By Dale Bryant
The Los Gatos Downtown Association, which on Sept. 22 decided to proceed with plans to produce its second annual Cats Festival--and to try to reactivate the downtown business improvement district--met in an emergency session July 9 and agreed to do neither.
Precipitating the Cats Festival decision was a letter from Signature Productions, which had been in discussions with the LGDA about producing the festival, saying there was not enough lead time to produce the event. The decision not to pursue the reactivation of the BID could pretty much be chalked up to a lack of energy.
The organization has struggled since town funding ended last December. An ambitious membership drive brought in only 45 paid members, as well as several $5,000 sustaining memberships. News that there would be no Cats Festival, however, prompted one of those sustaining members to withhold a second $2,500 payment.
Last month, Barbra Drizin Toren announced her resignation as the downtown association's executive director. She agreed, however, to stay on for a small consulting fee to oversee preparations for the Cats Festival. The decision by Signature Productions, however, pretty much sealed the fate of the festival which, last year, drew an enthusiastic hometown crowd.
Although board members left their June 5 meeting enthusiastic about reviving the BID, the consensus at the emergency meeting was that no one had the time to put into it.
Teri Hope, who owns the Los Gatos Roasting Company, attended the board meeting at the invitation of the LGDA to allow her to decide if she wanted to make good on the second installment, now due, of her $5,000 sustaining-membership pledge.
Although Hope is not a board member, she was active in the formation of the LGDA and currently serves on the board of the new Town Chamber of Commerce.
"I feel strongly that this organization needs to stay alive," Hope said. "We can't afford an office or a paid director, but we survived that way for 10 years."
Hope said she was willing to make good on her pledge if the organization would stay in business, at least through the end of the year. She was particularly concerned that the carriage rides, which the LGDA operated last year during the holiday season, continue.
Kurt Lemons, who also sits on the chamber board, suggested the LGDA approach the chamber about some sort of affiliation. The Town of Los Gatos Chamber is affiliated with the San Jose Metropolitan Chamber.
"I don't think we should give up our nonprofit status," Lemons said, "but we might be able to work out an affiliation that would allow us to get administrative assistance from the chamber."
The LGDA, for now, is operating as a strictly volunteer organization. The board decided to give up its office at the Neighborhood Center.
Lemons agreed to keep the organization's records and important papers, and the group scheduled its next meeting for Aug. 6 at 8 a.m. in the Neighborhood Center.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, July 17, 1996.
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