Tomorrow night, Tuesday, the council will vote on this issue. I hope that all will respectfully write to the council on this issue.
thanks all and blessings!
here are their emails. bill.saffo@wilmingtonnc.g
Dear Wilmington City Council Members,
I am writing to oppose the 1$ per racer fee that is being
considered for racers that are using city streets that are endeavoring to raise funds for local
fundraisers in the port city.
Currently races are already assessed fees for the streets as
well as fees for security either by private or through the Wilmington City
Police Department. To add on an additional see is counter to the opportunity
that these races provide not only for our city to enjoy the many benefits of
these races in which we are bringing in people from across not only our own
state and across our region but our country.
These races fill rooms, restaurants, provide great economic
stimulus to the city and are an abundant promotion that comes to us at no cost
whatsoever.
Much beyond the economics, these races and walks promote the
best in who we are as a community by teaching and sharing about health and
wellness, bringing families together
and by creating opportunities for us to
actually create goals and objectives for people to improve their lives.
I am a living witness to that very opportunity coming from a
place where I could barely get up a set of stairs to actually running these
very city streets in my first race ever race. 2 years ago, I ran my first ever 5k,
a fund raiser for the Historic Wilmington foundation. Not only did I achieve
that magnificent goal, create a better life for myself, and share that example
for others, I did it while enjoying my downtown, my home city; enjoying my community,
and shared it with my best friend, my family along the route! All of this and we raised badly needed money
for the very community in which I love!
Since this, in race after race, I have seen this happen for
so many others and it is truly an amazing blessing to fathers running with
sons, mothers with daughters, families running together…all to make their lives
better.
The small nonprofits
are the lifeblood to who we are and what makes better collaborations for the very
things the city cannot do. It is unfortunate to think of taxing the very
sources that do for us what we can not do for ourselves. Particularly when are not
assessing fees or taxing on those
deleterious things in our community. Perhaps it is with some tongue in cheek,
but there are realities to these examples when we look at what we are not
assessing fees to: we do not turn on the meters for parking in the evening when
the bar patrons are coming to enjoy, but we do when the shoppers during the day
do. Shoppers do not create need for extra police and trash. The same can be
said all over the city for establishments who serve at bars. We do not assess
fees to cover the cost of our police and extra clean up for that either. Maybe
a dollar for each bar patron. How about a dollar for each patron of a fast food
place for the effect on our costs for health. A dollar for each person who does
not recycle. A dollar for each person who is enrolled at a college as there are
direct links to extra security for apartments and neighborhoods. And the list
goes on.
Bottom line, we are considering assessing a fee on something
that actually does reduce health risk, that creates a better community, makes
money for our non-profits, makes money on our economic base and that makes a better life and does something
that actually works for us.
I know the leadership in Parks and Recreation. They are AMAZING and I love them all very much as they work harder and with less every year, but they try very hard for all the citizens of this city. I worry this is a constraint put on them from a difficult budget. Certainly, I do not presume
the role of my elected leaders and do not presume to know all the answers.
However, I do know that penalizing something in our city that produces positive
results; taking money out of non-profits that are collaborative with our city;
removing the incentive for others to do these races and promote health and
wellness by making it more expensive and thus making it less egalitarian is not
the answer.
There are other sources of
income to make up 15k dollars. There are parks foundations that can be set up
that have still not been done in our city. There are other ways.
We have all worked together successfully to create better
parks and infrastructure. We have done our part by paying our taxes. Now it is
up to our city’s management to ensure that those services that benefit the
entire community are funded properly and those things that are for all the
people that have such positive effects for all people are not penalized by
fees.
I so appreciate you hearing this and will look forward to
the results of your decisions.
Sincerely,
L.S. “Bo” Dean Jr.
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