Speaking out...

If you want to find out why there's no Mariposa Block Party scheduled this year, come to, or tune in to tonight's City Council mtg. - 6:30pm. SMSue

Here's what I read at the meeting...until I got cut off!
5/28/2013   Mayor and City Council Members:   I am the Block Party organizer in my neighborhood, and we’ve enjoyed 15 previous block parties on our street.  I doubt that anyone in this room wouldn’t agree that block parties are a positive thing.  They build great community spirit and get kids (and adults) out of the house and away from the computer and TV.  As a bonus, statistics show that neighborhood security and safety increase when neighbors actually know each other.   
In order to block off a city street to have a block party in this town, a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) is required.  In 1998 I paid $25 for our first block party TUP.  It remained at $25 for several years, with a decrease to $17 for 2 years for some unknown reason, then back to $25, up to $35 in 2004, $40 in ’06, $45 in ’07, and then increases over the next few years of $1, $2, $1, $1 and $2, bringing it up to the $52 I paid for last year – our 2012 block party.   
Let me point out – that this is the exact same TUP that the 4th of July Committee gets to hold the parade and 2-day festivities every year.  It’s the same TUP that the Wistaria Festival Committee gets to block off most of downtown and a number of other streets for more than 12 hours.  It’s the same TUP that Alverno High School gets to allow an entire year’s worth of event rentals at the Villa.  These are some pretty major “temporary use” situations compared to an 8-hour, single block street closure for a neighborhood block party.  
Well, now…. That same TUP has more than doubled in price to $118!  The same TUP that these huge events require, carries the same fee for my (and anyone else’s) block party.   
In addition to the TUP fee, the City requires me to provide a million dollars of liability insurance thru my homeowner’s insurance for the event.  It didn’t used to result in any out-of–pocket expense for the first few years – but now it averages about $25 each time.  And I spend about $100 on flyers, paper goods & utensils, ice, etc.  Yes – my neighbors do chip in, but that’s not the point!  Compared to these other major events, it just seems so inequitable for a block party to have the same permit fee.  
Incidentally, in paying for those 15 previous block party TUP’s…  3 of those years the barricades didn’t get dropped off when they supposed to, and I had to scramble to make phone calls to get someone at the City on Saturday morning to get me my barricades!   And 2 of those years the S.M.P.D. had not been informed that we were having a block party.  One of those times, the officer moved the barricades away from the Michillinda end of the block after we had already started setting up table & chairs, so now cars are driving thru, and me & a bunch of kids are in the middle of the street!  I was jumping up & down, waving my hands and whistling, and the officer just ignored me!  Then he had the nerve to ask me what I thought I was doing, and made me go inside and get the permit approval letter to prove to him that I actually had permission!  I said “Do you think I went down to the city yard and helped myself to the barricades?”  He also told me that I should have informed the P.D. that I was having a block party…. Funny – I thought that was covered by the TUP.  
So… this is where YOU come in…. I am here to respectfully request that the City Council initiate a separate permit specifically for block parties, and attach a fee that is more equitable to the amount of effort that goes into processing it.  Our City’s yard sale permit costs $14, which is a pretty good place to start.  It makes sense that dropping off & picking up barricades would add to that fee, but certainly not in the $118 range!
(This is where I got cut off by the Mayor.)
I did some research and called the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia to see what their policies and fees are.  In both cities, a block party permit is free.  Both cities require the applicant to get approval signatures in advance from a certain percentage of their affected neighbors, to block off the street.  In both cities, the resident picks up the barricades from the city yard themself and returns them on Monday.  Arcadia requires a refundable deposit for this, Pasadena does not.  Pasadena requires the homeowner to provide $300,000 liability insurance or purchase it from the city’s 3rd party agent.  Arcadia does not require insurance from the applicant.   I would be happy to call some other cities for information if it would help my case.  But it’s not just about me & my block… I would hope that the City of Sierra Madre would want to encourage and promote these kinds of social gatherings, and make it easier on the average citizen to have one.  So, I hope you will please take this into consideration.   Thank you very much.