefit the public service programs of the San Luis Obispo Literary Council. (2) Closing Time - Community Room closing time is customarily 9:30 p.m. Recreation Department staff will be required to open and close the room at the appointed times, including the later than usual closing time of 10:30 p.m. Findings of special circumstances are that festival events are scheduled to last from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in order to accommodate all poets who wish to participate. The organizers will be required to return the room to a condition ready for public use at the end of each day's use. No overtime would be incurred by the City in opening and closing the room. (3) Advance Reservations - Community Room reservations can be made no sooner than three months in advance of the event. Findings of special circumstances are that more than three months advance planning is required to schedule the nationally recognized poet and the international exhibition of visual poetry. FISCAL IMPACT. Direct City costs are as follows: $50 room rental per night for six nights, totalling $300; and staff to unlock and lock the room each day for a minimum of two hours at $4.25 per hour, totalling $51. Total .direct City costs are $351. Direct City income cannot be specifically estimated, but unknown revenues will be generated by this event in the form of transient occupancy tax and sales tax. CONCURRENCES The City Recreation Department will have operational control of Community Room use at the City/County Library at the time of the festival and concurs with the findings and statement of fiscal impact. city of san . .is os�spo j COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT The City Attorney's Office cites City Charter Section 805 as the authority for grants and subsidies to agencies whose operations are unrelated to those of the City but who contribute largely to the quality of life of the City. CONCLUSION: The San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival provides substantial community benefit in the form of free cultural enrichment for city residents and financial support for the non-profit San Luis Obispo Literacy Council. Findings of special circumstances are.sufficient to warrant a waiver of customary conditions for City/County Library Community Room use. ATTACHMENTS: (1) Resolution Supporting the San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival (2) San Luis Obispo Literacy Council Letter to Mayor dg\g:carpoets RESOLUTION NO. (1993 Series) SUPPORTING THE SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY POETRY FESTIVAL WITH FINDINGS OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR WAIVER OF CONDITIONS FOR THE USE OF THE COMMUNITY ROOM AT THE CITY/COUNTY LIBRARY WHEREAS, the 10th Annual San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council is scheduled to be held in the city of San Luis Obispo on July 23-25 and July 30-August 1, 1993; and WHEREAS, the festival will be open to the general public free of charge and will include poetry readings, an international exhibition of visual poetry and a book fair featuring the authors and literary presses in our county; and WHEREAS, a nationally recognized poet will be invited to provide a special reading with ticket sales from this event to benefit the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council work to break the cycle of illiteracy in our county. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of San Luis Obispo enthusiastically supports the 10th Annual San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival which provides substantial community benefit in the form of cultural enrichment for city residents and financial support for the non-profit San Luis Obispo Literacy Council; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo does hereby find that special circumstances of the public interest fund raising of the festival, the hours of the festival and the advanced planning for the festival are sufficient to warrant a waiver of customary conditions for City/County Library Community Room use. On motion of Council Member , and seconded by Council Member and on the following roll call vote: ATTACHMENT 1 Page 2 RESOLUTION NO. (1993 SERIES) AYES: NOES: ABSENT: the foregoing resolution was passed and adopted this day of , 1993. Mayor Peg Pinard ATTEST: City Clerk Diane Gladwell APPROVED: City A inistrative Officer f,,I'A,i o ney dg\arespoet RFCi=1VED. Eta 16 1993 CI-if COUNCIL SAn LUIS OBISP_O.CA SAN LUIS OBISPO LITERACY COUNCIL 967 Osos Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 —805/541-4219 To: Peg Pinard, Mayor City of San Luis Obispo _ From: Vicki Farrer, President San Luis Obispo Literacy Council Date: February 16, 1993 This is a request for a resolution for the San Luis Obispo City Council to co-sponsor the 10th Annual San Luis Obispo County Poetry Festival to benefit the San Luis Obispo County Literacy Council. We respectfully request the use of the Community Room of the City/County Library, the weekends of July 23-25, and July 30 - August 1, 1993 from 5:30 to 10:30 pm to host Poetry Festival events. This location, in the heart of the city and the county, will greatly enhance the quality of the festival and provide the necessary space for poetry readings, an international exhibition of visual poetry, and a book fair featuring the authors and literary presses in our county. This festival will also serve as a link with the internationally known Shadow Project, an annual exhibition which has been held in other parts of the state, country and the world. The forthcoming 10th annual San Luis Poetry Festival will be a month long fund raising event, July 15 through August 15 this coming summer. The sponsors will be the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council, and Poetry Festival organizers Karl Kempton and Kevin Patrick Sullivan. The Poetry Festival is one of the oldest on-going events in the county. This year, the Poetry Festival organizers plan to expand the event by inviting a nationally recognized poet, and donating ticket sales from this event to the San Luis Obispo Literacy Council, to support our efforts to break the cycle of illiteracy in our county. This type event supports the Council's mission. ATTACHMENT 2 ��'� The San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival has been a unique event within the tradition of poetry festivals._It has always been an open festival for all poets, regardless of a poet's experience. The range of poets has been from 20 years or more experience to those who have read for the first time in public. The first eight festivals were held at Linnaea's Cafe. Because last summer's event became too large (54 poets) to be held in Linnaea's, the City allowed Garden Street to be closed down for three consecutive weekend nights at the end of July. The growth of the Festival has led them to tum it into a larger event as well as a fund raiser for us. The Literacy Council and the Poetry Festival organizers look forward to partnering with the city of San Luis Obispo in this event that will benefit so many aspects of our community.