At a recent past meeting, I agreed that then-Chair Ciampi and the rest of the Commission showed restraint in not rushing to decide the fate of the Salerno Seafood Festival for 2021. It was a prudent decision. There was no such restraint at this meeting regarding the Air Show ask.
During public comment as part of an orchestrated campaign, a parade of Air Show board members and their supporters had no problem asking for $150,000 from County Government. This money was to book acts for the November 2020 show. For almost every speaker, the tag line was that the show must go on! My question is why does it have to go on and secondarily is it the government’s responsibility to make sure that it does?
Missi Campbell, director of the Palm City Chamber, stated it had a positive effect on children based on her previous career as an educator. Skylar Gorman, the executive director of the Air Show, exclaimed that the Air Show must go on because it was going to celebrate its 30th birthday…just like her. Gorman went on to say that it takes an entire year to plan. She referred to the show as a business, and of course the show must go on!
There is a voucher exchange program so that those who bought tickets to last year’s cancelled shows could redeem them for 2020. That is nice, but even if only 30% of the ticket holders do so, how is that income going to be made up in the future? Will there be another ask of the County?
Amy Bottigel, the president of the Air Show Board, stated that there were fundraising events planned but nothing definite yet. She and a few others had just come back from the air show convention in Vegas and had spent 3 days commiserating with their fellow air show national members. She admits that if they can’t promise that there will be a show, their sponsors will go on to support other nonprofits.
Chuck Cleaver, the treasurer, stated the show has a $2.5 million-dollar economic impact on the County. The Air Show costs $1,050,000 to produce. It contributed $33,000 to charity from the proceeds in 2018. The links below are the presentations that I received from the County with those facts and figures.
Nick Blount, a board member, stated that cancelling due to an accident and then torrential rain was a first. Blount is right that the tragic air accident and death of a pilot the day before the show was a first. The rains that cancelled the other two days were also a first.
Some may ask why there was no “rain insurance?” Cleaver explained that the cost would have been $30,000 to $60,000. He went on to say that because you typically need to pick an exact time to measure the rain, the insurance company wouldn’t have paid in this instance anyway. Other supporters spoke and it all came down to the show must go on!
Ciampi was excited to support the show. It is a community event and a community responsibility. Perhaps it is a community responsibility, but is it a governmental one? Smith was just as enthusiastic to spend taxpayer dollars to support this business. It adds to the community’s quality of life and has that $2.5 million economic impact. To put that amount into perspective, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Gross Domestic Product of Martin County was $6,946,903,000 in 2018.
The ask from the Air Show was $150,000. This public comment period was not a surprise. For at least the last few weeks, there were discussions held by the Air Show with all the Commissioners individually. There were not 3 Commissioner votes to take the amount from the ad valorem. Pressure was placed on staff to find the money elsewhere. That led to once again raiding the Commissioners’ new slush fund, the Airport Enterprise Fund. Remember that was also tapped a few weeks back to pay the customs’ fees for the Bahama rebuilding.
Is it legal? The answer is yes. But that wasn’t the intention when the fund was established. I would contend that the enterprise funds be used to enhance the airport and businesses located at the airport or that could be located there in the future. If the Commission wants funds to have a lasting impact, then spending money that pays for a few rental cars and gives a couple thousand to favored charities is not the way to proceed.
Commissioners Jenkins and Hetherington supported the expenditure but not as enthusiastically as Ciampi and Smith. Heard asked Cleaver if there were any firm commitments from sponsors. He responded that nothing was concrete yet. She explored the idea of the County giving matching dollars. But there were no dollars to match.
The words were echoed by the speakers that the Air Show was a business and that the show must go on! But why? Businesses and shows close all the time. Should the government keep the Air Show in business? $2.5 million is a pittance in Martin County’s economy and nothing when compared with the entire Treasure Coast’s GDP. And as far as charitable donations are concerned, if you spend a $1 million to give away $30,000, that can only be described charitably as ill-advised.
A motion was made by Ciampi seconded by Smith to give the Air Show $150,000. It passed 4-1 with Heard dissenting. I agree with Commissioner Heard in this case. The business should close, and the show need not go on.