By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
City of Burlington Alderman Katie Simenson has often admitted to walking to a different beat than the rest of the City Council.
So when the community block party was set for Saturday, Sept. 15, at a cost of about $4,500, Simenson wanted to make sure that the rest of the council not only heard her objections, but also be prepared to vote if it felt necessary.
In the end, the City Council decided to go ahead with plans as they are proceeding for the block party, and Simenson was fine simply to have been heard.
“I appreciate you putting this on the agenda,” said Simenson about the lone item on Tuesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting agenda.
Like most of Simenson’s protests to city actions, her opposition to the block party was simply a matter of the city spending money where it didn’t necessarily have to.
“I don’t want to have my taxpayer dollars used that way,” she explained.
Since the council never voted on the block party expenditures – Miller said the authorization came from Resolution 3812 (2), which allowed the disbursement of funds on his approval – Simenson wanted discussion on the matter Tuesday night.
She got it, albeit most of the comments going against her train of thought.
Resident Charise Lorentz stood up and said the block party – even if the city sold wristbands for children to have access to the rides and games planned – was a cheaper alternative to ChocolateFest.
“We can’t afford ChocolateFest,” Lorentz said. “If we can do a $6 wristband (one of three suggested prices, the others being $2 and $3, depending on how much of the cost the city wants to recoup) for a community block party, I’m all for it.”
Local business owner JoAnne Cunningham said the additional draw of people into Burlington on a weekend would also be welcome.
“When we heard about this, we thought this was an excellent idea,” Cunningham explained. “It’s excellent for small businesses.”
For the most part, the aldermen agreed with Cunningham, though there was some discussion about the wristbands and the possibility of the event extending past just this year.
Originally, the community block party came out of a desire to still hold the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display, cancelled this year because of dry weather and a citywide burn ban.
But in looking at the possibilities of this turning into an annual event, there seemed to be some enthusiasm for it as well.
“What I suggest is, we hold the event,” said Alderman Tom Vos. “If it’s successful, then you sit down and analyze it.”
In the end, an informal tally of opinions showed no objection to the block party, except for Simenson. She, however, was satisfied just to have been heard.
“I’m just glad we were able to have this discussion,” said Simenson, who wanted to make sure that the council as a whole had a chance to voice its opinion.
“That’s all I wanted,” she added.
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