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:
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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
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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
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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
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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.