1. Was HHF required to pre-pay in full the rent for the Mu­nicipal Plaza, the Convention Center, Stage Works/Expo Hall, and Festival Plaza?

G-Unit was required to pay for rental in advance for the Convention Center and they paid their rental in full prior to event day. There was no need for prepayment for the Municipal Auditorium or StageWorks. ASM Global used its Ticketmaster account to sell tickets for the events and since ASM is holding all the ticket revenue a portion of that will go towards all the expenses, including rental.

On Festival Plaza, that was left to ASM Global to collect and charge the G-Unit Foundation. It is at the non-profit rate of $250 per day and will be paid to the city.

2. When will law enforcement officials working overtime (Shreve­port Police, Caddo Sheriff, City Marshal, Louisiana State Po­lice, Louisiana Office of Parole & Probation) be paid for their labors at the end of their overtime shifts? 

The law enforcement officers were not working overtime shifts, but off-duty shifts. This resulted in a higher payment for SPD officers. Payment is expected to be made by today or early next week.

3. Will HHF be billed for ALL city services provided for HHF? These services include personnel of Shreveport Parks & Rec­reation, Public Works, Property Standards, SPD, SFD, , State Police, Probation & Parole and SPORTRAN.

All invoices have been sent to ASM Global for payment including Public Works, SPAR, SPORTRAN, and any other departments that incurred costs.  SPD, State Police, Probation and Parole are all part of the invoice from SPD that is being sent to ASM Global.  In addition, invoices for SFD have been sent to ASM, too.

You should be aware that the Administration deemed certain expenses necessary for general public safety and not directly related to the festival activities. The largest of these is the establishment and maintenance of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during the event. The total of those expenses is expected to be about $70,000, which we believe will be more than offset by the additional sales tax and hotel/motel taxes that will be paid to the city as a result of the festival.

4. How many law enforcement personnel from SPD, Cad­do Sheriff, City Marshal, State Police and Probation & Parole worked at the HHF events? What was the impact on law en­forcement in the parish with so much of law enforcement efforts concentrated in a small area?

We believe there was no impact on law enforcement outside the district, as all regular patrol shifts were fully staffed.

SPD had approximately 197 different officers work something related to H&H over a two-week period. Our records reflect that P&P had 40 different agents work the four-day event, CPSO had approximately 91 different deputies work the four-day event, and the City Marshal had 14 different deputies work the four-day event. The Louisiana State Police provided some ancillary services for which there was no charge to the city or to G-Unit.

5. What criteria should be followed in the future for blocking off the Red River District and Commerce Street and any other city streets for festivals, and what requirements should be imposed on any event organizers requesting that these areas be restricted to vehicle traffic?

The city used the same criteria for this event as it does for any street closure throughout the year for such events as Mardi Gras, festivals, runs, and block parties.  In addition to the normal steps in this case, the city reached out to and met with individual business/property owners to talk to them about impact and how to mitigate any of those effects, issued parking passes that provided access to their parking lots or provided alternative spaces. 

During the event, city personnel were present to address any issues they may have and fortunately, there was only one property owner with concerns as city personnel addressed his concerns on the spot.  As with all street closures, the city garnered approval of property owners and businesses well in excess of the normal requirement of 51% for a street closure.