The Sonoma Community Center, which has produced the town’s Fourth of July Parade since 1963, said that because of liability and funding concerns, including the loss of an annual grant from the City, it will not produce the event beyond this year.
“Quite simply, the success of the parade has outgrown the center,” said SCC Executive Director Toni Castrone. “The scope and size of the parade has grown to such an extent that the center cannot afford either the expense or the liability to keep it up.”
For 2017, the SCC will work with the City of Sonoma to find a “lead agency” – a new or existing nonprofit, for example — to share production of this year’s event and take full responsibility in 2017.
Castrone said the SCC spends about $58,000 a year to produce the parade, which includes staff time. In previous year’s, the SCC would use a city grant ($43,000) to offset some of the event costs. The money came from the city’s ‘Tier 1’ system of donating money to four area nonprofits that offer programs and services that otherwise might fall to a city agency.
The city council voted to change that system in February. Now, under the new Sonoma Community Fund Grant Program, all nonprofits serving City residents are on equal footing to apply for grants of up to $25,000. Additionally, agencies will be eligible to receive consecutive annual grants, but not three in a row.
Castrone said she had been discussing with the SCC board the idea of getting out of the parade business, an activity that pulled staff time away from the center’s mission. She said the budget priorities were maintaining core programs, as well as the 100-year-old building itself.
“The decision was awhile in the making,” she said.
Then came the council’s decision to pull guaranteed funding through the grant program. While SCC is free to apply for a Community Fund Grant, to be announced in late July, there is no guarantee it would have received one. With expenses mounting now, the budget uncertainty was too much, Castrone said.
“We were prepared to produce the parade if the new policy guaranteed us money,” Castrone said, “(but) it doesn’t.”
The SCC responded with a letter to the City stating it could not proceed with the event without the city’s help. City staff was “a little bit alarmed” at the response, Castrone said.
She and SCC boardmembers then met with Mayor Laurie Gallian and City Manager Giovanatto, from which emerged the SCC’s pledge to co-produce the 2016 parade while, with city’s help, lining up a new producer for next year.
“Because the parade is very important to the community, the center will produce it for the final time this year,” said Castrone.
In the coming weeks, the center will meet with interested groups to discuss alternatives. Not ruled out is a production company that would take on the job as a for-profit enterprise.
“The City looks forward to supporting the new Parade leadership group,” said Mayor Galian, while thanking the SCC for its years of hard work. “As they now move onto their new era, we must all work together in finding a new leader for this hallmark event.”
When it started in 1963, the event was much smaller, and, with a parade start and stop point in front of the center building, much more associated with the SCC. In the 1980s, Castrome said, the City proposed moving the route to the Plaza. While gaining in popularity over the years, the event is no longer much associated with the SCC – an awareness that could have had more impact on fundraising over the years.
While the City’s decision to alter the its grant allocations caught the SCC surprise, Castrone said, the change was inevitable. “We’re proud of what we’ve done,” Castrone said. “Now it’s time to pass it on.”
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