Down the Drain : Symphony Calls Off Saturday’s Rubber Duck Benefit Race After Warning by D.A.

The Ventura County Symphony thought it had a novel way to raise funds:

Dump 10,000 rubber ducks into a Santa Clara River canal and--for $5 each--give people a shot at winning a new car, a diamond ring or a luxury cruise by picking the first duck to cross the finish line.

But symphony officials called off the race on Thursday--only two days before the ducks were set to sail--saying the district attorney’s office had advised them that they had promoted the event improperly.

Now, the symphony is not sure when or whether it will be able to reschedule the duck race, which was expected to raise about $30,000 for local school music programs through the symphony’s Educational Outreach Program.

“We’re certainly disappointed that we have to postpone the event, and that we are in this situation at all,” lamented Karine Beesley, symphony executive director. “We do not intentionally go out and try to skirt the law, so it’s embarrassing for us. But we hope to rectify it.”

The decision to postpone the rubber duck race comes one day after the symphony canceled its annual July 4 concert in Ojai for lack of funds.

The symphony mishandled the duck race by promoting it as if it were a lottery instead of a fund-raiser, police and district attorney officials said. In California, only the state has the authority to operate a lottery, Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman said.

The duck race, as advertised by the symphony, was deemed a lottery because it required participants to make a minimum donation to sponsor one of the ducks and to be eligible for a prize, Bowman said.

The symphony stated in its promotional literature that no purchase was necessary to enter the duck race. But the literature also said “a minimum donation” of $5 was required to take part in the contest.

For the event to be legal, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael D. Schwartz said, the public has to be given “a general, indiscriminate offer of free chances.” In other words, people can’t be forced to make a donation.

“We’re not trying to shut them down. We’re not trying to foil their event at all,” said Schwartz, whose office informed the symphony of the problem last Friday. “We’ve just provided advice for what they need to do to do it lawfully.”

Schwartz also said Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury in the past has proposed legislation to change the law and allow nonprofit organizations such as the symphony to hold lotteries.

The symphony began planning for Saturday’s duck race about a year ago. It hired Great American Duck Races of Phoenix--which handles such fund-raisers nationally--to stage the event. It would have been held at the United Water Conservation District’s Freeman Diversion Dam.

A truck hauling the 10,000 brightly colored ducks--complete with painted sunglasses--recently arrived in Ventura.

Then law enforcement authorities began getting complaints from other charitable groups that had been denied permission to stage similar events in recent years.

Some people griped to Ventura police, Bowman said. Others phoned and wrote letters to the district attorney’s office.

“They said, ‘We’re not allowed to do a lottery. Why is the symphony allowed to do a lottery?’ ” Schwartz said.

Authorities declined to say which organizations complained about the symphony’s duck race. Bowman said the calls began coming in last week.

“There were complaints from a couple different sources that have brought up the idea of duck races in the past and were told that it would be illegal to try and do it in a similar manner,” said Bowman, who teaches courses to other law officers on misdemeanor gambling.

Beesley expressed hope that the symphony could still hold the duck race in early August. She said the group plans to start promoting the event from scratch, emphasizing that no donation is required to participate and adopt a duck.

“We are going to encourage donations, of course, because this is a fund-raiser,” she said.

Before the race was postponed, the symphony had received about 3,000 donations, Beesley said. People who have made donations as part of the promotion can receive a refund by phoning the symphony, Beesley said.