Council Committees Approve Seaside Park Music Festival, Full Vote Monday

Jesus,there are sooo many red flags in this article,it’s scary.Obviously Saffan,Live Nation are trying to pitch this concert and get it approved by saying”we have no time to waste,we are late already as far as booking acts!”..Kind of a car salesman approach,’I can’t guarantee this car will be here tomorrow,buy it today!”..and of course,this council takes the bait..
———————————————————————————————————————————————–

BRIDGEPORT — The team hoping to launch a pair of annual big-name music festivals in Seaside Park next September successfully persuaded City Council members to quickly OK the proposal or face, at minimum, a year’s delay or, worse, a lost opportunity.

“We need the quickest approval possible to book the best bands possible, sell as many tickets as possible,” Tom Russell of Founders Entertainment, one of the partners behind the project, told a joint teleconference of the council’s economic and contracts committees Wednesday.

“I’ve been contacted by the cities of Stamford and Norwalk who both have parks who would more than welcome our festival there,” another partner, developer Howard Saffan, warned. “If you think Bridgeport is the only town that wants us, you’re clearly, clearly mistaken.”

Saffan’s comment in particular was one of the few tense moments in a meeting that mainly involved the majority of those council members present hailing the plan and the three parties involved. Saffan and a third partner, Live Nation, in July opened the city’s new harbor front concert amphitheater, while Founders is behind New York City’s famous Governors Ball.

The committee members ultimately voted to approve a 10-year agreement for two late summer musical events on back-to-back September weekends at Seaside in the South End. The full council is expected to take up the deal at its Oct. 18 meeting.
Under the pact, Bridgeport would receive: 5 percent of “gross ticketing revenues” or a minimum $100,000 annual payment, with a fifth of that going to the parks department; reimbursement for “all direct costs” to the city, including for policing; an annual $50,000 charitable donation to benefit the parks; and a $100,000 annual performance bond.
“You name it, it’s all on us,” emphasized Saffan. “There is a zero investment on behalf of the city of Bridgeport.”

“This is a bonafide, beautiful, absolutely awesome contract,” Councilman Jorge Cruz, who represents the South End, said.

Saffan and Live Nation, in the form of its regional president, Jimmy Koplik, after two years of delays launched the amphitheater out of a renovated minor league ballpark July 28. And while that project previously led to some tense exchanges between Saffan and some on the council — particularly last year when he asked the city to up its financial contribution from $7.5 million to $12 million — the venue was hailed Wednesday as a massive success during this inaugural first season.

“We have not seen that kind of excitement in this city in a long time,” said Councilman Ernie Newton.

“The amphitheater was the best decision we’ve ever made,” agreed Councilwoman Jeanette Herron, an economic development committee co-chair.

“If you leave the amphitheater and go downtown (the night of a show) there is no place to go because of how packed these restaurants are,” added Councilman Marcus Brown.

The new Seaside festivals will be successors of sorts to the defunct Gathering of the Vibes, which began in the 1990s as a tribute to late Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia and morphed into more of an all-ages, all-weekend affair, with many attendees camping out overnight. The Vibes was held at Seaside Park from 1999 until 2015, ending during a dispute with Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration over what the latter claimed was $500,000 in unpaid reimbursement for police overtime.

Russell, who with Jordan Wolowitz launched Founders Entertainment, told the committees Wednesday, “Jordan and I went to high school together in Connecticut and the very first musical festival we went to was Gathering of the Vibes.” He said it was one of the experiences which inspired them to found the Governors Ball, which last month celebrated its 10th anniversary at Citi Field in Queens with major acts including Billie Eilish and the band A$AP Rocky.

While taking the place of the Vibes, Russell emphasized that what he and Wolowitz envision for Seaside is nothing like that event, which, despite its popularity, was also a polarizing affair in part because of the overnight aspect.

“It was ugly as hell, rowdy, dangerous. It was horrible,” said Herron.

Russell said Founders Entertainment will work closely with Bridgeport officials, as it does with those in New York City, “to produce safe and high quality events. … We have had tremendous success with our events having a tremendously ruly, ruly crowd. And this show (at Seaside) appeals to an even older demographic. I would not group us in with the Gathering of the Vibes. Completely different show, completely different audience, completely different vibes, for lack of a better term.”

But he and Koplik also warned the committees — during some confusion over whether the elected council or the mayoral appointed parks commission have final say over the contract — that the clock was ticking to secure entertainers for next September.

“We need to book bands,” Russell said. “Booking has already started for 2023 … so we’re already behind the eight ball.”

“For the amphitheater we already have 15 confirmed shows (for 2022), which shows you how late we are in terms of booking the festival,” Koplik said. “As far as I’m concerned we’re almost too late already.”

The debate over the parks commission’s involvement was ignited by Councilwoman Maria Pereira, one of that legislative body’s few critics of the amphitheater deal with Saffan and Live Nation. Although the parks commission received the pitch for the Seaside festivals in August and approved next September’s dates, Pereira argued that, under the municipal charter, that group must also bless the final contract.

“Councilwoman Pereira, you’re completely wrong,” Saffan cut in. It was their back-and-forth which prompted him to threaten to take the idea to Stamford or Norwalk.

But Mark Anastasi, a veteran city attorney, advised the teleconference that the parks commission’s August meeting minutes were unclear about whether its members wanted to review the final contract. And while traditionally that body has not involved itself in such details, Anastasi said, “They have every right to do so because they have care, custody and control of the parks.”

But he was overruled. Brown and Newton insisted the council has the sole power to approve contracts and should not cede that to unelected boards.

Pereira also rankled Saffan and some on the council when she suggested they were influenced by $1,000 contributions the developer made to some of their reelection campaigns earlier this year. But Anastasi noted there is nothing illegal about accepting campaign contributions and they should not be characterized as “bribes.”

Connecticut has a public campaign financing system for state offices aimed at preventing conflicts or perceived conflicts-of-interest. But individual municipalities like Bridgeport do not, making it extremely common for those doing business with the city to contribute to local political campaigns.

Councilman Matthew McCarthy, who co-chairs the economic development committee and ran Wednesday’s meeting, noted how he had been critical of Saffan’s request last year for an additional $4.5 million for the amphitheater.

“This is a different situation,” McCarthy said. “I have no political contributions. … But this project, this idea, will put us on the map as an entertainment center, which is what we’re striving for. The amount of revenues that are going to come to the city, at no cost of our own, is huge. … I love the idea of this.”