Dripping Springs City Council readdresses Co-Sponsorship Policy

DRIPPING SPRINGS — The Dripping Springs City Council brought back up the possibility of repealing its Co-Sponsorship Policy at its Aug. 1 meeting.

The purpose of the Co-Sponsorship Policy is to set forth guidelines and criteria governing the granting of city of Dripping Springs funds or in-kind services for the purpose of supporting local festivals, special events, community projects or programs.

Co-sponsorship benefits, as listed in the policy, include 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’s logo on marketing and donations from current city resources.

On May 2, the council originally considered a resolution repealing the Co-Sponsorship Policy because it was deemed no longer necessary, as Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP) redesigned its rental and use agreements and updated the Park Sponsorship Policy. While there was extensive discussion regarding the policy, the council did not vote on the item.

The Co-Sponsorship Policy currently outlines the following, according to city attorney Laura Mueller:

• Nonprofits or 501(c)(3) organizations can apply

• It has to be an event, project or program that promotes the city, enhances quality of life, historic districts and promotes cultural and artistic awareness

• It can occur in the city or extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ)

• The city has to be recognized by a sponsor, which includes having the city’s logo on the marketing materials

• Contract and liability insurance

• Comply with all city ordinances

• Organization cannot discriminate based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability or medical condition

• Complete an application

Some of the alternatives to the Co-Sponsorship Policy include having a DSRP banner for events held at the facility; use agreements related to the use of city facilities that could include signage; placing one banner for $25 per sign on non-commercial property with permission from the property owner; a Parks & Community Services scholarship; and the ability to apply for nonprofit discounts for the use of city facilities.

The effects, according to Mueller, of repealing the policy agreements are listed below:

• Fewer banners on Triangle, as they will be restricted to city events

• Discounts would still available

• City logo use would be restricted and protected

• Organizations can still get their logos on city events/banners with donation to the city

• Banners at DSRP would still be available for events at DSRP

• Banners could be placed on any non-residential property with agreement of property owner

• City council and staff do not have to make content-based decisions

The Dripping Springs City Council did not take any action on the policy at its most recent meeting held on Tuesday, Aug. 1, but the item was not left without discussion.

“I think we have asked what we call our Co-Sponsorship Policy to do too much in the sense that, whether you are a nonprofit or you are maybe doing something with the city, everyone gets shoved into that one bucket,” said council member Geoffrey Tahuahua, the sponsor of the item. “I think there is a lot of potential missed opportunity for the city to maybe find some better strategic partnerships where we can actually work together on things, but also these are taking up significant staff resources.”

Council member Taline Manassian said she is concerned about the process of deciding which nonprofits and organizations are allowed to put banners on the Triangle, as well as how to protect the city’s logo.

“I have some concern, too, about the Co-Sponsorship Policy and certain groups being able to put a banner on our Triangle. We can name some that we would 100% agree we don’t want,” she said. “But I think there is a whole group of people that we might 80%, 60% or 40% agree that we don’t want. Those concerns are not getting addressed by this rewrite. I’m all for working toward a rewrite, but I don’t see how this accomplishes the discretionary concern we have.”

Council member Wade King said that the city attorney provided alternatives for nonprofits and organizations in the case that the council decides to repeal the Co-Sponsorship Policy. He questioned why banners need to be placed on the Triangle.

“Those are alternatives that are already available, but there are some groups that have come out and said the Triangle is the place that they feel is best for their banners,” Mueller responded. “I think that’s the issue.”

The conversation should not be solely about whether the city has banners or does not have banners on the Triangle, according to Manassian.

“That is an element of the co-sponsorship agreement and this whole discussion arose because of differing views on where we put our logo and where we don’t put our logo,” she said.

Manassian said that there is some confusion on how to define co-sponsorships and where to draw the line that does not get the city or the council “in trouble” when they decide not to co-sponsor something.

“I don’t have a problem with saying on the current policy, let’s remove the requirement of the city logo if that’s something we want to talk about doing,” she said. “I want to look at the big picture. There might be a simpler solution, but then it doesn’t seem like a co-sponsorship policy. It shouldn’t be a co-sponsorship policy if we aren’t using the [city logo].”

Mueller responded that the solution could possibly be changing the name of the policy in its entirety.

“There’s three coming in the process right now that you are going to see at your next meeting, probably, of co-sponsorships since [the policy] is still alive,” Mueller said. “We won’t stop taking those [applications] unless and until this is repealed.”

The Dripping Springs City Council is slated to meet again at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 15.