Harvest Market sees turnaround

Organizers of the Montrose Harvest Market expect the event to make $130,000 next year, nearly $100,000 more than it has reaped in the past.

Last year, the Montrose Shopping Park Assn., which runs the market, forecast 2011 revenue at $43,000, similar to its 2010 and 2009 budgets. But that forecast skyrocketed to about $140,000, or about half of the organization’s total income, according to a report presented to the City Council Tuesday.

Dale Dawson, executive director of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn., declined to comment on the drastic change Tuesday. However, when he reported that the market was making a turnaround at a board meeting a few months ago, he called the revenue spike a “wonderful mystery.”

The turnaround comes as the Glendale Police Department continues to investigate embezzlement allegations brought by the Montrose Shopping Park Assn. against former Councilman John Drayman, who helped organize the market.

Although Drayman hasn’t been on the association’s board in years, he has said he has long been the go-to guy when board members faced a crisis. Dawson used Drayman’s departure as one reason his workload increased and a validation for a $6,000-pay raise he got last month.

His annual salary now is $18,000 a year.

The market’s newfound success has helped the shopping park in other ways. The association, which is part of a business-improvement district, makes about $120,000 every year from assessments collected by the city from its nearly 200 members.

In the past, the association has had to borrow against its assessments to pay off fourth quarter expenses tied to Christmas promotions. The market’s boom meant it didn’t have to do that this year.

“Our events went way up as a result of the increased income,” Dawson said, adding that the new revenue has allowed the group to hire a promotional coordinator, Linda McMenamin. Her annual salary is $12,000.

The shopping park is now looking into hosting other promotional events during the week, Dawson said.