Almost two years into their efforts to help establish an LGBT community center in Oakland, organizers of the city's Pride celebration have little to show for their efforts.
Pride board Chair Amber Todd said recently that this year's event drew more than 50,000 people, but no money has been set aside for the center as the Pride organization is having a hard time just breaking even on the street festival, let alone having additional revenue to bank for a center.
"It's difficult," Todd said, but there's "no way we're losing sight of our goal" to create sustainability.
The center will be discussed at an LGBT roundtable meeting and holiday party that will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Monday, December 12, at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Hearing Room 4.
Frank Ciglar, Oakland Pride's treasurer, said the group is "stretching" to try to break even.
Oakland Pride's total income for this year's event, held September 4, was $300,000 to $325,000. Expenses for the entire year were close to $300,000. He also said they paid a total of about $10,000 to $15,000 to Pride's nine community partners, which include hockey and dodge ball teams.
He estimated there would be a surplus of less than $10,000.
Todd said much of the extra money from this year would go to pay off the small debt from 2010. She put that amount at $3,000 to $5,000.
Whatever remains will be used to cover electric bills and similar expenses, Ciglar said.
Once the event's sustainable, Todd said, organizers hope to use revenue to help fund and develop a community center.
"We're trying to really hone in and really develop ourselves. We're not perfect and we don't claim to be. ... We're basically five volunteers," she said.
Out City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, a leader in the effort to bring back the Pride festival and establish an LGBT center, will be at next week's meeting. Jason Overman, Kaplan's spokesman, said in an email that she'll discuss the future of the LGBT community center and will ask for volunteers to join a working group on the project.
LGBT business owners will also get a chance to showcase their work, he said, "and we are hopeful to have their involvement and collaboration in the center's planning process." All are welcome at the event.
Oakland Pride has "created wonderful momentum for next steps around planning for the center," Overman said.
Pride organizers plan to have another event next year. Todd said they "look forward to the planning of an awesome 2012."
Holding a major Pride event has been a struggle for Oakland for years, although the two recent events have garnered positive publicity for the city and attracted enthusiastic crowds.
The East Bay Pride festival began in 1997, but ended in 2003 after being displaced by the multi-day Art and Soul Festival. A gathering with a few booths occurred in 2004 and 2005. But in 2009, the Art and Soul organizers moved up their dates to mid-August, freeing up the calendar on Labor Day weekend, which is traditionally when Oakland Pride has taken place.
Consultant departs
As with other Pride organizations, planners of Oakland's LGBT event have seen some leadership changes recently.
Patricia Kevena Fili, who also goes by the name Amethyst Moonwater, had been working with Pride's board as an executive consultant. But she resigned via a November 1 email to board members.
In her message, which she shared with the Bay Area Reporter, she wrote, "I have genuine concerns about the direction and integrity of this board."
Fili discussed her complaints in a phone interview. Among them, she said that some decisions had been made at the executive committee level, then announced to the rest of the board without allowing other members a chance to weigh in.
Todd responded by saying, "Any major decisions were made as a board."