"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #909, March 29, 2021
Tom Moore, of the Sherman Howard law firm, reported that the dispute between the Town of Carefree and Villafane Studios (VS) stemmed from the 2019 Enchanted Garden Pumpkin Festival (EGPF). The Town and VS worked together to put on the EGPF for 5 years. Prior to the 2019 Festival, admission to the Festival was free with charges for only certain aspects of the Festival. The Villafanes agitated to turn the 2019 EGPF into an admission charging event to generate additional revenue, with them taking a cut of the profits. In 2019, Carefree and VS entered into a Professional Services contract wherein VS would be paid to provide artistic services that included pumpkin carving displays and entertainment.
Further negotiations produced a separate Transfer Agreement wherein ownership of the EGPF would transfer from Carefree over to the Villafanes over a 3 year period. It would remain an admission charging event, with VS taking the profits. The 2019 Festival was not as successful as had been anticipated based on the previous 4 years. The admission charge became a "sore spot" for many who would have attended, and attendance was down significantly. The Town lost a fair amount of money on the event.
Disputes arose and Carefree sued VS for breach of the Professional Services contract on the basis that VS threatened to not follow through on their obligations under that contract unless the Town agreed to further terms by charging admission and giving them a cut of the profits. VS also failed to clean up after the Festival.
VS cross-sued Carefree based on the Transfer Agreement, which both parties had rescinded following the lack of success of the 2019 Festival. It proceeded to arbitration. The arbitrator agreed with the Villafanes and granted an award in their favor. Carefree moved to vacate it on the basis that the arbitrator did not have the authority or jurisdiction to hear any disputes concerning the Professional Services contract, for a number of reasons. The trial court disagreed with Carefree and entered a judgement in favor of VS for $113,895.57.
Mayor Les Peterson found it discouraging. He said, "We feel that we were in the right. We fulfilled our obligations. The Villafane's, in our opinion, did not fulfill theirs. We felt that the arbitrator didn't comprehend the entire story and believed hearsay as opposed to the written documents that we produced." He explained that the decision now was to go further legally, which becomes expensive and time consuming, or the Town can pay the amount on the table and walk away from it.
Vice Mayor John Crane said he agreed 100% with the Mayor. But he also agreed that the best course of action was to "wrap this up, get it behind us, and move on". Councilman Mike Krahe agreed. He noted that Carefree has a lot of information, both written and from Council meetings, that the Council believed supported the Town's position. But the arbitrator made a ruling. Dr. Krahe thought it was inaccurate, "but it is what it is". "These are the cards the Town was dealt", and he thought it was "time to move on and be done with it".
Gary Neiss said the action before the Council was the authorization of Contingency Funds of $113,895.57 to settle the judgement with VS. The motion passed unanimously.
https://vimeo.com/520236064
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.
Further negotiations produced a separate Transfer Agreement wherein ownership of the EGPF would transfer from Carefree over to the Villafanes over a 3 year period. It would remain an admission charging event, with VS taking the profits. The 2019 Festival was not as successful as had been anticipated based on the previous 4 years. The admission charge became a "sore spot" for many who would have attended, and attendance was down significantly. The Town lost a fair amount of money on the event.
Disputes arose and Carefree sued VS for breach of the Professional Services contract on the basis that VS threatened to not follow through on their obligations under that contract unless the Town agreed to further terms by charging admission and giving them a cut of the profits. VS also failed to clean up after the Festival.
VS cross-sued Carefree based on the Transfer Agreement, which both parties had rescinded following the lack of success of the 2019 Festival. It proceeded to arbitration. The arbitrator agreed with the Villafanes and granted an award in their favor. Carefree moved to vacate it on the basis that the arbitrator did not have the authority or jurisdiction to hear any disputes concerning the Professional Services contract, for a number of reasons. The trial court disagreed with Carefree and entered a judgement in favor of VS for $113,895.57.
Mayor Les Peterson found it discouraging. He said, "We feel that we were in the right. We fulfilled our obligations. The Villafane's, in our opinion, did not fulfill theirs. We felt that the arbitrator didn't comprehend the entire story and believed hearsay as opposed to the written documents that we produced." He explained that the decision now was to go further legally, which becomes expensive and time consuming, or the Town can pay the amount on the table and walk away from it.
Vice Mayor John Crane said he agreed 100% with the Mayor. But he also agreed that the best course of action was to "wrap this up, get it behind us, and move on". Councilman Mike Krahe agreed. He noted that Carefree has a lot of information, both written and from Council meetings, that the Council believed supported the Town's position. But the arbitrator made a ruling. Dr. Krahe thought it was inaccurate, "but it is what it is". "These are the cards the Town was dealt", and he thought it was "time to move on and be done with it".
Gary Neiss said the action before the Council was the authorization of Contingency Funds of $113,895.57 to settle the judgement with VS. The motion passed unanimously.
https://vimeo.com/520236064
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.