Chamber reports Downtown at Sundown results; SDSU students report fee vote and transit concerns

Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce briefed the council on the 2024 Downtown at Sundown series. The presenter said the event ran weekly in August, sold 38 vendor booths (including nine food vendors and 12 sponsors), and reported total income just over $91,000 with city support of $25,000 and sponsor revenue of about $4,500; total expenses were described as just shy of $70,000, leaving a reported net of roughly $21,000. The presenter also reported an annual attendance figure of 15,603 and said the weekly average was "about 31,000," a figure inconsistent with the annual total (see audit note). The chamber said it plans a 10th-anniversary effort and is exploring AI options to improve attendance counting and considering relocating parts of the event to Main Avenue.

Hayden Bents, vice president of the SDSU Student Association, updated the council on student-government activity. Bents said a student vote on reallocation of general-activity-fee bond dollars returned 4,008 responses (about one-third of SDSU students) with 85% approval for the association’s proposed reallocation; that information will be forwarded to the Board of Regents in March. Bents also said students have complained about scheduling Beta (Rabbit Ride) on weekend evenings and that the association is exploring transit-app options with the chamber and university leadership, and that Students Association volunteers are running a voter-registration effort before the Oct. 21 deadline.