Brant News file photo
Hockeyfest organizer Ralph Spoltore stands at the entrance to Brant Conservation Area. The GRCA on Saturday announced that the Brantford park would not be the venue for the three-day music festival.
UPDATE: Early Sunday evening, City of Brantford Mayor Chris Friel said he is working with Star Security Inc. in an effort to salvage Hockeyfest 2012. Meanwhile, Hockeyfest organizer Ralph Spoltore says he intends to proceed with festival setup at Brant Conservation Area as planned on Monday.
Sean Allen
BRANT NEWS
Brantford Hockeyfest has had the rug pulled out from under it with less than a week to go before the event, festival organizer Ralph Spoltore said late Saturday night.
The Brantford Police Service told Spoltore on Saturday morning that it had concerns about event security. That sparked a decision by the Grand River Conservation Authority on Saturday afternoon to withdraw the use of Brant Conservation Area as the venue for the three-day concert, scheduled to take place this Friday to Sunday.
“I will not sleep until I have explored every opportunity to make this event go this week,” Spoltore said. “We are going to do everything in our power to deliver an unbelievable festival to this community. We need everyone to help us change the minds of the powers that be.”
Brantford Mayor Chris Friel said it was decided that the festival was a major safety concern during a meeting on Friday between officials from the Brantford Police Service, County of Brant OPP, Brantford Fire Department, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and GRCA.
“The concern (out of the meeting) is that the mix of alcohol and poor management was going to create a major problem,” Friel said. “The safety of the people coming was of paramount importance. (The officials at the meeting) did not feel the people coming would be safe or the security personnel would be safe.”
The Brantford Police Service posted a media release on its website Saturday stating that “the organizers missed critical deadlines and failed to meet the requirements to ensure there was an acceptable level of security that would ensure the safety of all people attending, volunteering or working at the event.”
The lack of police support led the GRCA to conclude that Spoltore would not be able to fulfill a clause in the contract for the use of Brant Conservation Area that calls for “paid-duty police officials” on location.
The GRCA issued a press release Saturday afternoon announcing Brant Conservation Area would not be the venue for Hockeyfest.
“It is our belief that the clause in the contract was not going to be executed with the Brantford police,” GRCA communications co-ordinator Dave Schultz said during an interview. “So we told the promoter we couldn’t be the venue.
“We put (the news) release out because we are convinced (Hockeyfest) is not going to happen on our property.”
As for hiring another police force to provide security, Shultz said that would be unlikely.
“(The contract) doesn’t specify the Brantford police, but I think you would have to talk to the promoter about getting other police forces involved,” Schultz said. “It would be unusual for a police service to come to another jurisdiction.”
Two sides quickly emerged in the debate surrounding Hockeyfest security concerns and how they were handled.
Spoltore said he was informed during a meeting with police on Saturday morning that concerns included a scaling back of festival security personnel and that Spoltore planned to bring in an additional security firm to work at the event.
“The information about another security firm is misinformation,” Spoltore said. “They were told by someone that we were using an additional security company from around the city. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We have one security company that we worked with and have never, ever partnered with any other security company.”
As for the number of security personnel, Spoltore said his plan was “tweaked” to represent the average number of security guards that would be needed at the venue based on ticket sales so far.
“We took it from 110 guards to 75 guards based on ticket sales,” Spoltore said. “But bottom line, if they had simply phoned me and told me it had to be 110, I would have easily agreed.”
Friel, who was at the Friday meeting between emergency personnel, said other issues arising during the meeting included information that a shuttle bus contract for the festival had fallen through.
A shuttle bus company has been hired to take concert goers from the event parking lot, located near the Brantford Municipal Airport, to Brant Conservation Area.
“There have been no concerns with the shuttle contract,” Spoltore said. “I asked the city about buses to supplement the shuttle service already in place. I don’t know how that turned into the contract falling through. It seems everyone is being given terrible information from someone not involved with Hockeyfest.”
Friel said he heard a list of other concerns about security, but Spoltore said his 20-page security plan, created by Star Security Inc., is bulletproof.
“Hockeyfest is an award-winning music festival and has never had a security breach in two years,” Spoltore said. “We hang our hat on being a safe and affordable venue for our patrons.”
After two years at Lions Park in Brantford, this year was the first year Hockeyfest was to be held at Brant Conservation Area.
After putting together a lineup that features major acts like Weezer, Hedley, Creed, Sloan and Marianas Trench, Spoltore said he is thoroughly disappointed that officials from the police department and GRCA didn’t attempt to work through concerns with him.
“Neither myself nor my security company were invited to the (emergency personnel) meeting or knew about the meeting,” Spoltore said. “To have the rug pulled out from underneath us, in a closed-door meeting no less, is heartbreaking.”
If Spoltore cannot appease the police or GRCA by midday Monday, he said there may be long-shot options to try and pull off the concert.
He could not say if another venue could be made available on such short notice.
“Time is not on our side,” Spoltore said. “I have staging, fencing, generators and trucks coming in on Monday and Tuesday. We will be exploring all our legal options. I still hope we can get the powers that be at the GRCA and police to revisit this in time to have the event.”
But Schultz believes the decision by the GRCA is final.
“We were very excited about (the event),” Schultz said. “We invested a lot of time and put some money into preparing the site and getting everything ready from our point of view. We worked with (the organizers) as well as we could. But as of Friday the police were not satisfied. That left us in the position we are in.”
Friel said he respects the decision made by police and the GRCA.
“This was not an easy decision to make,” Friel said. “As much as they knew the problems they are going to create, their bottom line was safety. Since no one could guarantee that safety, they made the tough decision.”
Hockeyfest was in receipt of a $350,000 grant from Celebrate Ontario, a provincial agency that provides support to festivals and events in the province.
Brant MPP Dave Levac said it’s too soon for Celebrate Ontario to wade into the debate.
“It depends on what happens between what is being said now and what happens on the date,” Levac said. “Not all the money has been released because they do it in draws. They are not going to suddenly claw back the money. Celebrate Ontario will only get involved if the event doesn’t happen at all.”
Levac said he is holding out hope that Spoltore can pull a rabbit out of a hat.
“The lineup he has is amazing,” Levac said. “We haven’t seen a lineup like that in Brantford ever. I know (Spoltore) will be working day and night to pull this off.”
What a SNAFU. If the parties can’t work this out, the subsequent lawsuits won’t be pretty.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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worse Frank, what happens when all of those people show up looking for a party, and its been cancelled? Do they think they’ll have fewer or more security problems in Brant Park that weekend?
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Congratulations Brantford Police and GRCA for proving why Brantford is the armpit of Ontario. I hope you get sued for failure to honour your contract with the concert promoter. Instead of working with the promoter to ensure your concerns are addressed, you pull your support in an attempt to cancel the event. Good-Bye Tourism dollars, good-bye Tax revenue! The last time I was in downtown Brantford, rather than having actual store fronts, there was boarded up plywood store fronts, painted as though there was an actual store there. Perhaps you should put up some painted plywood around Brant Park with scenes of a concert that could have been. Well done! You win, your city is an embarassment!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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They say they’re worried about security, well i hope they have some ready when 40,000 people show up for their money back.
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Here’s the key sentence:
“Neither myself nor my security company were invited to the (emergency personnel) meeting or knew about the meeting,” Spoltore said. “To have the rug pulled out from underneath us, in a closed-door meeting no less, is heartbreaking.”
Surely there was an opportunity to address any and all concerns with the promoter before cancelling the event? What efforts were made to do that before Friday’s meeting? It seems odd that substantive concerns about security or management would suddenly appear at the 11th hour. When did the police or the GRCA receive the security plan?
Spoltore is an experienced event organizer with a lot of skin in the game on this event. I expect, as he states here, he’d do whatever was necessary to accomodate the GRCA’s concerns.
And given that the police have been fine with successive Canada Day festivals, where the numbers attending exceeded what’s expected at Hockeyfest, where alcohol was served (by the City), and where additional security was even provided by volunteers, its reasonable to expect that the Police Service would be willing to work even to the last minute to create an acceptible security plan.
There will always be questions about security with events like these. The manner in which the concerns about Hockeyfest have been addressed deserves explanation. We should be asking the members of the Brantford Police Services Board, who constitute the legal entity and authority for the police service and are ultimately accountable for the proper conduct of the service’s business, for that explanation.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Police, Fire and other City officials saying hockeyfest is being mismanaged? That’s a joke coming from them!!! Was Spoltore at the meeting or where they just making misinformed decisions on the fly without his input? If so, that sounds like mismanagement. Good job brantford…I’ve never been so embarrased and angry about something in this town!
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Makes me wonder if there is some collusion going on within the chiefs of police ranks across the province after the issues with the G20 last year and the recent report. The police never like being told how to do their job.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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That’s exactly what I was thinking! The egos at all of these city departments are enormous. If Spoltore hasn’t had the time to feed them grapes and croon to these creeps, this is exactly the sort of arrogant and self-important show of power they will provide.
The City of Brantford should be ashamed of themselves.
Oh, and Ralph? Good luck getting a transcript of that closed door meeting for your subsequent law suit. It won’t exist.
Friel needs to go to the gallows for this one.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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thanks a lot for screwing this up police department and GRCA. Stupid idiots CAN NOT have a closed door meeting talking about concerns you have and NOT have the man
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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thanks a lot for screwing this up police department and GRCA. Stupid idiots CAN NOT have a closed door meeting talking about concerns you have and NOT have the man WHO IS PUTTING THIS ON THERE!!!!!
This generates hundreds of thousands maybe even a million into Brantford economy. Being a bunch of idiots like this pulling the venue away from Ralph, not talking to Ralph what your concerns, only listen to 3rd party idiots who clearly never wanted a Rock festival in this city WILL kill hockeyfest. Big name bands will not agree to sign on and come after this. A good chunk of the people who bought tickets both in and out of town especially the people who booked camp sites may never come again. Also this will not only be a black eye for the city but from Brant Park. Why would any one of the people who booked a camp site EVER come back and camp at Brant Park? Most will be saying bad things about Brant Park the GRCA and unfortantly Hockeyfest who never had a change to ease their concerns before they idiots took Brant Park away from them.
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And in response to the poster further up: yes, you are absolutely right about the backlash creating more security concerns than the actual event.
If the Brantford Police were concerned about the recent string of arsons, this will likely dwarf that by an nth degree. Maybe they will have to post over a hundred cops in West Brant to control the rioting?
Undoubtedly, there will be – at least – hundreds of people who won’t see all of the press coverage before the event. GRCA better have some brave official on site throughout the weekend to break it to the poor souls who turn up looking for music and booze if this doesn’t go down. Although if it’s anything like how the city is usually run, they’ll likely just leave that job to some teenage camp counsellor. Oh wait, aren’t those cushy summer jobs staffed by the kids of city councillors? Okay, maybe not then…
One other thing: when a meeting at city hall affects so many people and businesses, how can it be allowed to be so secretive? Why wait until the weekend? So they can all dress down and knock back some brewskis? Because the minutes couldnt be taken by the clerk, who conveniently doesn’t work on weekends? Everything else is allowed to be publicized. Why not this?
I think this level of secrecy speaks volumes.
I actually think this is so huge a screw-up, that it can be officially classified as The City of Brantford’s and Chris Friel’s darkest hour.
Shameful.
Even if Ralph manages to pull this off, this is another reason why Brantford doesn’t deserve to host something like this. We’re just Kim Mitchell-grade.
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This is going to be ugly. There were several reasons mentioned above – but there was an article earlier that there were several concerns over the location of the venue – with non-payers trying to cross the river and the dyke to enter the concert for free. So they respond with taking security from 110 to 75??? regardless of the number of tickets sold that number should never have dropped. The article also states that there were several missed dates with contractual obligations..WTF HOW do you have something THIS big planned and miss deadlines?
This is a very big disappointment there were many of us who had purchased tickets for what was going to be a great lineup and now what??? Just another black spot on our wonderful city… seems like we should be hearing the circus tune right now..what a mess!
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Not the time to point fingers!
If there was any problems a month ago that would have been the time to sit down an have a discussion with all the parties involved. Now it’s this late date it’s time for the City of Brantford and the GRCA to help Ralph Spoltore and his Brantford Hockeyfest Team to bring this event up to your standards to make you feel safe. Remember you benefit from this event also.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I am ashamed of BRANTFORD and especially it’s mayor and disgusted in the GRCA, I took my 13 yr old son to last years event and I think it’s something he’ll remember his whole life. The GRCA has ALWAYS been known to try and flex muscle it doesn’t (or obviously shouldn’t) have. This would be OUTRAGEOUS except for the fact that I knew right away the venue was a mistake, so much so I didn’t buy tickets to te event but planned to this week. I’ll be remembering this one at election time Mr. Friel as I hope everyone else will.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I’m sure alarm bells were ringing a month ago when Hockeyfest was being granted a last-minute noise bylaw exemption for the event. This is an event that has simply grown too big too fast and just maybe has gotten out of control. Similar examples include a fiasco in Walkerton a few years ago. Less is more, so they say.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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It’s a shame that Brantford and others will be affected by the poor management of the event organizer Ralph Spoltore. I think if people are to place blame put it where it belongs not with the police or with GRCA but with Ralph Spoltore.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Exactly Karma….this is a case of an event organizer not taking the proper steps. If the event were to go on and something horrible were to happen the first people to be blamed would be security, the City and the GRCA…..I give them credit for standing up and saying they do not feel comfortable. I’m sure Ralph has had plenty of time to get his ducks in a row….
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“… if people are to place blame put it where it belongs …”
That would require access to a lot more verifiable information than the news articles thus reported.
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as per the “update,” just wondering: how is it that the Mayor is ‘working with Star Security Inc’ on this event? Is it at the invitation of the event organizer? To what degree is the Mayor providing direction to the police in this matter?
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Man, you would think you guys would have figured it out by now!
Just write the cheque “Commitee to re-elect Chris Friel”
Everything will then be taken care of in a couple of hours
Hot debate. What do you think?
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