Gonzales City Council could really use some guidance, common sense and coherent, maybe even codified standards by which they enter Community Partnerships…or not. In a 3-1 vote (with an abstention), the five-member panel rejected Southeast LA High School Rodeo Association’s funding request on Monday. That makes four straight requests denied by this version of the council which includes three first term members.
Historically, councils have not been so stingy. In fact, the Rodeo Association has received six funding awards totaling over $20,000 since 2019. It would have been more but for the lost COVID year and four scaled back requests made thereafter. Brandon Faulkner appeared on the organization’s behalf, asking to “go back to pre-COVID funding, $7,000 a year to put on the rodeo at Lamar Dixon.”
Actually (according to the city’s finance department), the allocations received:
- $6,000 (11/21/2019)
- $6,000 (1/21/2021)
- $2,000 (12/9/2021)
- $2,000 (1/26/2023)
- $2,500 (2/1/2024)
- $2,000 (12/5/2024)
Faulkner’s verbal request was a mix-up. Contributions are capped at $5,000, which was the amount requested on the Rodeo Association’s written application.
Councilman Eddie Williams moved to approve a maximum allocation, the motion received a second from Councilwoman Cynthia Gray James. James, curiously, cast a “No” vote after Councilman Kirk Boudreaux abstained.
“If this is for $5,000, I’m saying no,” voted Councilman Tyler Turner. Councilwoman Terri Lambert followed with, “I’m going to say no on the $5,000 but I would like to make a substitute motion if I can.”
She couldn’t. Substitute motions cannot be offered after the voting has commenced, and her negative vote doomed the motion to failure. Eddie Williams’ was the only affirmative vote.
Lambert would, thereafter, offer “a substitute motion” to award the Rodeo Association $3,000.
“Why $3,000,” Williams asked Lambert.
“Because we gave them $2,000 last year,” Lambert answered. “They’re bringing 300 families into the community, and they’ve done it…how many years have they been here (here, is Lamar Dixon Expo Center)? A lot of years.”
“We gave the Boucherie Festival $5,000,” Williams pointed out the disparity.
It did not matter. Lambert’s motion died for lack of a second.
But Councilman Williams point was well-taken. It is inconsistent to give the (Sorrento) Boucherie Festival Association a maximum amount, then turn away Gonzales-based organizations.
A handful of meetings ago, the council declined to approve three applications for assistance made by non-profit organizations, each by a 3-2 vote. Typical of deliberations, first-year council member Teri Lambert led the discussion by invocation of “the Cabela’s Test” to reject the requests in all three instances. Colleagues, Kirk Boudreaux and Tyler Turner, joined her in opposition.
- The ARC of East Ascension sought $5,000 to replace ruined equipment needed in its long-time pecan peeling operation;
- Another group wanted rental fees at PACE Center waived for a cancer fundraising event; and
- Jambalaya Festival Association requested waiver of the fees for its annual pageant.
Nobody bothered to invoke “the Cabela’s Test” in the Rodeo Association deliberations. The inconsistency could be avoided if established criteria were implemented for every Community Partnership request.
It is a clear break from past councils which have supported several non-profit organizations, budgeting $50-100,000 for Community Event Management and Community Development in Gonzales’ recent budgets. A specific line-item appropriating $50,000 to Jambalaya Festival Association goes back nearly a decade.
But 80% of the most recent requests for funding and Community Partnership have been rejected, all but the Rodeo Association’s by 3-2 votes. In each of those instances, the denying majority was comprised of council members Kirk Boudreau, Tyler Turner and Terri Lambert. It’s starting to feel like a trend.
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