THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 14, 1994 TAG: 9412140488
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
After an emotional four-hour debate, which left the mayor close to tears and five council members digging for aspirin, the council decided to change contractors for its popular summertime events.
Four council members voted to keep the contract with Virginia Beach Events Unlimited, whose leaders have been involved in beachfront events for 21 years.
Seven agreed with a staff committee's recommendation and voted to award the contract to Cellar Door Productions of Virginia Inc., the country's largest promoter of live events.
Cellar Door will take over management of programs such as the American Music Festival, the North American Fireworks Competition and the July 4th fireworks, and promises to add more than a dozen new events, mostly at the Oceanfront.
The lopsided vote belied the turmoil that many council members said they felt about the issue. At least three changed their positions during the debate, and just five minutes before the vote, council member Barbara M. Henley said she had not yet made up her mind. She ended up voting for Events Unlimited.
The other three Events Unlimited supporters were John A. Baum, Nancy K. Parker and Robert K. Dean.
Voting for Cellar Door were council members Louis R. Jones, Louisa M. Strayhorn, W.W. Harrison, Linwood O. Branch III, John D. Moss, W. D. Sessoms and Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.
Many council members expressed dissatisfaction with the process which brought to a competitive bid a program that has always been run by a small cadre of devoted and well-connected volunteers.
Former City Councilwoman Nancy Creech, who organized the Neptune Festival for many years as a volunteer, is president of Events Unlimited. Michael J. Barrett, chairman of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, sits on the non-profit corporation's board, and former Beach mayor Harold Heischober appeared in the council audience Tuesday in support of the contractor.
The group pulls so much weight in Virginia Beach that one council member, in telling another he was going to side with Cellar Door, said his vote would ``cost him his good ol' boy status.''
In casting her vote, Mayor Oberndorf said her conclusion was in no way a statement against the work of Events Unlimited, merely a business decision for the city. She said she hoped the council's verdict would not adversely affect the Neptune Festival, which is also run by Events Unlimited but does not fall under the contract.
Oberndorf said she would be willing to consider giving Events Unlimited more public funds to ensure that the Neptune Festival continues into its 22nd year.
Jones and several other members said they were swayed by the performance bond Cellar Door agreed to post, guaranteeing it would fulfill the two-year events contract. Events Unlimited did not offer a similar guarantee.
Others took Events Unlimited to task for past financial management problems. The company was forced to cancel several contractually required performances at the 24th Street Park in September because it had not raised enough money to cover previous commitments. The organization has also been criticized for cost overruns at last year's fireworks competition and this year's American Music Festival.
At least one hour of the debate was directed at the finances of the proposals and determining which one was cheaper. A city staff committee had determined that Cellar Door's proposal was about $100,000 less than Events Unlimited's, but after much discussion, several council members concluded the difference was closer to $20,000.
``If that were the only issue, then I would do as I was predisposed to do when I walked in here today, and that was give it to VBEU,'' Jones said. But he decided that Cellar Door's proposal offered more services as well.
Cellar Door, which brought acts including The Beach Boys to the Oceanfront this summer as a subcontractor for the American Music Festival, proposed adding more musical performances, more shows, a kite festival, a chili festival, a jazz festival, a Canadian festival and a surf fishing tournament, among other events.
A volunteer steering committee, to be organized by Cellar Door, will help refine these ideas, said company president Bill Reid.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL EVENTS UNLIMITED CELLAR DOOR
PRODUCTIONS CONTRACT by CNB