Chula Vista City Council on Tuesday approved plans for Councilwoman Patricia Aguilar to form an ad-hoc subcommittee to seek potential funding to reprise the annual Starlight Parade.
“This is a way to reinstate the starlight parade,” Aguilar said at Tuesday’s meeting.
With the Starlight Parade cancelled this year, Aguilar said the committee’s goal is to resurrect the parade for Christmas 2014.
The idea to form a committee, Aguilar said, came after Luanne Hulsizer, executive director of the Third Avenue Village Association, notified her that TAVA could no longer continue to sponsor the holiday parade.
Hulsizer reinforced this claim to the rest of City Council.
“This parade which TAVA had taken over for many, many years became just too cumbersome from a financial perspective,” Hulsizer said. “And it was with a heavy heart that the board of directors voted earlier this year to no longer support the parade.”
Hulsizer said TAVA’s primary source of funding is based on a property business improvement district, which she said is basically taxpayer funds.
She said the businesses vote for the betterment of Third Avenue and that the $40,000 needed to produce the parade was just too much for TAVA.
Hulsizer said TAVA is a 501 c(6), which means donations are not tax deductible.
Aguilar said the Starlight Parade brings the community together.
“The Starlight Parade has always been such a tradition in Chula Vista,” Aguilar said.
Councilman Rudy Ramirez joins Aguilar in the formation of the committee.
Ramirez said one option to bring back the Starlight Parade is to find a revenue source.
“There might have to be a vendor component to the parade,” he said. “ Or some sort of means to bring in revenue to keep the parade going.”
Hulsizer recommended the subcommittee seek sponsorship opportunities or for a non-profit organization to get involved.
Aguilar said she is currently talking to the city’s “main players” such as SDG&E and Allied Waste to see if they would consider contributing funds.
She said the intent of the subcommittee is to work with interested stakeholders to find ways to fund the event.
The Cultural Arts Commission, TAVA and the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce have shown an interest in being a part of the committee, Aguilar said.
Ramirez said at some point the parade will make a comeback.
“Ultimately the goal would be to bring back the parade at some point,” he said at the council meeting.
Aguilar said she wants the committee to focus on funding ideas that would bring back the parade not just on a one-time basis but for the long haul.
