Thomas Breen Photo
The Fusion Steppers ...
... fez-topped members of the Arabic Temple #40 at the 2019 Freddy.
The Freddy Fixer Parade, one of the city’s premier Black community events, won’t take place this year, its board announced.
The city responded by offering to help keep the tradition going.
The word of the cancelation came Monday in a release from the Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade Committee (ECFFPC).
The release stated that the committee lacks the money to reimburse the city for police costs and other costs associate with the parade, which would have taken place June 5.
The release cited an amendment to an ordinance laying out rules for recovering expenses for public events.
“In previous years, the ECFFPC was permitted to negotiate with the City of New Haven an agreed upon percentage payment of the estimated $65,000 in police overtime cost. Regrettably, we had not anticipated that this mutual tradition of stake holder’s support would end for this ‘free to the public’ event. Essentially, in addition to police overtime expenses, the total cost of this parade exceeds $100,000, an amount far beyond our volunteers’ fundraising capabilities during the coronavirus pandemic,” the release stated.
City Chief Administrative Officer Regina Rush-Kittle said that the release caught her by surprise, and that her office is interested in working with the committee to make the parade possible.
She said the parade committee submitted an electronic request for a parade permit, then withdrew it.
“The parade has a long and storied history in the city. It’s a fabric of our community,” Rush-Little said. “We’re happy to work with them and determine what we can do to assist them” to make the parade happen.
ECFFPC Board of Directors member Petisia Adger said the committee withdrew the application because of the new rules governing the process for reimbursing the city for event costs, a process that includes the city taking committees to court to recover fees if they’re not paid within 60 days or if the committees fail to receive approval for “indigency” breaks.
The city’s tab for events has been the subject of public debate since 2010, when organizations were required to start reimbursing police costs. City officials clarified the protocols in 2019 in a working group with city alders. Read the ordinance here.
“No one has contacted us and said, ‘Come in and negotiate,” Adger said. She said her organization didn’t contact city government about the parade, and the city government didn’t contact the organization.
Adger said she’s eager to talk to the city and try to get the parade going after all.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the other major event of its kind in the city, is resuming next month after a pandemic hiatus.
Bernadette LaFrance, that parade’s executive director, said her organization is just getting acquainted with the new rules. “Nobody knows what the bills are going to be until after the event takes place,” she said.
makes one wonder if the East Coast biker-fest suit and associated police overtime bill didn't factor in this decision. Discovery in lawsuits is such a pesky thing.