Thursday, March 15, 2007
Dimmick Ranch Press Release - March 15, 2007
This showed up around the same time at the note below from 2b1.
Open Letter to the Community From Tom Dimmick
This community and I have enjoyed Reggae on the River for 23 years. In this spirit, I purchased the Dimmick Ranch and structured a lease for use of the land. That lease was intended to help fund the land’s purchase and the insurance policies necessary for a large-scale event, and in the greater sense, to serve as the new “home” of our annual reggae festival.
Through my experience with the MCC, as a neighbor and landlord, I came to know People Productions and developed confidence in their ability to manage this large-scale event. This played into my willingness to purchase the land and take on the accompanying liability. It also drove me to include PP explicitly in my lease with MCC for use of the land. When Mateel removed PP as producer, the lease was clearly breached and, as a result, terminated.
To ensure public safety, mitigate county agency requirements and accommodate the festival, more than $400,000 worth of infrastructure and equipment were needed. Of this expense $300,000 was covered by the MCC, while I contributed more than $100,000 – a figure above and beyond the $50,000 contracted amount.
We spent countless hours implementing the requirements of various state, county and city agencies to make the 2006 ROTR the best it could be. We also worked closely with MCC members, PP, community volunteers and many of the regions’ non-profit organizations. Together we developed new operational plans for every area. CHP and CalTrans concerns about traffic flow on Friday morning and a new entry location for the festival, necessitated a complete revision of the traffic plan. We instituted the sale of Thursday night arrival, Pre-Sale Camping for the Dimmick Ranch and Cooks Valley Camping Area, and this effectively solved the traffic problems. This crucial mitigation has already been overlooked by the new producer who lacks institutional history.
PP has the institutional history to produce this event. Carol Bruno and much of her staff have 23 years invested in ROTR. I’ve taken in the festival, invested in it and given it a permanent home when it might have otherwise been “homeless” or worse. Yes, the MCC profits the most from this event. But the way I see it, we all have an investment here, and we all stand to lose.
More than a half dozen offers – offers that allow the MCC to recoup its expenses for the Dimmick Ranch infrastructure and equipment AND realize a return on this investment – have been put on the table. Offers for lucrative licensing arrangements have been made. All are aimed at avoiding litigation – an expense, and one with the potential to involve costly damages for our community center. I’ve actively and aggressively explored settlement in formal settings, through “friends” and directly – all the while making it clear that I am open to counter-offers.
To preserve an annual reggae festival for Dimmick Ranch, PP, the fans and our local non-profits that rely on it for their funding, Reggae Rising was launched. While I’ve had an early legal victory in avoiding a temporary restraining order that would have barred the event, I’ve continued to work toward an equitable win-win-win settlement for the three parties invested in the event – and a win for the community.
Now, MCC is selling ROTR tickets to a venue they do not have a right to occupy. The promotion of the event has already violated the spirit of the traffic plan we worked hard to hammer out. Continuing in this manner will hurt us all and threatens to bring down this fine tradition due to safety concerns. It most definitely increases the chance that the lawsuits will be fought to completion. If that happens, any chance for a reasonable settlement with the potential to preserve the original spirit of event and the financial integrity of the MCC AND the Dimmick Ranch will be gone forever. If the MCC continues on its current path, it may well bring down not only itself, but also the festival that has become so important to the community.
Despite the lawsuits, festival confusion, and community division The Dimmick Ranch and People Productions remain committed to helping the MCC through its’ financial short falls. The Dimmick Ranch and PP agenda is to: produce and host a world-class reggae festival that’s safe for all attendees, heals the community spirit, and supports our nonprofit organizations, including the MCC.
Very Truly,
Tom Dimmick
Open Letter to the Community From Tom Dimmick
This community and I have enjoyed Reggae on the River for 23 years. In this spirit, I purchased the Dimmick Ranch and structured a lease for use of the land. That lease was intended to help fund the land’s purchase and the insurance policies necessary for a large-scale event, and in the greater sense, to serve as the new “home” of our annual reggae festival.
Through my experience with the MCC, as a neighbor and landlord, I came to know People Productions and developed confidence in their ability to manage this large-scale event. This played into my willingness to purchase the land and take on the accompanying liability. It also drove me to include PP explicitly in my lease with MCC for use of the land. When Mateel removed PP as producer, the lease was clearly breached and, as a result, terminated.
To ensure public safety, mitigate county agency requirements and accommodate the festival, more than $400,000 worth of infrastructure and equipment were needed. Of this expense $300,000 was covered by the MCC, while I contributed more than $100,000 – a figure above and beyond the $50,000 contracted amount.
We spent countless hours implementing the requirements of various state, county and city agencies to make the 2006 ROTR the best it could be. We also worked closely with MCC members, PP, community volunteers and many of the regions’ non-profit organizations. Together we developed new operational plans for every area. CHP and CalTrans concerns about traffic flow on Friday morning and a new entry location for the festival, necessitated a complete revision of the traffic plan. We instituted the sale of Thursday night arrival, Pre-Sale Camping for the Dimmick Ranch and Cooks Valley Camping Area, and this effectively solved the traffic problems. This crucial mitigation has already been overlooked by the new producer who lacks institutional history.
PP has the institutional history to produce this event. Carol Bruno and much of her staff have 23 years invested in ROTR. I’ve taken in the festival, invested in it and given it a permanent home when it might have otherwise been “homeless” or worse. Yes, the MCC profits the most from this event. But the way I see it, we all have an investment here, and we all stand to lose.
More than a half dozen offers – offers that allow the MCC to recoup its expenses for the Dimmick Ranch infrastructure and equipment AND realize a return on this investment – have been put on the table. Offers for lucrative licensing arrangements have been made. All are aimed at avoiding litigation – an expense, and one with the potential to involve costly damages for our community center. I’ve actively and aggressively explored settlement in formal settings, through “friends” and directly – all the while making it clear that I am open to counter-offers.
To preserve an annual reggae festival for Dimmick Ranch, PP, the fans and our local non-profits that rely on it for their funding, Reggae Rising was launched. While I’ve had an early legal victory in avoiding a temporary restraining order that would have barred the event, I’ve continued to work toward an equitable win-win-win settlement for the three parties invested in the event – and a win for the community.
Now, MCC is selling ROTR tickets to a venue they do not have a right to occupy. The promotion of the event has already violated the spirit of the traffic plan we worked hard to hammer out. Continuing in this manner will hurt us all and threatens to bring down this fine tradition due to safety concerns. It most definitely increases the chance that the lawsuits will be fought to completion. If that happens, any chance for a reasonable settlement with the potential to preserve the original spirit of event and the financial integrity of the MCC AND the Dimmick Ranch will be gone forever. If the MCC continues on its current path, it may well bring down not only itself, but also the festival that has become so important to the community.
Despite the lawsuits, festival confusion, and community division The Dimmick Ranch and People Productions remain committed to helping the MCC through its’ financial short falls. The Dimmick Ranch and PP agenda is to: produce and host a world-class reggae festival that’s safe for all attendees, heals the community spirit, and supports our nonprofit organizations, including the MCC.
Very Truly,
Tom Dimmick
Comments:
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Your community center has insurance which will cover a good portion of those legal expenses. And a nonprofit rate from their attorneys. A couple free pro bono attorneys too.
# posted by 
: 9:16 PM
: 9:16 PM
"The Dimmick Ranch and PP agenda is to: produce and host a world-class reggae festival that’s safe for all attendees, heals the community spirit, and supports our nonprofit organizations, including the MCC."
And it shall be called Reggae on the River. Let it be written-let it be done.
And it shall be called Reggae on the River. Let it be written-let it be done.
# posted by : 2:33 PM
: 2:33 PM
New blogger so forgive any mistakes. I read somewhere that it was in Carol
Brunos' contract that she "CAN NOT"
quit. Can a contract really say that? And then if she says I quit in front of 300-400 people, did she not then break the contract? Also, if Tom Dimmick is prchasing land that is already in his family, with money from a festival that is about non-profits, what happens when he has paid for the land, and maybe decides he doesn't want the festival there anymore? If there is enough money to purchase that kind of land, why doesn't the Mateel buy it themselves, so they can have a home for ROTR for as long as they want? Or any other festivals? Again, Am new here, so forgive me if any of this has been already answered, I missed it. This
"soap opera" is real life.
Brunos' contract that she "CAN NOT"
quit. Can a contract really say that? And then if she says I quit in front of 300-400 people, did she not then break the contract? Also, if Tom Dimmick is prchasing land that is already in his family, with money from a festival that is about non-profits, what happens when he has paid for the land, and maybe decides he doesn't want the festival there anymore? If there is enough money to purchase that kind of land, why doesn't the Mateel buy it themselves, so they can have a home for ROTR for as long as they want? Or any other festivals? Again, Am new here, so forgive me if any of this has been already answered, I missed it. This
"soap opera" is real life.
# posted by : 10:05 AM
: 10:05 AM
Anonymous - I don't have answers to any of your questions, but I don't think the Dimmick ranch is big enough to hold a festival on its own. French's Camp is the key because it's the area with the space necessary for a big event. The main positive about the Dimmick ranch is that it has better access off the freeway than the normal French's camp gate. In other words, Dimmick ranch is mostly useful as a thoroughfare to French's Camp, moreso than as a concert area in and of itself.
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# posted by : 11:08 PM
: 11:08 PM << Home
