Orange : Police Patrol Fee Jeopardizes Carnival

Plans to hold a three-day charity carnival are in jeopardy because organizers aren’t sure they can afford the $8,000 the city is asking for police patrols.

Organizers from the Orange Host Lions Club plan to meet with police officials in an effort to work out a more affordable security plan for the May Festival, which is scheduled for May 7-9 at Hart Park.

The event, which raises money to purchase hearing aids and eyeglasses for the needy, might be canceled if the cost of security isn’t reduced.

“Having to pay $8,000 just might harpoon us,” said Carroll Johnson, a Lions Club member and festival organizer. “I highly doubt we’d be able to pay that.”

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Police Chief John R. Robertson said the security was needed given “the current climate in the county in terms of gangs.”

Robertson’s stand was reinforced in a Police Department memo that said the festival “poses a potential venue for gang activity, fights and other disturbances. Therefore, there exists a considerable need for preventive patrols at such an event.”

Johnson said previous May festivals have gone off without incident. The only serious problem occurred three years ago when someone pulled a knife, he said.

“Most people who come to the festival are good local people,” Johnson said. “I don’t anticipate any problems that the police will have to deal with.”

The Lions Club would like to forgo police protection and instead hire one or two private security guards to patrol the festival. Such a move would save thousands of dollars, Johnson said.

But it remains unclear whether authorities will agree to such an arrangement.

Johnson estimated that as many as 10,000 people might attend the festival, which could net $5,000 or more after expenses.

Lions Club members initially hoped that the city would foot the bill for police service.

Several council members, however, expressed unwillingness to pay the bill at a time when Orange is considering laying off employees and reducing services.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Johnson said the Lions Club is now set to pay its own way as long as some compromise with police can be worked out.

“We don’t expect a handout,” he said.