Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said he’s pleased with the turnout for community events organized or supported by the City of Carmel.
Recently, he was walking the streets of the Carmel Arts & Design District, amazed by the hundreds of people out until midnight to watch live music on the closed-off block.
“There were thousands of people out on a Saturday night walking the streets, and that’s good for local businesses,” he said.
As a result, Brainard said he wants to keep the ball rolling. The city plans to increase its spending to support public festivals and community events, although Brainard said he hates to call it “spending,” but rather “investing in our community.”
“It’s about promoting our downtown,” he said.
One purchase that’s being proposed in the 2018 budget is $150,000 for a new, portable stage. Currently, the city leases a stage for events like Late Night on Main. Brainard said owning one will save money, plus it can be lent to local nonprofits and arts festivals to ease their budgets and support their causes.
“We’ll save money over time by purchasing it,” Brainard said.
The city owns a smaller mobile stage, not big enough for large bands for Late Night on Main,
and the 2018 budget proposes spending $9,000 for a new wrap for the mobile stage so it can be aesthetically pleasing.
The 2018 budget also proposes $361,000 to help PorchFest with its 501(c)(3) status filing. There’s also $8,000 proposed for Emily Ehrgott, executive director of the Carmel Clay Historical Society, to be paid to manage PorchFest, $125,000 for the Christkindlmarkt and $60,000 for the city’s ice skating rink.
The 2018 budget also proposed a $135,000 increase to pay for Carmel Arts & Design District web page programming ($45,000), graphic design for promotions ($40,000) and holiday lighting for the area ($50,000).
