Tax committee, city council make right decision on festival funding

By: Morning News | SCNow
Published: December 11, 2008

The city of Florence’s Accommodations Tax Committee did the right thing in recommending no funding for next year’s Juneteen celebration. And the Florence City Council did the right thing by upholding that recommendation in a 5-2 vote.

Voting to uphold the recommendation were Mayor Stephen J. Wukela and council members Bill Bradham, Buddy Brand, Steve Powers and Octavia Williams-Blake.

Council members Ed Robinson and Billy D. Williams voted against the recommendation.

Several good points were made during the meeting about the festival.

First, we think the accommodations tax committee chairman gave a very reasonable explanation about why the committee didn’t recommend funding.

Asked by Robinson why the committee made its recommendation, Larry Norris said the committee’s responsibility wasn’t to “debate the goodness of Juneteenth.” He said the committee submitted an application that included a “half a page of poorly developed explanations” of a “banquet in the name of black voices” to honor black leaders from across South Carolina.

“This doesn’t sound like Juneteenth,” Norris told Robinson.

He said the applicants gave no specific information about the event’s cost, location or honorees.

That in itself was a good enough reason.

But remember that this year the festival wasn’t even held until August and that didn’t happen until questions were raised about what happened to this year’s festival and the money.

Also, councilman Bradham raised another key point.

“I feel that (the funding) should be done through an agent and not an elected official,” Bradham said.

Touché.

Wukela stressed during the meeting that he doesn’t want to send the message that council doesn’t support black history. He also encouraged organizations celebrating black history to apply for accommodations tax funding.

All that’s being asked is that the festival be held to the same standard as other organizations asking for money.

And that city council members don’t need to be asking for the money.