Sept. 7, 2006 – Organizations that want to run Carnival celebrations for the Tourism Department in St. Thomas, St. Croix or St. John have until 4 p.m. Sept. 19 to submit proposals to "develop, promote, market, produce, and manage the events."
The proposals must be made to the Property and Procurement Department, which handles the bidding process for all government departments.
St. Thomas has Carnival, St. Croix, the Crucian Christmas Festival, and St. John, the July 4 Celebration.
The proposal process is a first for the island's Carnival celebrations. While the celebrations on St. John and St. Croix have generated little controversy, the V.I. Carnival Committee, which has run St. Thomas Carnival for many decades, locked horns with the Legislature numerous times because its officials refused to open its books up to scrutiny.
Eventually, the Legislature voted in 2005 to let the Tourism Department handled Legislative appropriations for all the events.
Just before the 2006 Carnival began in April, another flap arose when Carnival officials balked at signing the contract now mandated by the Tourism Department. That problem was eventually resolved, and Carnival proceeded as planned with the Committee getting a $350,000 government appropriation to run the event.
The Tourism Department's marketing director, Steve Bornn, said Thursday that contracts for expenditures over $10,000 are standard operating procedure for the Tourism Department.
He said that although the Carnival Committee ran the event for many years without a contract, "it doesn't make it right."
"The contract is to protect ourselves and to make sure we have the best guys producing the festivals," he said.
He said it may turn out that the "incumbents" will have the best proposals.
V.I. Carnival Committee Director Caswil Callender said Thursday that he just learned about the proposal requirement a couple of days ago.
"It's laughable to me that the government is going to step in and say it's going to run Carnival," Callender said.
He said the Carnival Committee has run the event since it began in 1952. Callender said the organization will consult with its attorney on whether or not it would make a proposal.
He also questioned whether the Tourism Department had jurisdiction over Carnival events. He said that while the Legislature funneled Carnival funding through the Tourism Department, that was a different matter than giving the department the authority to control the event process.
Leona Smith, chairman of the St. John Festival and Cultural Committee, also questioned the Tourism Department's authority regarding Carnival events.
She was also in the dark about the proposal requirement. She said her organization just learned Wednesday that that bids were now necessary.
However, she said the Festival and Cultural Committee will place a bid because it's been running the event for many years.
No one returned messages left at the Crucian Christmas Festival office.
Proposal documents are available at Property and Procurement. Proposals should be made to the Property and Procurement Department, Building 1, Third Floor, Room 316, Subbase, St. Thomas, VI 00802.
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