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Westwood organizers urge city help as insurance and police‑detail fees squeeze neighborhood events
Summary
Westwood Works and neighborhood groups told the committee that rising police‑detail pay, insurance and permitting costs are making local events harder to sustain and asked the city to review thresholds, streamline permitting and consider targeted support; councilors agreed to follow up.
Stephanie Collins, executive director of Westwood Works, and local organizers told Cincinnati’s Economic Opportunity and Culture Committee that neighborhood event programming is growing but faces mounting costs that threaten sustainability.
Collins outlined a slate of Westwood programming this year — two major Second Saturdays (Pride on June 13 and Revive on Aug. 8), a July 18 "front yard fiesta" with small stipends for block leaders, Westwood Tiny Concerts, Hell at the Hall (Halloween), Westwood Works Out fitness classes and a new Friday STEAM program called Westwood Rising. She emphasized the neighborhood focus: many events are free and intended to increase social connection, support small businesses and provide youth programming.
Larry Eiser, president of the Town Hall Business District Association, described efforts to make Town Hall Park a destination and to use the DORA to drive visitors to local businesses. Ali Larson, owner and operator of the Westwood Farmers Market, said the market runs 25 weeks (May 14–October) and operates a "pay it forward" voucher program to help neighbors afford fresh food.
The presenters then laid out cost pressures. Collins and Eiser cited multiple cost drivers, including higher off‑duty police pay and insurance requirements, new workman's‑comp rules for off‑duty officers, inspection fees and complex permitting involving multiple city departments. The committee heard that CFD food‑truck inspections can trigger a $400 fee and that off‑duty police rates are now paid at time‑and‑a‑half under contract, which Council President Scottie Johnson said has pushed some officer detail rates toward about $90 per hour. Eiser said neighborhood groups sometimes face insurance thresholds set to the risk profiles of large commercial sites, which makes neighborhood events comparatively more expensive.
Organizers asked the committee to convene stakeholders and review whether thresholds and processes could be adjusted for neighborhood‑scale events. Vice Mayor Kearney and other council members asked presenters to share budgets and promised to follow up with relevant departments, noting that pandemic ARPA funding had previously helped cover such costs and that the city should examine where limited city resources might restore or expand neighborhood programming.
The committee filed the Westwood presentation without objection; members said they would pursue follow‑up meetings with administration, the Chamber, 3CDC and neighborhood groups to explore options.
