For the second year in a row, Fayetteville Downtown Partners, Inc. failed to request funds for the Fayetteville Arts Festival. I just assumed that was a consequence of the demonstrated incompetence of Daniel Keeley, who last year failed to request funds then argued against funding when offered by the city. While that remains a possibility, one of the postings on another thread says that Fayetteville Downtown Partners has been dissolved.
Sure enough, Pardner, the Arkansas Secretary of State confirms that Fayetteville Downtown Partners, Inc. has been dissolved. We saw no notice of this and can find nothing about it in the local snoozepapers. Nothing about it on the FDP website, either, and their slogan's middle name is communicate. That explains why no one submitted a request to the A&P Commission to fund the arts festival, but it doesn't explain why they didn't bother to tell anyone and allow someone more responsible to make a timely application and sponsor the festival. Thanks, Daniel.
Now, here's our question, and we can't get a response from either of the people we contacted. What happened to the $20,000 that was supposed to be seed money for the 2009 Fayetteville Arts Festival? Oh, yeah, they banked $20,000 from last year. That appears to include the $12,500 from the city and $2,500 from the A&P Commission that wasn't spent as contracted for advertising and promotion of the festival.
Where's our money? As one commenter asked, did Daniel Keeley get a fat severance package? Either give it back, or cough it up and let the Fayetteville Arts Council use it for this year's arts festival. Damnedest thing I've ever heard.
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