I've been watching the controversy over the Halloween fence with bemused interest but really can't let the latest Councilwoman suggests: Either fence Halloween or kill it go by without a comment (or two).
Every year we hear, to the penny, how much it costs Athens; we never hear how much money it brought into Athens by way of sales of lodging, food, libations, gas, miscellaneous. Why doesn't City Council figure out how much revenue is being generated by
Halloween, or don't they want to know that it's beneficial to the Athens economy?
Carol Patterson recalls that council tabled similar legislation last year in order to allow Ohio University students to come up with alternative funding strategies. Let me tell you, I was at the Clean and Safe Halloween Committee meeting where that was discussed (September 14th to be exact). Students came to that meeting hoping that they would be given something to do to help Halloween. Instead they were told to come up with their own ideas and their own funding, but that any ideas they came up with would be approved at the discretion of the city. And since the city doesn't officially sponsor Halloween, they (the students) could expect no real cooperation. They were not given any direction and very little encouragement.
And this is where I see the problem. The city does not sponsor Halloween. Anyone trying to make a difference is out there essentially by themselves. But you have to run it through the city, even though they don't want to do it! It's a Catch-22 situation that a fence will only make worse.
All the work that is being done to provide bands at Halloween will be thrown a huge roadblock. What businesses will sponsor fundraisers for bands when they anticipate a negligible attendance?
I also believe that charging admission will create many more problems than we already have. Why pay to get onto Court Street when you can party on Palmer for free? It's setting up the neighborhoods for much more destructive behavior. Who is going to put up the fence? Who's going to collect the money? Where is the money going to be kept? Those are minor concerns compared to the neighborhood parties, but still concerns that I don't think have been thought out.
I've volunteered at Halloween for the last two years as stage security. It has tremendous potential to be so much more than it already is. What is really needed is an effort by a core group of individuals to take responsibility for 'all' of Halloween. To coordinate it and profit from it. To embrace the help the students want to provide. To make it a great event everyone looks forward to instead of the nightmare at the end of October. A study needs to be done to determine what kind of revenue is brought into Athens County over the Halloween weekend. I also volunteer at Community Fest in Columbus, and while it is a very different venue, there are some major similarities. Free music, free admission. They make so much money that they give it away to a worthy cause when it's over. And it's run entirely by volunteers. The Columbus City Police are friendly presences. Everyone has a good time and comes away feeling better for it.
In closing, I'd like to quote Ted Jones, Athens police chief (1983) I think we will eliminate Halloween in two or three years. Good luck Carol!Jill Estep writes from Stewart.
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Letter to the Editor
