Council postpones action
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Banners were a hot topic of discussion last week in Dripping Springs.
At its May 2 meeting, Dripping Springs City Council considered a resolution repealing the Co-Sponsorship Policy, which has been deemed no longer necessary as Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP) redesigned its rental and use agreements and the Park Sponsorship Policy has also been updated. The primary purpose of the Co-Sponsorship Policy was to allow banners on the Triangle (Veterans Memorial Park).
Benefits in the current Co-Sponsorship Policy, as listed in agenda documents, are up to a 10% fee discount, a banner on the Triangle or other city-owned property for a specified number of days, required use of the city logo on marketing and in-kind donations from current city resources.
“If y’all decide to repeal the Co-Sponsorship Policy, any group, especially nonprofits, can still seek fee discounts and in-kind donations,” said City Attorney Laura Mueller. “Banners and other marketing can still be obtained through use agreements, park sponsorships, at DSRP for DSRP events and banners at nonresidential properties with the $25 permit four times a year, 30 days each.”
Examples of use agreements include: Hell Country Productions (haunted house) where the city shares in the profits; Dripping Springs Fair and Rodeo where the city partners in all aspects; and programming partnerships where the city partners with third parties to provide classes such as skateboarding and cooking classes, according to agenda documents.
Mueller said that city staff brought forth the recommendation for the council to repeal the policy based on the amount of staff time the policy required and other considerations.
While the council postponed any action on the item, it was not left without discussion.
Council member Taline Manassian expressed her concerns that the nonprofits would be the ones harmed in the end, as well as questioning which banners would be allowed.
“I’m hearing some sort of staff benefit from making the policy change in terms of the time it takes and I want to acknowledge hearing that very clearly,” she said. “At the same time, it seems to me who we are hurting are the nonprofits. We are still giving them the discount, but we are affecting their ability to market the events. We are not saying there will be no banners at the Triangle, we are saying there will be banners at the Triangle for things that financially benefit the city, but not for anybody else, right?”
Mueller confirmed that if the council were to repeal the policy, banners would be allowed at the Triangle for city events and events that financially benefit the city.
Manassian said that she understands that the staff’s time is something that should be considered in this, but they also need to look at who else it would be affecting.
“I hear the staff benefit and we want to think really hard about that so we are doing what makes sense for our staff. But I don’t want us to think we are not affecting anybody because avenues are available. They are going to be available to the people who have money and make money,” Manassian said. “They are not going to be available to the people who are nonprofits.”
She added that the Triangle allows groups and nonprofits to inform people about what is happening in the community.
Mayor Bill Foulds said that more and more people are getting their information from social media.
“In my world, I would eliminate every banner on that Triangle because I don’t know anyone who doesn’t get their information from social media, as we have learned. That’s where they are getting all of this information,” Foulds said. “I would love to see the numbers on asking someone, ‘How did you find out about this event?’ ‘Oh, I was sitting in traffic and looked at the Triangle’ … I just don’t think the numbers generate. The return on investment of even a cheap sign at the Triangle is not ever going to be there in my world. I just don’t see it from a business standpoint.”
“To me, that is a different discussion. If we are saying we do not want banners on the Triangle period, that is an entirely different discussion than we are going to do them when it benefits us and benefits certain groups, but we are not going to do it when it benefits the nonprofits whose objectives we may or may not agree with,” Manassian responded.
Council member Geoffrey Tahuahua explained his reasoning for requesting the item to be on the agenda.
“I really think there needs to be a distinction of when the city is truly getting involved within the event, that is a different level than when we are just saying, ‘Hey, you are an awesome nonprofit, you do a lot within the community.’ That’s really a different thing than when we are getting a little more involved,” he said. “My concern is when the city logo gets utilized [and] when do you get additional staff time. That, to me, should be a negotiated each time, case-by-case basis, not an automatic you get it just because you exist.”
Dripping Springs City Council meets next at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16. Council will discuss the Co-Sponsorship Policy and banners at the Triangle again at its meeting held on June 20.
