Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Mateel Board Statement on Reggae on the River® 2007
Reggae on the River and the Mateel Community Looks Forward to 2008 and Beyond
[Redway, California, May 16, 2007] It is with sadness and heavy hearts that the Mateel’s Board of Directors announces that it has passed a resolution that Reggae on the River® will not be held on the Dimmick Ranch in August 2007.
This resolution comes in response to the economic pressures of going forward with this event in the face of landowner Tom Dimmick’s refusal to honor the ten-year contractual commitment made to this Board in 2005 when the event was forced into moving. Represented by the then very recent ex-partner of People Productions, Paul Bassis, the owner of Dimmick Ranch along with People Productions have been pressuring the board to sell this event since October 2006. Letters delivered from Tom Dimmick stated that People Productions would not work with the Mateel again and the only resolution seen was to sell this event to him for much less than the amounts projected by People Productions as income for the Mateel. Subsequently, Carol Bruno of People Productions stood up at the Mateel’s Annual Meeting on November 17, 2006 and stated “The only way for me to continue is to propose that Tom Dimmick and People Productions license the event from the Mateel”. Our attempts to work out a deal with them in mediation were unsuccessful. The ensuing struggle that People Productions initiated to take over this event has drained both the community center and the emotions of the community as a whole. The Board has repeatedly stated it does not want to sell the community’s event. For over 23 years, Reggae on the River® has been an integral part of both our funding and our programming content to meet our mission goals.
Throughout, the Mateel Board has repeatedly attempted to resolve this matter in good faith. It was the Mateel Board that initiated the call for immediate mediation in October 2006 before the contract ended. Our needs, as a nonprofit organization, have been mostly ignored. The Board cannot just give away the community’s event and source of financing. Yet, our efforts have been met with delays and stonewalling on the real issues.
Now, months later, without any clear access to the property that we were promised, the Board of the Mateel Community Center made a final effort last weekend with one more offer. This offer was crafted to allow the festival to go on this year under the Reggae on the River® name so that the rest of the nonprofit community and other local businesses would not have to face the same shortfall of funds the Mateel is laboring under.
Given that we were working with a for-profit corporation, the Board believed that, by lowering to rock bottom the amount of money to be paid to the Mateel for this year’s festival, it could bring about a settlement that would allow this year’s event to go forward. The dispute would then be resolved through the normal legal course after the conclusion of Reggae on the River® 2007. Since Tom Dimmick has repeatedly stated that it is his desire is to continue this festival for the good of the community, the Board extended to him the means to show that this was more than mere words. The Board gave Tom Dimmick the opportunity to put these words into action and accept a deal for Reggae on the River® 2007 for the sake of the community. The Mateel’s resolve has been met with a cold shoulder and a demand for yet another capitulation on the name of the event.
Allowing Reggae Rising’s name to be used, even in conjunction with the Reggae on the River name, would set the stage for the completion of the very takeover and degradation of our trademark within three or four years that we have been fighting against all along. Checks could be cut with the name Reggae Rising. Business owners could be contacted with the name Reggae Rising and so on. For the past number of years this same tactic was used by People Production’s use of their name in place of the Mateel Community Center’s. This board ended that move with strong trademark language inserted into the 2005 contract. Now we are fighting the same battle all over again. This was the only sticking point in the one year resolution to the battle.
Now, we have come to that dark hour before dawn where we must give up our ardent push for a Reggae on the River® event this summer and move our resources into providing for 2008 and beyond for the benefit of the community.
The degrading of our property rights in the Reggae on the River® trademark by allowing its use in conjunction with Reggae Rising cannot be allowed to take place. It appears there is no place of moderate settlement. While our position has changed dramatically over the course of the last eight months, the other party offers demanding capitulation have not changed substantially except as needed to delay the lawsuit actions and drive the Mateel toward the brink where the hijacking of our property could be completed without paying a dime to the community for this asset. In the Board’s opinion, these are the defining points of a long planned corporate takeover in Southern Humboldt’s own backyard. Our members have told us repeatedly to stand up against such tactics but to try to make this year’s event happen.
We tried.
It is the Mateel Board’s position that we will prevail in the lawsuit and that the community will see a Reggae on the River® event take place in 2008 and beyond. Our community’s signature event will rest for this year while the Board of the Mateel take the steps necessary to protect it for the future. The original intent of this festival was to rebuild and maintain a community center for the benefit of the Southern Humboldt community at large and not the enrichment of a few individuals.
Additionally, we would like to extend our most profound thanks to 2b1 Multimedia Inc. for coming to the Mateel’s defense when other production companies, fearful of the intense competitive backlash of People Productions, would not step up. 2b1 Multimedia had the courage to take on the challenge for our community when many simply sat on the sidelines waiting for the strongest to emerge in a very ruthless industry. Last week’s push by the Reggae Rising event to undermine Reggae on the River® 2007 are indicative of that ruthlessness. 2b1 Multimedia held on until the last moment possible and we commend their actions on behalf of the Mateel.
We also would like to thank the volunteers, the coordinators, and the members of the Mateel who have stood steadfast with us as the battle for this year’s event raged. It has not been easy and we would like to acknowledge their commitment and perseverance to save this event regardless of personal alliances. We look forward to working on the 2008 production together.
The dispute over Reggae on the River® is not over as consideration of the merits of the Mateel’s position have yet to be adjudicated. It has only begun. The first lawsuit over the lease will be heard hopefully within the next few months and then the lawsuits regarding the unfair business practices against People Productions will follow. The Mateel will be reconfiguring its operations and staffing to align itself for the challenges ahead following the Summer Arts and Music Festival the first weekend of June 2007. We will do our best to keep the public informed by posting commentary on the website and through our regular Board meetings.
If you purchased a ticket please go to your place of purchase for a refund. For more info you can contact Ticket Web at Ticketweb.com or call 2b1 Multimedia Inc. 415 861-1520. For more info please see www.reggaeontheriver.com
How the local community can help:
The Summer Arts & Music Festival is looking for more volunteers. Sign up at www.mateel.org. Write, fax, email, or call the Humboldt County Planning Commission to support the Mateel Community Center’s plan for Reggae on the River® 2008 and beyond. Make clear to the Planning Commission that this community will not endorse an event with the name Reggae Rising if it is to supplant the community event Reggae on the River®. This permit must remain in the hands of the Mateel Community Center. Names and information are pasted below. We thank you for your time and efforts on the community’s behalf.
Humboldt County Website:
http://co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/planning/
Voice: (707) 445-7541
Fax: (707) 445-7446
Email: kgirard@co.humboldt.ca.us (Kirk Girard)
MRichardson@co.humboldt.ca.us (Michael Richardson)
Please cc a copy to office@mateel.org
Reggae on the River is the Registered Trademark of the Mateel Community Center
[Redway, California, May 16, 2007] It is with sadness and heavy hearts that the Mateel’s Board of Directors announces that it has passed a resolution that Reggae on the River® will not be held on the Dimmick Ranch in August 2007.
This resolution comes in response to the economic pressures of going forward with this event in the face of landowner Tom Dimmick’s refusal to honor the ten-year contractual commitment made to this Board in 2005 when the event was forced into moving. Represented by the then very recent ex-partner of People Productions, Paul Bassis, the owner of Dimmick Ranch along with People Productions have been pressuring the board to sell this event since October 2006. Letters delivered from Tom Dimmick stated that People Productions would not work with the Mateel again and the only resolution seen was to sell this event to him for much less than the amounts projected by People Productions as income for the Mateel. Subsequently, Carol Bruno of People Productions stood up at the Mateel’s Annual Meeting on November 17, 2006 and stated “The only way for me to continue is to propose that Tom Dimmick and People Productions license the event from the Mateel”. Our attempts to work out a deal with them in mediation were unsuccessful. The ensuing struggle that People Productions initiated to take over this event has drained both the community center and the emotions of the community as a whole. The Board has repeatedly stated it does not want to sell the community’s event. For over 23 years, Reggae on the River® has been an integral part of both our funding and our programming content to meet our mission goals.
Throughout, the Mateel Board has repeatedly attempted to resolve this matter in good faith. It was the Mateel Board that initiated the call for immediate mediation in October 2006 before the contract ended. Our needs, as a nonprofit organization, have been mostly ignored. The Board cannot just give away the community’s event and source of financing. Yet, our efforts have been met with delays and stonewalling on the real issues.
Now, months later, without any clear access to the property that we were promised, the Board of the Mateel Community Center made a final effort last weekend with one more offer. This offer was crafted to allow the festival to go on this year under the Reggae on the River® name so that the rest of the nonprofit community and other local businesses would not have to face the same shortfall of funds the Mateel is laboring under.
Given that we were working with a for-profit corporation, the Board believed that, by lowering to rock bottom the amount of money to be paid to the Mateel for this year’s festival, it could bring about a settlement that would allow this year’s event to go forward. The dispute would then be resolved through the normal legal course after the conclusion of Reggae on the River® 2007. Since Tom Dimmick has repeatedly stated that it is his desire is to continue this festival for the good of the community, the Board extended to him the means to show that this was more than mere words. The Board gave Tom Dimmick the opportunity to put these words into action and accept a deal for Reggae on the River® 2007 for the sake of the community. The Mateel’s resolve has been met with a cold shoulder and a demand for yet another capitulation on the name of the event.
Allowing Reggae Rising’s name to be used, even in conjunction with the Reggae on the River name, would set the stage for the completion of the very takeover and degradation of our trademark within three or four years that we have been fighting against all along. Checks could be cut with the name Reggae Rising. Business owners could be contacted with the name Reggae Rising and so on. For the past number of years this same tactic was used by People Production’s use of their name in place of the Mateel Community Center’s. This board ended that move with strong trademark language inserted into the 2005 contract. Now we are fighting the same battle all over again. This was the only sticking point in the one year resolution to the battle.
Now, we have come to that dark hour before dawn where we must give up our ardent push for a Reggae on the River® event this summer and move our resources into providing for 2008 and beyond for the benefit of the community.
The degrading of our property rights in the Reggae on the River® trademark by allowing its use in conjunction with Reggae Rising cannot be allowed to take place. It appears there is no place of moderate settlement. While our position has changed dramatically over the course of the last eight months, the other party offers demanding capitulation have not changed substantially except as needed to delay the lawsuit actions and drive the Mateel toward the brink where the hijacking of our property could be completed without paying a dime to the community for this asset. In the Board’s opinion, these are the defining points of a long planned corporate takeover in Southern Humboldt’s own backyard. Our members have told us repeatedly to stand up against such tactics but to try to make this year’s event happen.
We tried.
It is the Mateel Board’s position that we will prevail in the lawsuit and that the community will see a Reggae on the River® event take place in 2008 and beyond. Our community’s signature event will rest for this year while the Board of the Mateel take the steps necessary to protect it for the future. The original intent of this festival was to rebuild and maintain a community center for the benefit of the Southern Humboldt community at large and not the enrichment of a few individuals.
Additionally, we would like to extend our most profound thanks to 2b1 Multimedia Inc. for coming to the Mateel’s defense when other production companies, fearful of the intense competitive backlash of People Productions, would not step up. 2b1 Multimedia had the courage to take on the challenge for our community when many simply sat on the sidelines waiting for the strongest to emerge in a very ruthless industry. Last week’s push by the Reggae Rising event to undermine Reggae on the River® 2007 are indicative of that ruthlessness. 2b1 Multimedia held on until the last moment possible and we commend their actions on behalf of the Mateel.
We also would like to thank the volunteers, the coordinators, and the members of the Mateel who have stood steadfast with us as the battle for this year’s event raged. It has not been easy and we would like to acknowledge their commitment and perseverance to save this event regardless of personal alliances. We look forward to working on the 2008 production together.
The dispute over Reggae on the River® is not over as consideration of the merits of the Mateel’s position have yet to be adjudicated. It has only begun. The first lawsuit over the lease will be heard hopefully within the next few months and then the lawsuits regarding the unfair business practices against People Productions will follow. The Mateel will be reconfiguring its operations and staffing to align itself for the challenges ahead following the Summer Arts and Music Festival the first weekend of June 2007. We will do our best to keep the public informed by posting commentary on the website and through our regular Board meetings.
If you purchased a ticket please go to your place of purchase for a refund. For more info you can contact Ticket Web at Ticketweb.com or call 2b1 Multimedia Inc. 415 861-1520. For more info please see www.reggaeontheriver.com
How the local community can help:
The Summer Arts & Music Festival is looking for more volunteers. Sign up at www.mateel.org. Write, fax, email, or call the Humboldt County Planning Commission to support the Mateel Community Center’s plan for Reggae on the River® 2008 and beyond. Make clear to the Planning Commission that this community will not endorse an event with the name Reggae Rising if it is to supplant the community event Reggae on the River®. This permit must remain in the hands of the Mateel Community Center. Names and information are pasted below. We thank you for your time and efforts on the community’s behalf.
Humboldt County Website:
http://co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/planning/
Voice: (707) 445-7541
Fax: (707) 445-7446
Email: kgirard@co.humboldt.ca.us (Kirk Girard)
MRichardson@co.humboldt.ca.us (Michael Richardson)
Please cc a copy to office@mateel.org
Reggae on the River is the Registered Trademark of the Mateel Community Center
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Just returned to SoHum after several years away. And THIS is the topic on all sides. Too sad to see this breaking of a community heart and soul.l
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