First we had the ticketing ordeal at the Events Center, that SMG claims they can take no action on (or will not take any action on). In other words they are allowing the promoters, the ticket brokers and artists to have dibs on tickets to a facility we are paying the mortgage/maintenance on, and holding us hostage to the higher scalped ticket prices.
Now they are not allowing a local BBQ joint to partake in RibFest, saying it is only for ‘national and international’ competitors. This isn’t a French cooking Festival, this is BBQ ribs.
But if that isn’t enough to torque you off a bit, I had a South DaCola foot soldier tell me the other day that when he tried to attain copies of the sponsorship agreements between the sponsors and Events Center, SMG told him that they were ‘private’ because they are between SMG and the sponsors AND not the city. As an attorney, he pointed out that SMG is merely an ‘agent’ of the city holding those contracts and it should be public record.
He didn’t have much luck with his argument.
I guess what bothers me the most is that we are allowing an independent contractor to not only bathe in the profits from the Event Center while we get to wallow in mortgage payments, we are allowing this public contractor to dictate to us, the ones providing them the opportunity to make a profit in our community, how and when we will be entertained and by who, and what that price will be.
If that doesn’t sound like an entertainment dictator, I don’t know what does?