Published: August 17, 2008 12:41 am            

NIAGARA FALLS: Fests worth all the funds?

NIAGARA FALLS — CONCERN: Fruscione wants audit of city’s entertainment contracts.

BY Rick Forgione

forgioner@gnnewspaper.com

Niagara Falls has spent nearly $120,000 this summer to support a host of concerts and festivals.

Officials will soon find out whether the city’s getting its money’s worth.

At the next City Council meeting, Chairman Samuel Fruscione plans on requesting the city controller’s office conduct an audit on all entertainment contracts approved for funding over the past several months, whether it’s the $3,000 the council allocated to local business associations or the $33,000 it’s spending to partner with the Hard Rock Cafe on an upcoming Eddie Money concert.

“The council has a fiduciary obligation to make sure we know where this money is going and how it’s being spent,” Fruscione said. “We may find out everything is fine, but it’s worth taking a closer look. We’re talking about a lot of money.”

The bulk of the $118,645 allocated by the city for summer entertainment was eaten up through its sponsorship of four major events: $36,100 for the Niagara Fine Arts summer concert series, $33,000 for the Eddie Money concert, $18,845 for the Ontario House Jazz Reunion and $15,300 for the Niagara Falls Blues Festival on Third Street, both being held in September.

Other financial support went to the Niagara Street, Main Street and Pine Avenue business associations ($1,000 each) for their separate festivals, $5,000 for the HOG Motorcycle Rally, $4,000 for the LaSalle Blues Festival and $1,000 each for the African-American Family Festival, Boom Days Festival and Cruiser’s Car Club Nights.

Most of the funding was taken from the city’s tourism budget, including leftover funds dating back to 2006. While the resolutions requesting money usually detail how the funds will be used, an audit will check to make sure the donations were used as promised, Fruscione said.

He said the idea for the audit came up after he noticed a significant different in pay the same band was being paid to perform at two different city concerts. Nationally acclaimed blues band Rockin’ Jake was scheduled to perform at Saturday’s LaSalle Blues Festival at a cost of $500. He also is booked to perform at the Sept. 13 Blues Festival on Third Street, but will be paid $1,800, according to information submitted to the council by the event’s organizers.

“Something like that sticks out like a sore thumb,” Fruscione said. “What’s the reason for such a discrepancy in how much they’re being paid?”

Billed as a tribute to “Muddy Waters,” the Third Street Blues Festival is being organized by the Niagara Waterfront Revitalization Task Force. Ken Welsh, one of the event’s organizers who is helping book the talent, said numerous factors go into determining a band’s fee, including proximity to the venue and how may people are expected to attend.

The former owner of the B-Bar has worked with Rockin’ Jake before and said the band typically pulls in $2,500 to play at festivals of similar size as the Third Street event, which organizers predict will attract upwards of 10,000 people to the entertainment corridor. The festival’s lineup also includes national and international acts such as Jimmy Thackery and the Downchild Blues Band.

As for Saturday’s blues festival in LaSalle, two others bands also performed and, like Rockin’ Jake, were paid $500 each, said Patrick Kuciewski, executive director of the Niagara Fine Arts Program, which partnered with the LaSalle Business Association.

The Junk Yard Dogs also were booked to perform both concerts, but will be paid $200 less when they come to Third Street.

Kuciewski said he was given a specific budget to run the day-long concert and worked within those constraints to book the three bands.

“We have a certain amount of money to pay the bands,” he said. “We offer what we have and the bands we try to hire either take it or leave it.”

Welsh pointed out Rockin’ Jake was already in town this weekend and scheduled to perform at a couple other local venues in addition to LaSalle, which helped drive down his normal fee. In comparison, the band will be coming up from St. Louis on Sept. 13 just for the Third Street festival.

“This city could not be luckier to get him to play for $500,” Welsh said. “I don’t think they should be looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

The council is currently on summer recess and won’t meet again until Sept. 8. Fruscione said he’s already shared his audit idea with his colleagues.

Councilman Robert Anderson Jr. said he will support the request and is hoping the council weighs the pros and cons before allocating money for events in the future.

“I’m pretty sure this needs to be reigned in,” Anderson said. “The question we need to start asking is ‘where does this money go?’ It’s all about accountability.”

Contact reporter Rick Forgione

at 282-2311, ext. 2257.

        

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