For two years now, the downtown businesses have repeatedly expressed our displeasure over the administration’s decision to relocate the UFO festival off Main street. It has literally fallen on deaf ears, or they are more concerned about making up money lost on projects that very few people wanted or agreed with.
In 2019 the Administration covertly decided to hold the 2020 UFO festival at the newly renovated convention center that the city was losing money on. Immediately, a coalition of businesses on main street spoke out against it. We were given one excuse after another about why it was being moved, including a lame statement that a survey was done to determine if the festival helps the downtown businesses. It was presented under the cloak of all events not just the UFO festival. None of the businesses I spoke with recalled ever getting the survey or responding to it. Then the pandemic happened, and all the events were canceled.
The paper touted that a private venue would be organizing this year’s festival. Several times over the past year I was contacted by representatives of the city, Main Street Roswell, and the event coordinators asking if we would support this year’s festival; the last time being from a representative that came to our store in person. Each time, I expressly stated that we would NOT support the festival if it wasn’t downtown on Main Street. I was fully assured, specifically that it WOULD be on Main street. They lied.
On April 30, 2021 I discovered that it is not going to be on Main street or even downtown. It will be at the Cielo Grande recreation center, another boondoggle that the city is losing money on. When I tried to contact those involved, I received no response or a very elusive reply. The last person I spoke with, the gentleman who was at our store, tried to say there was a miscommunication, even though he specifically told me a few months ago the festival would definitely be on main street.
In regard to the event itself:
The vendors of the event will be mostly from out of town, if not out of state. So the only people that will be making money will be the vendors and the city. There will be no event on Main street. Main Street Roswell will holding their event on the courthouse lawn. So there will be little if any motivation for people who are attending the event to even come downtown. Yes, there will be those who come regularly to their favorite stops, but the festival will have no bearing on that.
If you feel that this is an injustice being done to the local businesses or don’t agree with this deception, I ask that you contact your councilperson or the Mayor, and let them know or act in whatever ways seems appropriate (eg...not participate in or patronize the event).
Our leaders must be informed that they work for us and our interests, not their own agendas.
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