First off, I have to recognize the Mallards and their GM Vern Stenman for their proposal to continue Fourth of July fireworks in Warner Park. It's a credit to their organization that they stepped up so soon after Wednesday's announcement of Rhythm & Booms being moved downtown. Despite reports to the contrary, the Mallards' announcement did manage to defuse much of the tension at last night's meeting.
That said, there was still a lot of anger in the room. I give Alds. Palm and Weier credit for keeping their cools and shutting down a few outbursts of outright hostility. But the crowd wasn't buying the official line that this was strictly Madison Festivals' call.
And I don't think the crowd was wrong.
We got one very interesting piece of news: The fireworks in Elver Park are slated for elimination because Woodman's, the lead sponsor, signed onto Madison Festivals' Lake Monona show. It wasn't discussed in depth because Elver Park isn't our bailiwick, but in hindsight it's quite suggestive that the City -- or more accurately, Mayor Soglin -- was more involved than they'd care to admit.
Is it plausible that Madison Festivals could have made the commitments to line up Woodman's and other major sponsors without the Mayor backing them up? Or that sponsors would sign onto an event that had only been in planning for a week and a half? Can anyone think Soglin simply wandered into Wednesday's press conference?
It strains credulity to suggest that moving Rhythm & Booms to Lake Monona hasn't been in the works for weeks, that the Mayor hasn't been involved over that time, and that the City has no role in setting the terms and conditions that make Warner Park "financially unviable" for Madison Festivals. Frankly, I'm surprised that Palm and Weier were still willing to offer Soglin political cover last night after what he pulled on them.
Meanwhile, Wild Warner is asking the Parks Commission for control over a third of the park. I found it particularly galling that the group's #2, Trish O'Kane, used her comments last night to bemoan segregation and division on the Northside. Considering their role in hounding out Madison's least segregated community event and sowing division among their neighbors, her words ring hollow.
Stay tuned.
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