ITEM O5b

Resolution City Council

City of Wilmington
North Carolina

Introduced By: Anthony N. Caudle, Interim City Manager Date: 7/20/2021

Resolution Approving a Policy for Use of a Season Box/Table at Riverfront Park

Amphitheater and the Distribution of Reserved Tickets at Riverfront Park Amphitheater
and the Hugh Morton Amphitheater at Greenfield Lake
LEGISLATIVE INTENT/PURPOSE:

WHEREAS, the City of Wilmington (“City”) owns both the Riverfront Park Amphitheater
(“RPA”) and the Hugh Morton Amphitheater at Greenfield Lake (“GLA”); and

WHEREAS, both the RPA and GLA are important public resources for the City; and

WHEREAS, the City currently contracts with Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. (“Live Nation”) for
venue performance management at both the RPA and GLA; and

WHEREAS, Live Nation provides to the City the annual opportunity to purchase a season
box/table at RPA, at face value cost, which includes a season threshold of 20 concerts, with 4
tickets and 2 parking passes per concert, with the number of concerts subject to increase, in the
discretion of the City Manager; and

WHEREAS, it is possible that there will be times when, in addition to the season box/table at
RPA, Live Nation may make additional tickets for events at RPA available to the City, at face
value cost; and

WHEREAS, it is possible that there will be times when Live Nation may make tickets for
events at GLA available to the City, at face value cost; and

WHEREAS, it is vital that any such tickets or other items provided to the City by Live Nation,
or any other venue performance management company in the future, should only be used for
accepted and approved public purposes; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary for the City to have a policy in place to govern the use of the season
box/table at RPA and the distribution of reserved tickets at both RPA and GLA, in order to
promote transparency to the public regarding the use of these public resources; and

WHEREAS, City staff has developed a policy to govern the distribution and use by the City of
the season box/table at RPA and any tickets to events at either the RPA or GLA, including
restriction of such use to approved public purposes including the promotion of economic
development, employee performance recognition, and community development; and

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WHEREAS, it is also in the best interest of the City and the Wilmington community to promote
the use, enjoyment, and desirability of both the RPA and GLA, with the intent that no available
seat for any performance should be unfilled.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:

THAT, the proposed “Policy 502 - Ticket Distribution Policy,” attached hereto, should be, and
hereby is, adopted; and

THAT, future changes to this adopted policy shall require the approval of City Council; and

THAT, this resolution is effective immediately upon adoption.

Adopted at a ________________ meeting

on ____________________ 2021
Bill Saffo, Mayor

ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:

Penelope Spicer-Sidbury, City Clerk City Attorney

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 ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY
City of Wilmington

EFFECTIVE DATE: APPROVED BY: POLICY NUMBER:

July 20, 2021 CITY COUNCIL 502

SUBJECT:
Ticket Distribution Policy

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to set forth procedures governing the use of the City’s season box/table
at the Riverfront Park Amphitheater (“RPA”), and the distribution of reserved tickets at the RPA and
the Hugh Morton Amphitheater at Greenfield Lake (“GLA”).

ELIGIBILITY/ APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to all elected City officials, all appointed City staff, and all other City employees
who may apply for or be given tickets to either the RPA or GLA, or who may be allowed access to the
City’s season box/table at the RPA. This policy also applies to any other member of the public who is
given the same opportunity or access to either concert venue.

DEFINITIONS

Economic Development: Ongoing activities determined by the City to increase the population,
taxable property, agricultural industries, employment, industrial output, or business prospects of
the City.

Employee Performance Recognition: Recognition by the City Manager of employees who have
demonstrated a high level of achievement with regard to the City’s core values of service,
professionalism, respect, integrity, and safety, or with respect to any other significant job-related
attribute, or who have markedly increased customer satisfaction, or been a key contributor in an
innovative program that has had positive City or community benefits.

Community Development: City support of the public, non-profit, and private sector partners who
are actively involved in initiatives designed to address issues impacting the quality of life in
Wilmington, including revitalization and empowerment of low-income communities, educational
advancement, job development, and youth and cultural enrichment.

Tickets: All individual tickets allocated to the City by its venue performance management company
or otherwise paid for by the City through the use of public funds.

Policy 502 – Ticket Distribution Policy Page 1

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Recipient: Any individual who receives any ticket from the City to one of its concert or performance
venues.

Full Value: For individual Tickets from the RPA or GLA, the full value is determined by the actual
face value of those individual Tickets for the specific event in question. For a Ticket at the City’s
season box/table, the full value of those Tickets is determined by dividing the annual fee paid by the
City for the box/table in the specific fiscal year by an amount equal to the number of concerts
allowed for at the beginning of the fiscal year multiplied by 4 Tickets per concert. For example, in a
year when 20 concerts are allocated at the beginning of the fiscal year, then the full value for each
Ticket will be the annual cost of the box paid by the City that year, divided by 80, which represents 4
tickets for each of 20 concerts allowed that year at the box/table. Each Ticket for the season
box/table will have this same price for the entire fiscal year, even if additional concerts are added at
some point during the concert season.

POLICY

In order to promote transparency to the public about how the public resources of the RPA and GLA
are being used by the City, and to ensure that those uses are for a public purpose, the following
procedures will apply to any tickets to those venues that are allocated to the City by the City’s venue
performance management company, or otherwise paid for by the City with public funds.

1.0 GENERAL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS:

1.1 The only allowable public uses for which the City can allocate Tickets are for
economic development, City employee performance recognition, and community
development, as those terms are specifically defined in this policy. Any use of these
resources for any other purpose, specifically including but not limited to any purely personal
gain, are strictly prohibited.

1.2 The City’s concert and event venues are important public resources, and it is always
in the best interest of the City and the Wilmington community to promote the use,
enjoyment, and desirability of both the RPA and GLA, with the intent that no available seat
for any performance should ever go unfilled.

1.3 No Tickets that are distributed under this policy shall be resold, and any individual
or organization receiving Tickets under this policy will be required to attest in writing that
they will not sell, trade, barter, or raffle for fundraising purposes for cash or other monetary
or non-monetary consideration, any Tickets they are allotted.

1.4 Once Tickets are allocated, they cannot be exchanged for a different event, and any
lost or stolen Tickets cannot be replaced.

2.0 PROCEDURE/PROCESS:

2.1 City Council

2.1.1 Use of any Tickets covered by this policy will first be made available to any
City Council member who intends to use them for one of the approved purposes.

Policy 502 – Ticket Distribution Policy Page 2

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 2.1.2 Any City Council member wishing to use the Tickets, shall notify the City
Manager’s Office of the date on which they wish to use the Tickets, the number of
Tickets they wish to use, the event venue at which they want to use the Tickets, and
the public purpose for which they wish to use the tickets.

2.1.2.1 If the City Council member is directly and actively participating in

the event on the date requested, in order to promote the event venue, or to
otherwise promote the City or any of its interests, then it is presumed that
the City Council member is acting in their capacity as an elected official on
behalf of the City in order to promote an accepted public purpose related to
either economic or community development.

2.1.3 If more than one City Council member requests use of the Tickets for the
same event such that more than the available number of Tickets would be used,
then the City Manager will speak to all interested City Council members to
determine if an agreement can be reached as to the Ticket allocation. If no
agreement can be reached, then the City Manager’s Office will conduct a random
lottery to determine the Ticket allocation.

2.1.4 The specific City Council member who requested use of the Tickets must be
present at the event for which the tickets were requested.

2.1.5 Only the specific City Council member and any individual Recipient who is
directly involved in the allowable economic or community development activity are
eligible to receive Tickets from the City. If the City Council member would like to
bring any other individuals, including family members of either the City Council
member or the Recipient, then those Tickets will be required to be purchased
through payment to the City for the full value of those Tickets.

2.1.6 If no City Council member requests Tickets for any particular event for an
approved public purpose, or if City Council members do not request the full number
of Tickets available for any particular event, then any remaining Tickets will be
offered to the City Manager’s Office next, as set forth in Section 3.1.2 below.

2.2 City Manager

2.2.1 If there are Tickets available for any event that are not used by City Council
members, those Tickets will be offered to the City Manager for use for any approved
public purpose.

2.2.2 The City Manager may elect to use the Tickets for a public purpose already
known to them, or may inquire of his Executive Management Team (“EMT”) as to
whether any of the EMT members are requesting to use any or all of the Tickets for
a specific public purpose. If there is more than one request for the Tickets to the
City Manager for any particular event, the City Manager has the authority to
determine how the Tickets will be allocated based upon the current needs of the
City.

Policy 502 – Ticket Distribution Policy Page 3

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 2.2.3 If the Tickets are being used for either economic or community
development purposes, then either the City Manager, or his/her designee, or the
EMT member who requested the Tickets, is required to be present for the event for
which the Tickets were requested. Only the City Manager and any City staff
member or individual Recipient who is directly involved in the allowable economic
or community development activity are eligible to receive Tickets from the City. If
the City Manager or other involved City staff or Recipients would like to bring other
individuals, including family members, then those Tickets will be required to be
purchased through payment to the City for the full value of those Tickets.

2.2.4 If the Tickets are being allocated for the purpose of employee performance
recognition, then neither the City Manager nor any other City staff member is
required to attend the event with the Recipient. Additionally, only for the purpose
of employee performance recognition, the City Manager has the discretion to allow
family members or other individuals to attend the event with the specific
employee(s) being recognized, and those individuals will not be required to
reimburse the City for the full value of those Tickets.

2.2.5 If the City Manager does not receive any requests Tickets for any particular
event for an approved public purpose, or if the requests received by the City
Manager do not request the full number of Tickets available for any particular
event, then any remaining Tickets will be offered to the general public next, as set
forth in Section 3.1.3 below.

2.3 General Public

2.3.1 If there are Tickets available for any event that are not used by City Council
or by the City Manager, those Tickets will be offered to the general public.

2.3.2 The City Manager shall determine the mechanism for advertisement and/or
release of any remaining Tickets to the general public, but any such system shall
involve random selection of Recipients and notice to as many members of the public
as possible, and the pool of possible Recipients shall not ever be limited to only City
staff.

3.0 RESPONSIBILITIES:

3.1 The cost of any Tickets purchased by the City and subject to this policy shall be paid
for by revenues collected from the City’s venue performance management agreements.

3.2 The City Manager is responsible for designation of City staff members to be
responsible for receipt of all Ticket requests and the fulfillment of any other duties required
of the City Manager or the City Manager’s Office under this policy.

Policy 502 – Ticket Distribution Policy Page 4

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