Whoever gets the contract to manage the 2010 Tuesday night Farmers Market will pay more to use the Plaza’s Horseshoe space, the City Council decided Monday as it officially launched the application process.
The unanimous opinion did not include that of Mayor Brown who, in a move that “might seem overly cautious,” unexpectedly recused himself on the advice of the city attorney.
Brown has been a paid contractor to the market, as a music producer, for two years, according to Jim Cahoon, board chairman for the Sonoma Valley Farmers’ Market. “He has not considered fully the implications of voting on issues concerning the Farmers Market,” Cahoon said.
The legality and ethics of that relationship should be reviewed before moving forward, Cahoon urged the council. Though surprised by Brown’s action, the councilors did not discuss Cahoon’s request, and moved forward on finalizing the application document.
The weekly rental fee will rise from the current $100 a week to a new rate of $175. The city’s standard rate for that space is $250 per event.
The Sonoma Valley Farmers Market, which has overseen the Tuesday for some 18 years, will participate in the proposal process. Cahoon told the Sun the rate hike is “onerous. The market will have to raise its fees. You’ll lose vendors.”
Other stipulations in the Request for Proposal document will also add costs, Cahoon said. “It’s my gut feeling this is going to take more money.”
The Request for Proposal, though not setting rates for vendors, calls for the applicant to demonstrate how it would sustain itself financially. The current market charges farmers $5 – $45 per-space per-event, and collects 10 percent of gross receipts from craftspeople and other non-farmers.
The council set other financial elements to bring them in line with the city’s standard fee schedule. If a for-profit entity gets the contract, it must pay 40 percent of gross receipts to a local charity. That provision does not apply if a nonprofit organization, such as the Sonoma Valley Farmers Market, is awarded the job.
There had been an understanding with the city the Farmers Market would make an annual donation to a local charity. The Request for Proposal contains no such direction.
In the Request for Proposal, the council identified key evaluation criteria as experience, knowledge of the community, coordination with city staff, budget monitoring and reporting systems.
Those elements speak to the complaints made against the market regarding murky application rules, the absence of an appeal process, incomplete financial reports and a secretive board of directors.
Friction peaked in October after a critical report by the Community Services and Environment Commission. The council then decided to put the management contract out to bid with a Request for Proposal.
At that Oct. 21 meeting, councilors created an impromptu wish list for a revamped market; no junk food; more local restaurants; and the addition of local artists displaying their wares in an adjacent area.
None of those specifics made it in to the final Request for Proposal, which instead calls for the applicant to propose its own ideas and philosophy. In fact, many of the more festival-style activities would be restrained, if not banned, under a provision contained in the six-page Request for Proposal.
The Request for Proposal stipulates the market must continue to comply with Certified Farmers Market rules. Many of the issues drawing complaint, particularly regarding crafts and prepared-foods vendors, are subject to those state-mandated rules, according to Hilda Swartz, the current market manager.
The deadline to submit proposals, available to download from the city’s Web site, is Dec. 21. The contract will be awarded on Jan. 20, with the season’s first market scheduled for April 6, 2010.
