Football league, Ludlow duel over festival

 

An odd conflict has broken out in Ludlow over a festival and a youth football league.

 

For more than 50 years, Ludlow residents have gathered along the Ohio River every summer for a fireworks festival in June.

 

But questions over when the Ludlow Summer Fireworks Festival should be held, how the festival should be financed and who should benefit have thrown next year's festival into question.

 

Some say the conflict threatens the future of the local youth football league, where more than 100 children, ages 8 to13, play football and cheerlead. Ludlow Youth Football has managed the festival as its principal fundraiser for the past 10 years after the city handed the festival's reigns to the organization.

 

"In order to get families to bring their kids out to play and keep them off the street, we have our football, which is the only football organization for youth programs in the city," said Jason Richardson, athletic director for Ludlow Youth Football. He has two children who play football in the league.

 

Some city officials, however, started to question whether the city should be paying $8,000 a year for a festival that largely just benefits one organization. The city also provides free police protection.

 

The city has contracted with an event organizer to hold a new fireworks festival May 21 that many organizations can participate in and raise money.

 

The issue came to a head this July when Ludlow Youth Football asked for a reimbursement of expenses from the city.

 

City administrator Elishia Chamberlain took over last July and said the way the fireworks festival was run didn't seem ethical. She said last fall she told them the city would pay for the fireworks in 2015 and then take the festival back over in 2016.

 

She felt that the festival amounted to a private donation with tax dollars.

 

"I cannot in good conscience take tax dollars for this," Chamberlain said. "Yes, the fireworks as a whole is a community event. But the city should recoup the money to keep it going each year and not spend tax dollars when we don't have fully staffed departments and employees are paid lower salaries and not receiving raises compared to cities of comparable size."

 

Dozens of parents and children decked in their red Ludlow football jerseys filled the last city council meeting wanting to resolve the situation. They weren't on the agenda, so will have to come back for the Ludlow City Council caucus meeting on Thursday, which promises to be a sea of red jerseys in the seats.

 

The football league understands if the city doesn't want to pay for the fireworks, Richardson said.

 

They want the city to reschedule its festival to the fall so it doesn't take away donors and support for the Ludlow Youth Football fireworks festival scheduled for June 3.

 

"We simply asked when they decided they want to have one, too. Why can't they have a fall festival?" Richardson said. "Give us our opportunity to make money so we can support our kids."

 

The $6,000 the festival raises each year for the football league pays for equipment and insurance. The insurance costs $6,000 each year, Richardson said. In 2013, the league spent $13,000 to buy regulation football helmets.

 

"We have to replace helmets every 10 years," Richardson said. "We have to replace shoulder pads every 10 years. That stuff is not cheap. Without a fundraiser, we can't do that."

 

With 23 percent of the population in Ludlow below the poverty line, the football league can't afford to charge families the cost to replace the equipment, he said.

 

That fact also makes parents concerned that the city festival on May 21 would cut into their profits. Ludlow Schools also hosts a May festival, said Cindy Powell, whose grandchildren play in the league. Powell is the league's treasurer and organizes the fireworks festival.

 

"(The city) is going to turn around two weeks later and host a May festival, and we're two weeks later with a June festival," Powell said. "The financial impact on families – some festival is going to pay the price. Since we're the last in line, it's probably ours."

 

Chamberlain said the city has already contracted with an event organizer for the May 21 fireworks festival. But the city can consider canceling or moving the festival, Chamberlain said. But the fireworks festival can't take place in the extreme heat of mid-summer or cold of fall.

 

"I don't understand why their event can't be moved to a different date," Chamberlain said. "We're taking back an event that was a city event. ...We can re-plan the entire event. This is a conversation that could happen."

What is the costs for Ludlow to hire an outside event planner to run this event?

 

So, Ludlow would rather pay a private company money than their local youth organization?

It would be a shame to put a damper on the Ludlow organization. The program has come a long way and the kids there need that.

The money should go towards the kids.

Ludlow, youth football league call a truce

 

The city of Ludlow and a youth football league might have written the final chapter Thursday night in their odd and contentious feud over a summer festival.

 

The city Thursday night agreed to drop the court action seeking financial records of the Ludlow Youth Football league.

 

“This is important to all citizens of Ludlow,” said Phil Taliaferro, attorney for the league. “This has not been a fun time, particularly for the football team.”

 

The city and Ludlow Youth Football have sparred over the Ludlow Summer Fireworks Festival for the past year. Some city council meetings became heated between city officials and parents.

 

It landed in court last month.

 

The city of Ludlow filed an injunction in December to compel the Ludlow Youth Football league to show how it spent city money and resources for its annual fireworks festival.

 

The Ludlow Fireworks Festival in June has served as the chief fundraiser for the Ludlow Youth Football, which involves about 140 children either as players or cheerleaders. Tempers flared when the city decided to pull its financial support for the festival and start another festival. Some city officials said using taxpayer money to support a festival for an individual organization wasn’t ethical. Ludlow Youth Football members complained that the city was trying to compete with their festival. The Ludlow mayor decided not to have a separate city festival, though the city still won’t contribute anymore to the fireworks festival.

 

It looked like it might be another showdown Thursday night at Ludlow City Hall when dozens of parents and young football players packed council chambers.

 

Instead, they reached an amicable and quick solution.

 

“It’s time to move on,” City Councilman Dan Ashcraft. “I think it is really unfortunate. There’s a lot of good things happening in Ludlow, and we don’t need these kind of things getting in the way of progress. I have great hopes for Ludlow, and they don’t involve council, the mayor or anyone fighting with their citizens.”

 

The city had invested $8,000 in money, labor and resources into the festival. The city was performing its due diligence for the annual audit when it submitted an open records request to the league, said City Administrator Elishia Chamberlain.

 

"We're just making sure for the annual audit to ensure the funds we're supplying for an organization are used correctly," Chamberlain said.

 

The football league in court filings said they are not a public agency and therefore not subject to the state open records law.

 

The league countersued wanting to recoup its legal expenses. The league’s attorney and members weren’t sure whether they would still pursue the legal expenses.

 

The city Thursday accepted a letter from the league’s attorney that the league doesn’t keep the records in question. That fulfilled the requirements of the audit, City Attorney Jeffrey Otis.

 

The league still plans on holding the festival in June without the city’s contributions.

 

Ludlow residents for 50 years have gathered along the Ohio River every summer for the fireworks festival. The Ludlow Youth Football league began managing the festival 10 years.

 

The battle between the city and league has left many disappointed but hopeful that they can put it behind them. Jason Richardson has two children in the league, one who plays football and another who cheerleads. He’s the athletic director and said the past year has cost the league and the city both in money and morale.

 

“I hope we turned the corner,” Richardson said. “I hope that as a youth organization and as a city we can work together and create good things for these kids.”

The city Thursday accepted a letter from the league’s attorney that the league doesn’t keep the records in question. That fulfilled the requirements of the audit, City Attorney Jeffrey Otis.

 

Thats a little concerning if they are not keeping records of where their money comes and goes.

This is pay me now or pay me later proposition: if the city wants to keep kids off the streets, keep them actively joined in sports and reduce potential criminal activity, then they don't need as many law enforcement personnel to police the problem, right ?

The city Thursday accepted a letter from the league’s attorney that the league doesn’t keep the records in question. That fulfilled the requirements of the audit, City Attorney Jeffrey Otis.

 

Thats a little concerning if they are not keeping records of where their money comes and goes.

 

Exactly. Several of these NKYFL teams have run into 'issues' with financial accountability. Some of which are criminal.

Don't have time to re-read the article, but did I get this right...the city was paying $8,000 for a fesitval that raised $6,000 for the football league?

Carry on...just stopping in to catch up...

 

:popcorn:

Don't have time to re-read the article, but did I get this right...the city was paying $8,000 for a fesitval that raised $6,000 for the football league?

 

LOL Yep.

The city Thursday accepted a letter from the league’s attorney that the league doesn’t keep the records in question. That fulfilled the requirements of the audit, City Attorney Jeffrey Otis.

 

Thats a little concerning if they are not keeping records of where their money comes and goes.

 

That struck me as odd also. If I were a parent or Ludlow taxpayer that would concern me.

With the wording of the article, there leaves too much room for interpretation. The article does/doesn't say that 8,000 of money and resources is given to the league. My interpretation is that total resource allocation for labor and fireworks is 8,000. I do not believe any of the money is given to the youth league. Kudos to the city for funding the fireworks for the people. Better yet, for the City and Parks Dept letting the Ludlow Panthers have a festival that supports a needed athletic endeavor for the boys and girls of Ludlow.

 

The only people getting enriched from the festival are the children.

If Ludlow Youth Football needs help with fundraising Orange Leaf Crescent Springs would love to participate.

I think it prudent for the masses to, since this appears to be past LYF, to focus on the TREMENDOUS work that the current LYF board - led by President Jason Richardson - have done to help the children of Ludlow.

 

Their numbers are increasing every year, their relationship with the schools have benefitted both organizations, and - most importantly - the kids are getting better experiences.

 

Kudos to LYF ... keep up the great work! Ludlow needs you!