New group makes bid for control of Goombay Festival

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Goombay Festival, the feel-good, family-oriented celebration that traditionally kicks off Fantasy Fest, is again finding itself at the center of competing efforts to take over the event.

The Key West Goombay Festival, Inc. (KWGF), led by Glenwood Lopez, half-brother of Key West City Commissioner Clayton Lopez, has been the organizer for the past two years, selected after another group, Bahama Village Goombay Festival, Inc., abruptly pulled out in July 2015, accusing KWGF of making “vicious personal attacks” against its members. The Bahama Village Goombay group had produced the event for the previous three years and KWGF had tried unsuccessfully to oust them in 2014.

This year, another group has come forward to ask that the permit for Goombay be given to them. Veronica Stafford, previously a member of KWGF, has filled out an application under the name of Florida Keys Performing Arts, originally known as the Bahama Village Business Association. Stafford wants Goombay to return to its original Caribbean roots, honoring the homeland of many of Key West’s original immigrant residents.

But there is an economic element to Stafford’s challenge, as well. She said that the KWGF, a coalition of 13 faith-based leaders and Bahama Village fraternal and social organizations, has not submitted complete financial reports to the city after the event. Local Bahama Village non-profit organizations and area churches that contribute to the festival operating expenses, expecting to be reimbursed afterwards as well as share in the profits from the event, are not receiving the money they expected, Stafford said.

“They put their money in and never get it back,” she said.

According to financial reports submitted to the city in 2016 and 2015 by KWGF, there was a profit of $1,293 in 2016 and a loss of $6,364 in 2015. Total revenue for the event in 2016 was $63,988 while expenses were $62,695. However, within the expense accounting over half, $34,114 was attributed to “miscellaneous” expenses. In 2015, revenue was $62,054, expenses were $68,418, with “miscellaneous” accounting for $42,766 of the total expenses.

Stafford said that an outside Miami firm has been hired by KWGF to handle vendor booth rentals. Approximately 175 booths are rented each year at $500 each, resulting in revenue of over $87,000, Stafford said. Of that amount, the rental company gave $35,000 in 2016 and $30,000 in 2015 to KWGF.

“She [booth rental company executive] is leaving Key West with the lifeblood of the event. We should be the ones responsible for the booths,” Stafford said, adding, “It should not be a profit engine for any private person. It should go to the churches and non-profit organizations in the community.”

In addition to the rented booths, which attract vendors from the mainland, several booths are given at no cost to local organizations and individuals.

Stafford also said that KWGF has not encouraged the Bahama Village community as a whole to be involved in Goombay and there have not been enough musical performances at the event. Stafford was part of the group that revived Goombay in 1992 and 1993 after it almost died from mismanagement in 1991. Complaints at the time included not paying bills to the city for police, fire and other community services.

“We’re not here to hurt anybody,” she said about her challenge to the current Goombay organizers. “You’re just dealing with people who want to see through the confusion. There’s no other way we could do it. We’re tired of asking people to do what’s right.”

Key West City Manager Jim Scholl said that no local organization has a copyright or trademark on Goombay, leaving event planning open to competing groups each year.

“It would be nice if they tried to work together or put together a corporate entity to present to the commission. But they haven’t quite figured that out,” he said.

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