Sunset Junction Festival Permits Denied Over Unpaid Fees

This story comes courtesy of The City Maven.

By Alice M. Walton

The annual Sunset Junction festival in Silver Lake, which is scheduled to take place this Saturday and Sunday, was denied a permit today by the Board of Public Works, which cited concerns over the festival organizer's failure to pay fees owed on last year's events.

The 3-1 vote by the board could be reconsidered if festival reps are able to pay the outstanding tab by noon on Wednesday.

Last year's Sunset Junction festival cost the city $256,484, according to a report from Public Works. Another $141,978 would be owed for this year's event, bringing the festival's total to $398,462.

"It's quite disrespectful ... that you would pay your legal counsel, that you would pay your entertainment acts, that you would pay various other entities while you were seeking funds from sponsors, yet you cannot and will not and have not paid the city for services rendered," board President Andrea Alarcon told the festival's attorney.

"The city is in a fiscal crisis," Alarcon continued. "The city is owed more than $400,000 from your organization. Do you know what that $400,000 could do for this city?"

A representative for the Sunset Junction festival told the board organizers don't believe the city spent that much on police, sanitation and traffic officers.