City Council's Action Cancels Out Blues-Jazz Festival

City Council's Action Cancels Out Blues-Jazz Festival 

By Glen Harris

(Cltv Government Reporter)

What was to have been the third annual Blues and Jazz Festival in September was effectively canceled by City Council Monday night.

Council Republicans claiming the event brings in “undesirables” and calling the promoters irresponsible, used their majority position to reject the festival on a 6 to 4 vote.

Mayor James E. Stephenson led the opposition, saying the last year’s festival “tarnished” the city’s image when the site on which the three-day event was held was not cleaned up as promised by the sponsors, Rainbow Multi Media.

Also pointing to complaints from people who worked at the festival last year but were not paid, Stephenson said the promoters had “proved their untrustworthiness.”

The contract council defeated again called for staging the nationally known event at what is called the Sheridan property west of Huron High School. After debris was left scattered on that site last year, the Huron PTO sent a letter asking that the event never be held there again.

Mayor Stephenson said since last year no one seriously considered having the concert on the Sheridan property. He said the promoters had tried to find other locations, but were unsuccessful.

The contract for this year’s festival would have required Rainbow Multi Media to provide a $5,000 performance bond in advance to guarantee the site would be cleaned up. An $18,000 bond would also have had to be posted to guarantee city services used would be paid for.

Council Democrats and Human Rights member protested the GOP decision, saying the bonds gave assurance that the promoters would keep their word. But the Republicans rejected the call to increase the required bonds instead of canceling the festival.

Councilman Robert L. Henry Jr., R-Ward, said agreeing with the promoters to hold the concert this year would be condoning what happened last "I’m not interested in dealing with a group that won’t act in good faith,” he said. 

Fifth Ward Republican John D. McCormick also claimed the event paws a large group of undesirables to Ann Arbor, some of whom stay here.” It also brings in dope and drugs to the community, McCormick said, adding: “I don’t think the people of Ann Arbor want this sort of spectacle.” Councilwoman Carol Jones, D-Second Ward, charged the Republicans with using the problems at the festival as a “smokes screen” to hide their objection to the “people with longer hair” who she said frequented the blues and jazz sessions. All big events, including University football games and the art fair create the same type of problems, she said.

Lous D. Belcher, R-Fifth Ward, countered that if the Republicans opposed the event as such they wouldn't have voted unanimously last year to permit it. Belcher said he felt the festival could have been one of the best events in Ann Arbor, but "the situation they (the promoters) are in of their own ilk."

Administrative Assistant Michael Rogers, who represented the city in the preparation of the defeated contract, made a last ditch plea for council to approve the agreement, calling the festival a “magnificent cultural event.”

He said  the Rainbow Multi Media had agreed to share any profits from the festival with community organizations which the city previously funded, but had to stop contributing because of financial problems.

But Mayor Stephenson replied that ”10 months have apparently softened Mike’s memory.” The event has never been a big money maker and hope of getting funds for community groups is not backed by experience, Stephenson said.

The festival originally began in 1969 as the Blues Festival. It was held in 1969 and 1970 under partial sponsorship of a U-M student organization, but a large loss it suffered in 1970 resulted in no festival being held in 1971.

The Rainbow organization, one of the many separate enterprises associated with the Rainbow Peoples Party, picked up the sponsorship in 1972 by establishing the Blues and Jazz Festival. The event lost money that year, and also lost more than $30,000 last year.

Councilman James Kenworthy, D-Fourth Ward, noted that the promoters had tried to stage the event this year at the city’s airport. The Airport Advisory Committee agreed, but Pittsfield Township, in which the airport is located, rejected the idea, he said.