Carnival Rules Up For Change After Controversy

To understand the context of three proposed ordinances up for consideration Monday, one would have to go back six weeks to a controversy that erupted at the Oct. 9 City Council meeting.

Several residents complained that night about a carnival that popped up in the West End and the mayor’s alleged confrontational response to their concerns about the cost of rides and a failed promise of jobs at the event. Residents said when they called council members, none knew anything about the event.

Speakers said the $35 charge for rides saddened neighborhood children whose parents could not afford that amount and the mayor’s antagonism, backed up by a mysterious protector, caused former Councilwoman Joanne Hollis to remark, “I thought we was into a thug thing.”

Resident Latice Royster said she wanted a “public apology” from the mayor’s defender, a man Royster identified as a PMUA employee named Willie Jenkins.

In answer to how the carnival came about, officials said the mayor signed the permit for it. One of the proposed ordinances amends the city code to require City Council approval, 45 days in advance, for carnivals and similar events.

Another raises the fee for carnivals from $500 per day to $2,500 and the third specifies that, while the mayor can issue most licenses, those for carnivals would be issued by the council.

The event producer was identified as “Donald Bernard.” An online search turned up an organization headed by Don Bernard Sr. that specializes in outdoor events and has the backing of numerous corporate sponsors, including Investors Bank.

The ordinances were supposed to be introduced on first reading at a Nov. 8 special meeting, which had to be canceled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

The Nov. 13 agenda-fixing session was rescheduled to Monday and the regular meeting, formerly set for Nov. 19, was pushed to Nov. 26. If passed at the regular meeting, the ordinances would then be up for public hearing and final passage at the Dec. 10 regular meeting, taking effect 20 days later and just barely making the deadline for legislation in 2012.

--Bernice