Budget proposal puts events in jeopardy
To the editor:
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2010 came out last week. The Parks & Recreation Dept has taken a huge hit and with it goes most of the special event support that this city has provided.
The budget year starts Oct. 1, 2009. The annual Columbus Day Parade and Italian Food Festival is to take place on Oct. 10, 2009. Due to the budget cuts, this event is in jeopardy.
The Charles J. Bonaparte Lodge No. 2504, Sons of Italy has hosted the parade for the past 26 years.
Last year we added a Food Festival and the result was a very successful event with more than 10,000 people in attendance. We had wonderful food, rides for the kids and great entertainment, which we provided. We bartered with the city for several items including the stage. Our members agreed to help with another event in order to “pay” for these items.
This year, the agreement with the Parks & Recreation Dept. was that we would take over the Veterans Day Parade, we were given “The Book” and began to prepare for this event as well. President Sall Cossentino and myself attended the first Veterans Day Event meeting. This was done assuming that we were going to remain in the budget and our event was going to remain.
No one anticipated that all special events would be cut.
So, here’s our dilemma. It is the end of July. We have contracted entertainment. We have contracted for sound systems and a backline for our entertainment. We have more than 25 vendors who have already committed to our event with more who were to sign up. We have groups ready to march in our parade. We have expended real dollars.
That being said, the city has given me an estimate of our costs. Some of these costs such as the stage, bleachers, golf carts, generators, and other miscellaneous items have a cost attached to them that becomes “real dollars” that were not anticipated. If we have to write a check for these then the money that would have been raised for The American Cancer Society, Alzheimers, Cooley’s Anemia and our scholarships just went by the wayside.
To proceed with this wonderful celebration of our Italian heritage with an event that would bring thousands to our downtown area and give our citizens a fun event has now become cost prohibitive. We are in need of help in the way of sponsorship in order to move forward.
Let’s all work together to “Keep it in the Cape.” Our city needs to be more than utility expansion and road improvement. We need our parks, we need our events, we need to support our festivals, our fireworks, our festival of lights. Our city is made up of its citizens. It’s what makes us a great community. Let’s keep Cape Coral the community that we are so proud to live and work in. Please help us and the other organizations in our city by writing to our mayor and council members to “Keep it in the Cape.”
Linda Biondi
Cape Coral