Has Council stumbled on a secret to marketing Plainfield?

Garcia's Fiesta drew huge crowds in its second year.

Sitting through a long -- and sometimes confusing -- Plainfield City Council last evening, I had plenty of time to contemplate the deeper significance of some agenda items.

While the Councilors got themselves (and their very capable consultant Dave Kochel) tangled in the review, discussion and voting on two pages of single-spaced budget amendments, my mind wandered to the significance of the sudden popularity of parking lots as venues for summer festivals.

In my thirty years in Plainfield, no one ever gave them a thought until Faraone's owner Edison Garcia put together the first extravaganza celebrating Central American Independence way back in 2009 (see my first post here). In 2010 it drew many more attendees (see here). Garcia had hold of something here.

Then the festival spread to include the U.S. Independence Day weekend. Others noticed and in 2012 there were dueling fiestas, Garcia's in Lot 8 (between Somerset Street and Watchung Avenue)and that organized by Rodney Maree of Chez Maree in Lot 9 (between Watchung and Roosevelt Avenues). The big Council debate at the time of last year's street closure applications was whether Plainfield police and fire divisions could handle both events at the same time and whether parking would be an issue. Everyone from Director Hellwig on down said it would work out, and it did.

In 2012, there were 'dueling' Fiestas.

This year, however, officials had had time to mull it over and concluded two festivals at the same time was a bit much.

Accordingly, Garcia was approved for a festival during the weekend nearest July 4th, but not in September. Maree's application for a September event was discussed at last night's Council meeting.

In both cases, the revised $2,500 per day fee for use of the lots was an issue. Rodney Maree expressed last night that he was surprised it was for each day. While he did not ask to be relieved of the extra $5,000 in fees, it was clear to those paying attention that Councilor Bill Reid had erred in advocating the extra $5,000 be waived for Garcia when he applied for the earlier event.

Last night Reid came around as the Council members realized they had set themselves a trap and were going to be besieged with pleas for fee waivers.

But there was a third application on last night's agenda, also by Valuntad Productions, for use of Lot 9 on an August weekend for the '1st Annual El Salvadoran Heritage Festival'. (Again with the fee waiver request.)

Hmmm...

Seems ethnic food and vendors, carnival rides, plenty of loud music, and rivers of cerveza are an irresistible combination!

And if Salvadorans want a fiesta, what about Mexicans, Colombians, Guatemalans, Hondurans ... you get my drift.

If Plainfield had an administration that gave things any thought -- which we do not at the moment have, but expect to come January -- some folks would be trying to decide if this was a phenomenon to be promoted by the City and how it could be made most beneficial to both the City and the private businesses promoting such events.

In the meantime, we can only hope Mr. Mapp's team is paying close attention to this development.

Two further thoughts, one on Lot 9 and some suggested improvements.

Sitting as it does between Watchung and Roosevelt Avenues, Lot 9, is less remunerative to the city than Lots 8 and 8A, which are directly behind Plainfield's busiest downtown shops. In Lot 9, there are only a handful of meters, and very little permit parking activity now that a charter school has moved from Watchung Avenue. Even on weekend nights when Chez Maree and the nearby The  Bridge (in North Plainfield) bars are hopping, there is little use of parking in Lot 9. But, it is a steady thoroughfare for those wishing to shop at Supremo Supermarket as it feeds directly into their lot, and for taxis which use Lot 9 as a shortcut to Orange Place and points east and north. So, closing off Lot 9 altogether is something of a burden to the business community. Maybe OK one weekend per year, but questionable if it were to become a regular hassle to be endured.

The other is to give some thought to improving these Festivals by drawing in Plainfield's nonprofit community organizations, as I suggested way back in 2009 --

...one of the strengths of the Outdoor Festival of Art always was that the triangle of grassy area in Library Park nearest 9th Street was reserved for Plainfield's cultural and nonprofit organizations to display their programs and solicit volunteers and participants. It was the the one-stop-shop for all sorts of activities from the Plainfield Symphony to the Friends of the Library, from the League of Women Voters to Habitat for Humanity, a true marketplace of community activities.

Adding something like this to the ... Fiesta(s) would have a two-pronged benefit: first, organizations could get the word out to a large audience, and second, Plainfield organizations would learn how to adapt to Plainfield's newest -- and growing -- population...

Again, this is something that would benefit from some helpful guidance from the City, which is not likely to become a reality until there is a new Mayor in place.

Life, as they say, is something that happens while you're making other plans.

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• Plainfield Today --
• 9/22/2009:  "Latin American Fiesta could become 'THE' Plainfield event"
• 9/20/2010:  "2nd Annual Hispanic Fiesta draws bigger crowds"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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