Council discusses Fiesta Days committee, single-weekend schedule and sponsorship-driven events

City council members and event organizers spent the meeting reviewing logistics, budget and staffing for Fiesta Days and discussed creating a standing Fiesta Days committee to manage the celebration.

Participants tentatively agreed to consolidate Fiesta Days into a single weekend and floated specific event scheduling and sponsorship options, including reintroducing a sponsor-driven Caleb Bennett invitational rodeo. Organizers and council members said a committee should be given a budget and authority to run the year-long planning process and report back to council.

The discussion opened with a proposal that the Fiesta Committee be given a budget by the council and manage the celebration’s operations: "Much like a lot of other event committees, the Fiesta Committee would be given a budget by the council, and they would manage the celebration," a council member said. Participants agreed the committee should be publicly noticed and take on the logistical work the past volunteer groups have performed.

On schedule, participants debated single versus two-weekend formats for the derby and rodeos. Cindy, a meeting participant, said, "2 weekends are hard. And I I the comments I've heard is bring it back to 1. Bring it back to 1." Multiple organizers and volunteers said a single…