Over Coffee by Gay Wiley Shook gay.shook@gmail.com

February 5, 2010

If any of you are interested in reading about the public relations fiasco that is going on in the city of Norcross at the moment, I will attempt to explain how this mess all came about. First, I must mention the disclaimer that I have been a member of the Norcross Woman’s Club since 1997. My husband is one of the five trustees of the Woman’s Club, all of whom are men. The Norcross Woman’s Club has been in existence since 1905.

The Norcross Fall Festival/Art Fest has been in existence for about 40 years. It has had a variety of locations during that time, but has evolved into a downtown art festival of note, drawing some 30,000 people to the October two-day event. The Norcross Art Fest is owned and operated by the Norcross Woman’s Club and the Norcross Lions Club, which together formed a non-profit 501(c)3 organization called Norcross Festival, Inc. in order to produce the event. Proceeds from the festival are distributed to a long list of local charities, as well as a share to the city of Norcross. 

Six years ago it was decided to hire a manager for the event and a woman by the name of Frances Shube was selected. She made a number of changes in the event profile and was instrumental in increasing its popularity. Shube was employed on a yearly contract, the last of which paid her 21% of the gross revenue. 

When it came time to approve the contract for the 2010 festival, Shube had by then incorporated herself into a for-profit company called Splash Festivals, Inc. and her proposal to Norcross Festival, Inc. called for Splash Festivals, Inc. to be paid 66% of net revenue. 

The entities of the Norcross Festival, Inc. (Woman’s Club and Lions Club), both individually and together, were unable to accept this excessive charge to manage the Norcross Art Fest. This event has always been a charitable endeavor manned by volunteers working for the benefit of others in need. Shube asked for an opportunity to submit a second proposal. 

The second proposal was a graduated scale depending upon how much money was raised, but if we raised $60,000 and above, which we certainly hope to do, Splash Festivals, Inc. was to be paid 61% of net income. The Woman’s Club and the Lions Club were still unable to accept this proposal, with its still-excessive charge. The proposal was declined. We simply could not afford Splash Festivals. 

The two clubs then turned to an interim committee to take care of all of the organizational items that needed to be accomplished in the beginning of the year. The co- interim chairs appointed by the two clubs are Suzi Chaapel , past president of the Woman’s Club, and Ron Shook , trustee of the Woman’s Club and retired vice president of The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. Interviews were begun to find a festival manager who would do the job for far, far less money than Splash Festivals wanted. 

Now things have been halted. The city of Norcross has thrown the venerable Woman’s Club and the loyal Lions Club under the bus. Norcross Festival, Inc. has been refused permission to conduct the Norcross Art Fest. Instead, Shube and her Splash Festivals has been awarded the management of the Norcross Art Fest. 

Norcross city employee Rip Robertson and his Events Committee voted unanimously 5-0 in an unpublished Sunshine-Law-ignored meeting this week to dump the Norcross Festival, Inc. and officially give Shube the go-ahead. This decision was supposedly determined by deciding which of two very subjective proposals submitted by the two applicants was “best.” 

This astonishing ruling by the city of Norcross can be seen as evidence that the deck was most assuredly stacked against the Woman’s Club and the Lions Club in this issue from the moment Shube’s second proposal to the two clubs was declined, or perhaps even before that. Shube and her particular cohorts in city government had no intention of relinquishing this visible and viable city festival and the result is now out in public for all to see. Let me tell you what brings me to this conclusion: 

When the second Shube proposal was sent to us, it was materially not that different from the first proposal. It was definitely not a proposal from someone who really wanted to get the contract, having had their first proposal declined. We wondered at the time if Splash Festivals did not really care if we accepted the proposal or not, perhaps already believing they were going to run the festival without us anyway. 

Then, also back in December, when the two clubs could not accept Shube’s management proposal, we visited Rip Robertson’s office to be sure that the October 2 & 3, 2010 festival dates were on the city calendar and to obtain the required permit. Robertson was particularly unfriendly at this time, telling us to return at the end of January. We concluded then that he was decidedly in Shube’s camp. But, we jumped through all the hoops required of us, even though the “application” was extensive, unclear in parts, redundant, and subjective. 

It should be noted that the Splash proposed budget for 2010 submitted to us assumes festival income will rise 24.7% over 2009 to $70,130. Profits would increase 61.9% over 2009 to $44,127. The management fee for Splash Festival would increase 146.6% over 2009 to $29,124. What is left for the charitable donation would DROP 12.66% over 2009 to $13,238 . 

It should also be noted that from 2006 to 2009 under Shube’s management, festival profits have declined steadily, each succeeding year worse than the last, as have the funds available for charitable donations. According to the Woman’s Club treasurer, their share of the festival profits were as follows: 2006- $7,340.00; 2007- $6,289.24; 2008-$6,256.28; and 2009- $4,290.43. These funds were duly distributed to a list of charities, which are listed on the Web site at www.norcrosswomansclub.org .  in the History tab. The Lions Club received an identical share to distribute, as did the city of Norcross to spend. 

This whole distasteful event has provided the catalyst for the Norcross Woman’s Club and the Norcross Lions Club (Norcross Festival, Inc.) to reassess the whole cost structure of the Norcross Art Fest. We have discussed putting some new procedures in place to turn around this four-year downward trend, should the Norcross City Council see fit to reverse the decision of city employee Rip Robertson’s cozy Events Committee. The Norcross Art Fest is, after all, supposed to be a charitable endeavor. If the for-profit Splash Festivals run the show, with the help of the city, it will be an economic event largely for the benefit of Splash Festival’s principals, Frances Shube and Cindy Flynn . 

Stay tuned. 


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