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Council approves fairgrounds sponsorship program; Gift abstains, naming rights reserved for council
Summary
The council approved a resolution authorizing staff to develop and implement an annual sponsorship program for the Calistoga Fairgrounds. Council member Don Gift abstained; the council confirmed naming-rights proposals would return to council for approval.
The Calistoga City Council voted June 17 to adopt a resolution authorizing staff to design and implement an annual sponsorship program to raise revenue and support improvements at the Calistoga Fairgrounds. The resolution passed on a 4–0 vote with Council member Don Gift recorded as abstaining.
Fairgrounds Director Shelley Wright presented the draft program as a near-term tool to fund items such as exterior banners, picnic tables and website recognition while the city develops a full master plan for the site. Wright said larger opportunities, including naming rights for buildings such as the Butler Building, would be reviewed by the Fairgrounds Advisory Committee and forwarded to the council for approval: “Naming rights would be brought back to the council,” Wright said.
Director Wright emphasized the distinction between sponsorships (a marketing exchange that provides publicity to businesses) and donations (earmarked contributions). She said sponsorships would generally be annual and that the draft program gives staff discretion to negotiate placements for banners and sponsor recognition. The staff report noted tickets the city receives through an existing racetrack agreement are a common sponsorship tool but cautioned against distributing tickets to council members because that could be a gift of public funds.
Council members debated how much administrative authority to delegate. Council member Eisenberg and others expressed confidence in Director Wright’s ability to implement a fair program but asked that material changes be brought back to the council. City Manager clarified the resolution delegates creation of the program to staff and that the manager would approve the program before broader implementation; council indicated they expect legal review and that fund accounting will track sponsorship revenues in Fund 70.
Roll call on the resolution: Eisenberg — aye; Cooper — aye; Gift — abstain; Vice Mayor Lopez Ortega — aye; Mayor Williams — aye. The resolution authorizes staff to proceed; the council did not specify implementation timelines for individual sponsorships at the meeting.
