Today marks Day Two of the 2010 edition of Park Ridge’s signature civic event, the Taste of Park Ridge (“TOPR”). From what we saw of last night’s festivities, once again a good time is being had by all. And we think that’s great…really we do.
Our problem with TOPR is more of a financial one, reflected in part by learning over the past few days that a number of our residents still think TOPR is run by the City of Park Ridge and/or by the Chamber of Commerce; and that it’s a big money-maker for the City.
For those of you who don’t know (but do care), since 2005 TOPR has been run not by the City or by the Chamber, but by a private 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation, Taste of Park Ridge NFP (“Taste Inc.”), which is the successor to a private 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with that same name that previously ran TOPR, managed by basically the same individuals.
But that wasn’t the City Council’s intent back in 2005, when TOPR was on the ropes because the Chamber was bailing on the event.
According to the relevant portion of the June 6, 2005, City Council meeting minutes [pdf], in proceedings that read like a description of herding cats, then-mayor Howard Frimark personally pitched the idea of giving TOPR to a 10-member “Ad Hoc Committee” of City government, along with $23,000 of City funds. That Ad Hoc Committee was to be subject to the Open Meetings Act (“IOMA”), and a condition of that $23,000 appropriation of public funds was that:
“within 30 days of the conclusion of the event, the committee would provide the City Council with an accounting of income and expense and to the extent that there are any funds remaining, the funds will be returned to the city after all expenses are paid.”
What’s not to like about that, right? Which would explain why all those grand TOPR plans were approved by the Council that very same night.
Two weeks later, however, the original 501(c)(3) version of Taste Inc. was incorporated [pdf] as an Illinois not-for-profit corporation. We could find nothing to indicate that any notice of this incorporation was given to the City Council.
Interestingly enough, at Council meetings on July 18, 2005 [pdf], July 17, 2006 [pdf] and July 16, 2007 [pdf], Frimark trumpeted the success of TOPR and promised that reports would be forthcoming from “the committee” or the “Taste Committee.”
What “committee”? What “Taste Committee”?
No City-related one that we could find. But according to the Taste Inc. website, Taste Inc. isn’t just the private corporation. It also has its own TOPR “Committee” [pdf] that is not affiliated with or accountable to the City Council, or subject to IOMA.
As best as we can tell, no “reports” were ever produced by either a TOPR “committee” or a TOPR “corporation” – until last summer, when Taste Inc. produced what we would call more of a “public relations” piece [pdf] than a meaningful financial disclosure like the IRS Form 990 that Taste Inc. had not filed up to that time.
But nobody on that 2005 Council – which included current Alds. Jim Allegretti, Rich DiPietro and Frank Wsol – or any Council since appears to have cared enough to inquire about the original TOPR deal, or where the City’s share of the “profits” was, even as Mayors Frimark and Schmidt, and many aldermen as well, manned beer tents and booths while watching the money roll in.
Which may have been great for Taste Inc., but not nearly so good for the City’s finances. Or the City’s accountability to its taxpayers, who have been funding Taste Inc. through “free” City services which last year alone were valued by the City at around $23,000, a number that curiously mimics the original TOPR funding.
Based on Taste Inc.’s first-ever IRS Form 990 [pdf] filed just this March, Taste Inc. booked a $65,000 “profit” last year alone – on $163,000 of revenues (we have a question or two about that number, but that’s for another post). If the original 2005 TOPR deal was being enforced by our City officials, that would have put $42,000 (including reimbursement for the cost of those “free” City services) in the City treasury. Not a boxcar number, granted, but better than a sharp stick in the eye. Heck, it would almost pay half the cost of one of those police officers the City laid off this year.
How did TOPR go from a City-controlled “Ad Hoc Committee”-run event to one run by the private Taste Inc., which gets to keep all the “profits” to use as it chooses?
It sure would be swell if Taste Inc. honchos Dave Iglow, Albert Galus and Jim Bruno provided a full public explanation of that metamorphosis – preferably during an open-session City Council meeting, although we’re more than willing to give them explanation space here if they want it.
And if they choose to provide a comprehensive explanation rather than just another P.R. piece, we would hope they would explain why there appears to be no record of the 501(c)(3) Taste Inc. having filed Form 990 income tax returns for 2005 through 2008; how much “profit” Taste Inc. generated in those years; what Taste Inc. did with that profit; why they changed to a 501(c)(6) Taste Inc. last year; and what happened to any money that 501(c)(3) Taste Inc. had on hand when it voluntarily dissolved in February 2009.
We’ve asked for some of that information before. But when it comes to such disclosures, for people who dress in bright orange shirts those Taste Inc.-sters sure seem to be shrinking violets.
And we also invite former Mayor Frimark, current Mayor Schmidt, and past and former aldermen Allegretti, Anderson, Bach, Baldi, Bateman, Carey, Cox, Crampton, DiPietro, Jones, Machon, Markech, Parker, Radermacher, Ryan (Mary Wynn), Ryan (Robert), Sweeney and Wsol to explain to their tax-weary, increasingly under-served constituents why they let a private corporation walk away with the City’s signature civic event and the profits it generates, without any accountability.
This is not one of the bigger gaffes by City government in recent years, nor is it a problem anywhere near the magnitude of the City’s finances, flooding, O’Hare, etc. But it’s precisely because it is not that big or complex a problem that we wonder why it hasn’t been managed better, if not simply ignored.
It’s not often we say this, but our elected officials put together a reasonable deal for the City on TOPR that should have been a win/win for the taxpayers and the community as a whole. So why did they walk away from it?
17 comments so far
This is disturbing. I agree that the deal sounds reasonable, if the Taste people really mean it when they talk about being volunteers. I wonder where the money went from the original Taste company when they close it down after four years.
TOPR’s report from last year said the had gross receipts of $266,652 but their 990 says only $163,391. What happened to that hundred grand? How much of their charitable donations went to the orange gorilla? Why didnt they list the free city services in Part III, line 5? who are they paying $25,258 in rent to?
Bread and Circuses.
I agree that it appears that folks are having fun at the TOPR. However, Friday night there was some disturbance in a group of about 100 kids that gathered on the library lawn around 7:30 pm. At least 6 police officers responded.
Taste goers young and old were darting across Prospect in between cars etc. The traffic on Prospect trying to get through town poses a major traffic nightmare and adds to the risk of someone getting hit by a car. The volunteer traffic controllers have no idea what they are doing. Closing down Summit is just a very bad idea.
Since TOPR is a private business association (501(c)(6)) whose purpose is to promote the interests of its members (not all the businesses in the uptown area of PR are members of the TOPR), then the event should be held in a parking lot or field that the TOPR pays rent to use. The city should not be closing a much used through street for the benefit of the businesses who belong to the TOPR business association.
Some of the businesses in the uptown area are negatively affected by the event. The lack of parking makes it nearly impossible for people to park and shop intown, so some uptown businesses actually see a decline in sales during this week, resulting in a decrease in sales tax dollars going to the city.
Given the charity the city is giving to the TOPR in the form of unreimbursed city services and the free use of Summit, there should be some accounting provided to the citizens of PR within the required 30 days that shows that the TOPR is a money maker for the town. Right now it seems it is only a money maker for those businesses that are members of the TOPR. Given the terrible financial shape this city is in, nothing should be given away for the financial benefit of the TOPR association members.
My god will you freakin’ stop whining!!!!!! Do you honestly think this has a negative affect on business in uptown????? Ahhhhhhh!! The event is not just for the benefit of TOPR businesses. It is for the benefit of all the businesses and someone else…ME!!!!!!……and anyone else who has been at the taste so far or plans to go today. I had a great time last night as did thousands of other people……opppps….I mean taxpayers. Everyone screams about the 23K but you know what I find amazing. That it is only 23K. 23K, divided among about 20K taxpaying households for 48+ hours. Now you are whining about it being held on Summit?!?!?! Please!!!!Do you scream every year when they close prospect for the christmas fest?????
What the taste should do is tack on a small ticket fee and use that to pay the city. I would be happy to pay it just to have you shut up!!! Perhaps then we could all take a look at some real money, like tree trimming contracts.
11:20 – Are you saying that during the Taste Uptown is so crowded nobody goes there? It does mean a little slower going on Prospect during some of the peak times, and that kids may congregate near the event, but I like seeing people out enjoying our town.
If a business can’t figure out how to make money with that kind of foot traffic, perhaps there is another problem. I have talked to Uptown merchants who say that July is their best month outside of the Christmas season, directly becuase of the revenue they bring in during the Taste. And by the way, there is no such thing as TOPR association members, or any business TOPR membership. If a business wants to benefit from the Taste, they can by simply volunteer time for publicity, ask the Chamber of Commerce for a booth on Courtland on Saturday, advertise to the people at the event, a retaurant could sell food there, an Uptown retail establishment could freely put products out for the sidewalk sale (which most look forward to).
Add to that the extra look our town and its businesses get from out of town residents this weekend, and the fact they may see something they want to come back for, and I would bet that the city and our businesses do much better with the Taste than without.
Taste is great, just like Edison Park Fest is great. Like someone else said, bread and circuses for the masses. But why isn’t the City of Park Ridge getting the deal that was cut in 2005?
7:02-great idea to tack on a fee to the ticket to pay the city. That’s seems like a good way to reimburse the city-tell Dave Iglow of Pines.
But given the lack of disclosure by those running the TOPR, how do yo know the city will get the money. It is always interesting to watch people handle lots of cash with no (or very little) way to keep track of how much cash is collected. Limited ability to audit.
And anyone who wants to point out the error of the city’s ways in handling this event is free to do so. We don’t have to shut up about this event that effects all of us intown until the city stops giving charity to a group of for profit businesses posing as a not-for-profit.
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Taste last night. Great weather, great crowd, great energy, and great entertainment made for a great time.
I made a few visits to the beer tent, and was not alone. The entire evening, food and drinkwise, cost us $80, which was a fair price.
But I have to agree with PubDog that this event should be totally under the control of the City of Park Ridge and all profits going to the city according to the original deal. How could this event have gotten turned over to this private group so quickly if the plan the city council approved was legitimate? And why does a corporation formed to run the Taste need a separate Taste “committee”?
I smell fish.
Letting the city run this event is s recipe for disaster. Who in town thinks the city desires to or could run the event so smoothly, exert the pressure to develop sponsorship and vendor relationships with all the local businesses (and who wants the city asking for sponsorship dollars?), use paid employees or a contracting company instead of volunteers, and still keep the event reasonable.
Also, people, the Taste did give back the seed money after they turn their first event in the black…. Something the city and the chamber of commerce had been unable to do. They lost money on the event every year.
Perhaps the reason Taste incorporated was to limit the liability of the committe members.
1:10:
Please be clear about what “fish” you smell. Are you saying that the taste is generating huge profits that are being skimmed??
You brought up the $80.00. My family will spend well over that this weekend. We are headed back agein in a few minutes for our 3 meal of the weekend. So what??? You realize that the vast majority of your $80.00 went to the resturant who served you the food.
2:01 pm
According to the June 2005 minutes the ad hoc committee members would have been insured by the city, so why was incorporation needed? I also don’t understand why Taste Inc. changed from (c)(3) to (c)(6) if all it wants to do is run TOPR.
Something does smell about how this all happened.
3:57 pm
No, I’m saying Im not sure what is happening, but it doesn’t feel right when what was supposed to be city money isn’t going to the city.
We ate dinner at home and went to the Taste for desert and drinks. Who gets the beer money?
anon at 201…the Taste never paid the city back for the “seed money.” As best as I can tell, the people running the Taste at the time (in 2005) convinced the Council to let them keep the money and use it as “seed money” for 2006.
Iggy Iglow has been part of this from the beginning, so he knows all the answers. And Frimark made it happen, not that he would ever tell the truth about anything.
TOPR is over and they should have made another bundle. I wonder how the Taste committee, or the Taste corporation, or Iglow Galus and Bruno, are going to spend it?
6:52PM:
Why don’t you ask the Mayor about the beer money – after all, he was sure serving a lot of it!! The Mayor would not serve beer and collect the cash without knowing where the money was going, would he???