Tuesday, March 14, 2000
More oversight asked for MainStrasse events
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Changes in everything from cleanup to festival promotions will be explored for future MainStrasse events, after this year's Mardi Gras went out of control, assistant city manager Tom Steidel said Monday.
Mr. Steidel made his comments after listening for nearly two hours to complaints of public urination, noise and parking problems, as well as a pre-Mardi Gras radio promotion that encouraged drunkenness and public nudity.
Covington officials and the MainStrasse Village Association called the meeting to hear residents' concerns about the rowdy Mardi Gras held March 3 and 4.
Photos of trash-strewn streets, tipped-over portable toilets, and women baring their breasts also were displayed at Monday night's meeting at St. Aloysius apartments.
Next year's Mardi Gras has been cancelled, but it may return in the future if its problems can be solved, representatives of the city and the village association said.
On Monday, Arthur Hilshorst, of West 7th St., filed the second small- claims lawsuit in less than a week over Mardi Gras. He is seeking $1,500 damages for “loss of sleep and punitive damages” from the MainStrasse Village Association and president Kathie Snyder.
Mr. Steidel said he and City Manager Greg Jarvis will meet soon with Ms. Snyder to discuss how to better plan for Mardi Gras and other festivals.
Possible issues include limiting the crowd and the festival area, adding security, and improving cleanup and promotions, Mr. Steidel said.
“I don't think I hear a sense that (the upcoming) Maifest needs to be cancelled, but I do think we need to look at some of these quality of life issues,” Mr. Steidel said. Maifest is the next festival scheduled for MainStrasse, May 19-21.
Speakers at Monday's meeting were divided on whether to cancel Mardi Gras for good, or to fix it.
Ms. Snyder urged the 100 in attendance to work together to solve festival-related problems. “If something happens to other events, I fear MainStrasse (Village) will go back the way it was 20 years ago,” Ms. Snyder said. “Businesses will close, and property values will drop.”
Craig Johnson, a former director of the MainStrasse Village Association, who owns the Cock and Bull English Pub and a home in the neighborhood, presented the signatures of more than 500 festival supporters he collected during the weekend.
“Everything in the event is fixable, with enough planning and enough resources,” he said.
Alliea Phipps, a new MainStrasse resident and business owner, suggested the village association use some of its Mardi Gras proceeds to hire a festival manager.
MainStrasse resident Karen Johnson proposed hiring more security, adding portable toilets, and hiring a cleanup company.
“Fix it. Don't forget it,” she said.
MainStrasse resident Ray Stanton said he was not “anti-festival,” but he called for better communication between the MainStrasse Village Association and the neighborhood, and better control over Mardi Gras crowds.
And Sandy Arnold of the 500 block of Short Pershing Street told of garbage left behind after Mardi Gras, and urine and feces spilling from portable toilets that had been tipped over in front of neighborhood homes.
Interim Mayor Jim Eggemeier said MainStrasse residents need to be reassured that problems are going to be addressed after future festivals.
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