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Keizer Chamber reports record holiday giving, requests Friday set-up access for First Citizen banquet
Summary
The Keizer Chamber reported record holiday-giving activity and asked the council to allow Friday move-in time at the city's event center for the annual First Citizen banquet setup.
The Keizer Chamber of Commerce reported serving 97 families through its holiday-giving basket program, wrapping more than 1,100 gifts and serving 505 children during the season. Cora Filardo, the chamber's executive director, and event volunteer John Stroud described a new Santa Central location at Lake Point Community Church and thanked city staff for support on permits and police presence during the busy parade that drew 77 floats.
The chamber asked council to reserve the city event center on the Friday before the First Citizen banquet to allow volunteers and community groups time to set up. Chamber event staff said the banquet setup requires a half- to full-day move-in (AV gear, decorations, centerpieces) and that many volunteers are small-business owners who need some time outside the typical business day. The chamber said the Friday-before setup is often arranged historically but last year did not include the Friday access and the chamber experienced logistical strain.
City staff described the facility's rental rules and availability and offered a compromise: pencil in the Friday afternoon and evening (e.g., 4-9 p.m.) as tentative hold with a waiver if the facility remains unbooked; the rental fee estimate for a late afternoon-evening booking was roughly $1,000 if an 8-hour minimum is waived. Staff said they could shift on-call staffing to allow later move-in if council agreed, but cautioned that weekday rentals (conferences) sometimes span Monday'Friday and preventing a Friday booking could prevent a weekday rental. Council and staff agreed to look at a consistent policy for nonprofit use and to ensure fairness to all nonprofit partners.
The council concurred with staff to let the chamber tentatively hold the Friday before the banquet if the facility is otherwise unbooked and to have staff finalize details and a consistent nonprofit policy.
Ending: Staff will work with the chamber to pencil in the Friday and return a consistent nonprofit facility-use policy for council review.
