Email to my Alderman

Dear Alderman Levar,

My name is Reverend Derek Dennison. I've been living in your district now for close to a year. I've been living in Chicago for close to 8 years now. Before that I lived in a very small town near the town of Dixon Illinois, Ronald Reagan's boyhood town. I used to go to Lowell Park where President Reagan was a lifeguard and he even saved my Mother's life once. It was a very simple place to grow up, the laws and rules are all very simple and very enforced.

I came to this city for many reasons. I wanted to know what it would be like to live in one of the greatest cities in America. I wanted to explore possibilities and see what I could accomplish on my own. I wanted to live in a city where I was encouraged to express myself and not feel like I was being looked down on. Small towns have that ability of looking down on people for expressing themselves openly.

Before I came to Chicago, I used to organize and promote concerts and bands. These bands were of a wide variety. I did well there and because these events were popular people came to them and they enjoyed themselves. Seeing this was a reward all in it's own. I came to Chicago, in this aspect, because I wanted to have the ability to reach out to more people and more bands.

However, upon moving to a new city all the normal "new guy" inconveniences began again. It took me six years to finally be able to start doing little shows again. The city is much different than the smaller towns. Bands here want more money and a lot of venues here charge a room rental fee. Which means I have to pay any where between $300 up to $3,500 in order to do a concert where the three bands involved could cost anywhere between $300 and far beyond $5,000.

I now only do concerts as a hobby. I don't make the kind of money needed to survive in this business. I currently do a once a month dj night at the Double Door in Wicker Park and I have a free concert to be held this coming Wednesday at the Cobra Lounge on Ashland Ave. After these events I am putting together a benefit event in the name of a friend that died last year. All proceeds will go to a local music school that he attended in his name. The venue has said they would donate the space for the event.

If for some reason this license goes through this event won't be able to happen. In fact, I'll never be able to do another event inside the city limits. With the license fee being different for each size of venue I would have to get different licenses. Perfect example is that I've recently had an event that was originally slated for a venue with a 550 "non-fixed seat" capacity that had to be changed to a venue that had a 300 "non-fixed seat" capacity. This would be too costly for me to have to obtain different licenses due to different capacities.


Insurance

The insurance that is being demanded is also too high for me. If I put on an event at a venue that holds 500 people, the insurance could run me between $300 and $600 for that one night. That is also non-refundable. Which means I would have to add that cost into my ticket prices and make a $5 show now cost $10. Which in turn will stop people from coming to my event and myself becoming more poor than I already am.

I'm sure that I am not the only person that this insurance will effect in this way. All legitimate PPA licensed venues already have this insurance. The event occurs inside their property in which they provide the security and they control the capacity. So I wonder now, why do the promoters have to have this insurance? A promoter does not overrule the authority of the venue. The venue is not owned by the promoter. The venue has the final say about capacity and what actions to be done if there is a problem.

If E2 is the basis behind the insurance, may I ask this question. Why? E2 was a venue that had constant complaints and was even ordered closed by the city. They disregarded the city and stayed open. At that point they became criminals. The city should have made sure that the venue was closed and should have administered their own locks or chains to keep it closed. That is not the fault of all the promoters in Chicago, that was the fault of the City of Chicago.


Fingerprinting.

I personally do not have a problem with fingerprinting. The problem I have is if it holds someone back from receiving a license. Not everyone has a perfect record. People tend to mess up in life from time to time. It's one of the ways we learn. I'm sure every person in the world has said the wrong thing or has taken pens home from work. But if a person has had a bad record in the past should that stop them from doing what they like now? Or should this be taken away from them as well, leaving them with limited work options?


Fixed Seating Venues

Has anyone thought about how many "non-fixed seating" venues there are in this city? Metro, Double Door, Schuba's. Martyrs, Empty Bottle, Subterranean, The Blue Note, Quencher's, The Hideout, the Riviera, the Vic Theater, Congress Theater and many more. Do you think these venues are going to pay for these licenses or just give up and put in tables for customers to sit at. There won't be any Promoters left to fill these establishments with live music. There won't be any establishments that will offer dancing, live music, comedy acts or even prop theater.

Fixed seat venues like the United Center can afford these license but they are exempt because they threatened to take their business to suburban venues and other towns like Rockford and Pecatonica, Illinois. Now, if the license does pass as it stands, so will the independent Event Promoters.


Money

I've already touched on the different amounts that it may cost for a single event. Now let's look at how this could effect business.

If a "non-fixed seating" venue has to close it's doors to independent event promoters they could run the chance of losing a lot of money on a weekly basis. Most of these venues have bands or dj's on every Friday and Saturday night.

Let's say that on a busy night with a band the bar rings in a profit of $4,500. On a night without a band, that same venue that is open and serves alcohol and a limited amount of food could ring in a profit of $1,500 for the night. That's a difference of $3,000 in profit. Now, once the license is passed and the promoters can't afford the license where will all this extra profit come from? It won't be there and a lot of these smaller venues will close.

Once these venues close an average of 20 - 25 employees will be out of work. As of March the unemployment rate was 5.5.%. Where do you think it will be when an average of 20 venues with an average of 20 - 25 employees has to close their doors? That's roughly 400 to 1,300 more people in the unemployment lines. If they can even obtain unemployment help since most of these employees work for a minimal wage and survive mainly on tips.

I don't know about you but I don't want to be bothered by even more homeless people.


Culture

Independent Event Promoters bring in live music from all over the world. Personally I've brought bands in from Peoria, Michigan, New Jersey, and Boston. There are bands that come from all over to play this city because of the cultural diversity and opportunities. There are bands that move here because, "If you can't make it in Chicago, you can't make it anywhere."

Besides bands, let's think about the little prop theaters that make up Chicago's acting profession. These venues range in different sizes. They also range in different money brackets. Most of these venues charge an entrance fee in hopes that they make enough money to pay the rent for that month. They don't have the extra money to pay a license fee. Their actors rarely make money and some events sponsor benefit nights to obtain the money they need for props and costumes. These types of prop theaters will have to close down.


Let's not forget about the very basic element that should be a major part of your decision.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." - Amendment 1, U.S. Constitution, Ratified on 12/15/1791


I understand that this license is not directly trying to prohibit our right to peaceably assemble. However, it is selecting who has the right to decide where and when. If you do not have a license you can not put together the options for a group of people to peaceably assemble. Doesn't it make more sense to give everyone the option and if it becomes unruly to ticket and arrest the people involved no matter if they organized it?

In fact, if the city were more stringent on the laws and ordinances we already have would I even be spending the 2 or more hours writing this letter to you? I can say that I have witnessed a house party be raided. In fact, I even called it in to the local district. I was standing outside when the people came out and were let go without a ticket or even a smack on the wrist. This same place was raided three times in under six months. Each time the minors that were attending the event were not arrested. They were ushered out of the building and let go onto the streets.

Perhaps, if the city was more strict on the element that is giving independent Event Promoters such a bad name you wouldn't be reading this now. Maybe these people would be in the kind of trouble they should be in and I wouldn't be sitting here worrying if I can continue to plan a benefit show in the name of a friend that has passed on.

In closing, I have learned and experienced a lot of things from living in this city thus far. I've learned that taking the time to voice my opinion can possibly help to shape the future. I've learned that life can be much more tough than it appears. I've learned that if local government can't find reasons to listen to their public that the local government can change in time.

I also know that this isn't the only place to live. No matter how much I like it some where, if my options are limited due to a license or work I can always move away and take my abilities with me. Just like the thousands of other people that do what I do.

Thank you for your time. Please think strongly against the Event Promoter's License. It could be very hazardous to Chicago's culture and it's people.

-Reverend Derek Dennison