Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Events And Tourism topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission withdraws Arabian Nights/Raven Knights festival authorization after debate on scope and budget
Summary
The commission withdrew a $150,000 authorization for an event contractor after commissioners raised concerns about scope, timing, and whether the city should issue an RFQ/RFP; some members proposed increasing the budget to $250,000 and moving planning to next year and/or an RFQ.
The City of Opa-locka commission withdrew an item Tuesday that would have authorized payment of up to $150,000 to Rockstar LLC to produce the Raven Knights (Arabian Nights) festival after extended debate about scope, procurement and timing.
Commission members questioned whether the existing contract and the $150,000 figure were sufficient for the scale of an event the city calls a signature festival and debated whether the city should instead issue a request for qualifications or proposals.
Commissioner Louis B. Santiago, who supported the event, said the amount before the commission was intended to cover the event “from its entirety. Entertainment, advertisement, and everything that that goes into planning the planning of the event.” He proposed raising the authorized amount to $250,000 to support a larger, multi-day event and to position the festival as part of the city's next-year centennial celebrations.
Vice Mayor James Kelly said he would not support the item as presented because it lacked a clear scope of services. “I would not support as outlined because right now, we're writing a 50,000, in my opinion, check without a real scope of services of what we're going to get for a hundred and $50,” Kelly said, and urged the city to go out for RFQ/RFP or at least establish a detailed scope before committing funds.
City staff explained the $150,000 had been approved previously by the commission and rolled into the current budget; the additional spending under consideration was for advertising and other services that would cause payments to exceed existing contract limits. The manager said staff had sought donations from outside entities to augment the budget.
After a lengthy discussion about timing, scope, procurement, and whether the event should be expanded into a multi-day celebration for the city's centennial, Mayor John H. Taylor Jr. withdrew the item and instructed staff to rework it based on the commission's feedback. “I'm gonna withdraw the item. And it will bring back something based on what has been said once in that. Because I heard increase, 4 days, RFD or RFQ, and and scope of services. So I withdraw. We'll rework it together with everybody,” he said.
No vote was held on the authorization; the item will be returned to the commission after staff develops a scope, procurement approach and revised budget.
