Reggae: Past, Present and Future

Andy writes saying:

Put this on the blog if you want

Everyone down here who opens his mouth on all this claims "cred" in some way or other. Yeah, yeah, me too. I fell in love with the sohum vibe at the Fireman's Hall (Levon Helm show in 81), helped build the new hall, and did various projects for the MCC Boards over the years. I helped conduct two community-wide surveys that gave info to the board before the MCC/PP split, and during Katherine M's tenure. Here's my hit.

The audit confirmed what seemed obvious to me: ROTR was run like everything else down here: friends hiring friends with a lot going unrecorded. $300M with no paper trail? 3000 unaccounted wristbands? 11000 given away to staff/volunteers/guests? Woah. That's WAY over the permit, right? Is that a business or a potluck?

The sad part: the MCC knew all this was happening-- or should have seriously
suspected-- for YEARS. But the money kept coming, so, "shut up and trust
us" worked for everybody. Until the cow dried up.

The MCC trusted their star milkmaids (PP) to keep churning out the cream
from the cash cow. Fine. But to let the milkmaids keep the cow under lock
and key with no input on how the old cow was cared for??? I'm not saying
there was skimming. PP has always done the best job they can, in my view.
But they had nothing to lose and got their cream first. To expect PP to
watch out for the MCC? That's the MCC's job.

Both parties blew it big time.

Now the slack in the tether holding the cash cow in check is being reeled in
FAST. Too bad Judge Watson has to do it. PP and MCC just didn't have the
balls to face the music and grow up, act like adults, admit mistakes and
face the music.

Carol says she'll give a guarantee. With what? The last two years tanked.

Is the MCC gonna FORCE Dimmick to have ROTR at his place? Not possible in
America. All they can do in the best case is to sue him for loss of use. How
do they expect to prove value with no figures? Now THERE'S a victory for the
community.

Is Boots nuts? He signs over $300M with no clear path to putting on a show?
Oh. I forgot. He loves the Mateel. Cool.

We are all crazy down here. Maybe this will wake us up to the lunacy of
counting on 10 to 15 thousand kids from the Bay Area to fund our hideout in
the Redwoods. It's back to pay as you go, folks. Heather Kornberg, MCC Board
member, 2nd generation Mateelie, had it right. Each affinity group has to
reach out for the REAL community support.

The money is here. Is the will? As far as a music festival goes, get over
it. Look to the future of Hip Hop (Spearhead et al). Get over it.

Onward,

Andy Barnett