Thursday, February 24, 2000
City loan/grant urged for Classic
Reece recommends $160K package
BY ROBERT ANGLEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The River Front Classic & Jamboree will get $100,000 from Cincinnati, but one council member wants to turn the funding into a loan and grant package that would need to be repaid every year.
Instead of just giving away money, Councilwoman Alicia Reece said Wednesday the city should treat Classic organizers as a small business and set up a $160,000 program through the city's economic development department.
“They are a small business, they are minority-owned and their offices are downtown,” Ms. Reece said. “These are things the city is trying to retain.”
In a proposal to the council's fi nance committee, Ms. Reece said the River Front Classic Corp. should be given a $65,000 grant, a $70,000 low-interest loan and $25,000 for in-kind services from the city, such as extra police officers and permit fee waivers.
Antoinette Selvey-Maddox, acting economic development director, said the program could work as long as the city was not trying to fund the Classic as an event. As a business, it could qualify under city loan programs.
The River Front Classic is a three-day celebration that last year was anchored by a football game in September at Cinergy Field between two historically black schools.
Ms. Reece said changing the way the city distributes money for special events could serve as a tool to use later to secure private funding, similar to a start-up company.
Council members asked Ms. Reece to contact organizers for a response and delayed action on the motion.
Last month, City Council turned down a $400,000 request from Classic organizers but agreed to give $100,000.
Councilmen Phil Heimlich and Pat DeWine opposed funding the request, saying it was done outside the budget process. They said when council passed the city budget in December — which required a 2 percent cut in all city departments — members agreed not to make proposals outside of the budget process without cutting funds from another area.
Councilwoman Minette Cooper, who made the motion, said the Classic was different because she expected to fund it all along. She said the Classic should have been included in the budget, but organizers owed the city money from last year's event.
“They could not come forward until they got that cleaned up,” she said.
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