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City Supports Bike Rally

November 6, 2006

By LOYD BRUMFIELD, News Editor / Today NewspaperIt wasn’t as much money as they asked for - and it didn’t come without extensive debate - but the Rotary Club of Cedar Hill received $20,000 from the city in support of the club’s main fundraiser, a May bike rally.In previous meetings with city staff members, the cost of support was estimated at $31,000, but council member Wade Emmert saw $20,000 as a good compromise for an event he’d like to see become a mainstay.The “Head for the Hills Bike Rally” is scheduled for May 12 and hopes to attract cyclists from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.The city’s funding will come from it’s hotel-motel tax.”I do have some concerns with the city’s financial participation,” Mayor Rob Franke said. “We don’t have many hotels in this town, and I think this ($31,000) would take up most of what has been promised to others, such as (the Cedar Hill Association for the Cultural Arts).”Franke and Mayor Pro Tem Cory Spillman voted against the authorization, not because they were against the bike rally but because of the amount of money included in Emmert’s motion.The vote was 5-2 in favor.”I want more things like this to come to our city” Emmert said. “I share some of the concerns regarding finances and insurance and things like that.”A few council members asked if the club could reimburse the city for the expense, but Emmert’s motion contained no such provision.Judy Pluto, lead organizer of the rally, said the event will function as the club’s main fundraiser.”There’s no doubt we can do this,” she said. “We want this to become a premier event not just in Cedar Hill, but in the Metroplex.”She told the council she is aware of the importance of the city’s support.”If we don’t do it right the first time, they come back for the second year,” she said.Emmert hoped the club could raise the rest of its estimated $31,000 cost through sponsorships and donations.Council member Makia Epie supported Emmert’s motion.”It takes money to make money,” he said. “I’m very satisfied with the explanation that a significant amount of money will come from the outside and we should more than recoup our investment.”"The seed money will grow it, and the water will come from the outside.”Franke said previous big-scale events in Cedar Hill, such as Country Day on the Hill, have flourished because of a strong sense of community volunteerism.”Any event that has worked has been because of a groundswell of support from volunteers and others,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable with the city handling the major burden of this. If the citizenry takes a hold of this and wants to do this, then the city is behind it and will help.”"Otherwise, it seems like we’re the ones pushing the rope.”Franke also was concerned that once other local groups found out about the $20,000 funding that they would want similar help for their events.

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