FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE IS BACK THIS SUMMER

[AQUAMAN]

Come one, come all. See the terrific events of the DDA's Friday Night Live activities. Yes, they're back again, and in full swing starting tonight. I did make a brief visit, at the westerly end for about 1/2 hour. The HOF ice cream truck was blowing it's semi horn for all to come get free ice cream, your choice free in pint boxes, butter pecan or vanilla. I chose the first, tasty, and managed to finish the pint due to the extreme heat today. Looking over my shoulder I noticed his Honor, John Henderson, taking advantage of the free samples of focaccia. Next he went for the ice cream, joined by CC Castonia and both wives. Such good calories, and such good fun. Even the Badger train was there taking kids on rides around the arena. So, if you're in town on Fridays for the next 5 weeks or so, don't forget the extravaganza of good times. I guess some bands were also ready to play later, but I didn't have time this day. Look for Heather and Nick too, they must be in the crowd somewhere.......lol.

[XLFD]

I think they settled on Friday, Willie, because they might conflict more with some of the other summertime activities that also happen on Saturday night around the downtown area-- remember as a DDA event the matter of when to hold this has some political ramifications, not necessarily based on what's economically best for everyone. 

I agree with you that on Saturday there would be more people around, and there would be more settled into the area, but would they be more likely to go there?  One way to find out:  hold a FNL on a relatively-open Saturday in the future and monitor its traffic.

[Eve Alone]

Only in Friday Night Live can you buy overpriced food and drink on the street that you have already paid for via the DDA millage.  What a racket!

[AQUAMAN]

Nice hit on the nail there EVE...........lol. I think the free food is for the city fathers mostly, not the rest.

[XLFD]

Excellent point.  In the business world, you don't have the customer buying your inventory for you, just so they can buy it back at a gross profit from you later. 

[Sweater Cows!]

??? I am  confused. It appears that the vendors serving foods are mostly(not that I paid that much attention) but mostly non profits like churches , girl scouts, cheerleaders etc... doing fundraising. I don't get how the DDA (taxpayers) paid for the food and then pay for it again when purchasing. Like any other event don't the vendors have to have a vender permit or something and don't they usually cost a fee?

 

I never saw anything overpriced either, I would say things were actually very reasonably priced. cotton candy  and coffee was only $1 as were snow cones and elephant ears were only $3 or $2/5.00. Which if we compare that with most other events (music fests, the fair etc..) that is pretty cheap.(at least half if not 1/4 the price elsewhere).

 

Maybe I haven't read the expenditures from the DDA on this since last year but it seems like the FNL would be a pretty break even event (aside from the bounce houses and musicians which of course they most likely pay for since that stuff is free to attendees).

[Christopher R. Keough]

Your not confused. Your just bias. Like a liberal with a glass of wine. Many words, no sense.

[XLFD]

And some have few words with even less sense.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

I don't think the city pays them ( the venders) to be there. But as a non for profit they do not have to pay taxes on the things they buy to sell. I agree with your thought they are probably close to revenue neutral in the grand scheme of things.  

I think in this particular instance, I'll give the city a break as many of the people who benefit from the good times are local tax payers also? However be careful down there, as you still can not see many of the stop signs and yield signs in this town as the city does not follow ordinances designed for safety issues very well.

[XLFD]

I currently have a FOIA subscription to the monthly financial records of the DDA, and so I would actually be a little surprised if they were using public funds as casually as they were this year than they were in previous years. 

Those years, they were buying $2000 worth of T-shirts, and hundreds of dollars on soda pop, buns, and unnamed supplies with public money-- either keeping them, giving them away or selling them for pure profit, as they report no received revenues from it in the records or the city budget.  Some of those are shown on the thread, and the financial records for January 2008- November 2010 are at the bottom of the thread:  Friday Night Lie

As for your comment Guido:  "I'll give the city a break as many of the people who benefit from the good times are local tax payers also?", I will disagree.  Thousands of city residents don't take part in FNL while thousands of non-taxpayers do, therefore why isn't a 'user fee' more appropriate and fairer than a compulsory tax? 

 

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

What ..other than the band and the kids stuff there does not already have a fee as the items are sold as you pointed out by non for profits for the purpose of the various ministries or other things non for profits do?

Don't get me wrong.. I no doubt take issue with some of the things the city of Ludville does. I just cant get too bent about this particular one. And yes I know not every resident uses it. But it does attract folks to the downtown to (hopefully) purchase things and allow some of those small shops to continue to stay and pay taxes there.

[XLFD]

This probably 'bends' me a little more than you, Guido, because of the poor accountability the City has been using over the years and the belief that the local Chamber of Commerce or the Convention and Visitors Bureau by funding this (with City Hall's non-financial support) could legitimize this event by removing the spectre of the misuse of public funds-- while potentially making it a broader, greater event.  I definitely agree it can be a boon to the downtown area, but is it what we really want to be using an increasing amount of public funds for?

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

I understand the concern over public funds use XL. I guess it becomes a matter of whether any of these were allocated before hand? Or is it true deception of where those funds go for the events. And being libertarian myself I dont believe in tax payers funding the event when it should be an organization like the chamber of commerce, who pools monies together to accomplish that type of event personally. The only purpose for the city hall in such a situation would be to permit the use of the public areas downtown.