LETTERS: RIVERFEST APPRECIATES POLICE HELP

To the editor:

The Riverfest Association was surprised to read Jeffrey Jackson's article regarding police costs going up for special events. It appears that Mr. Jackson left out some important comments, and we would like to add some of our own thoughts.

Our comments for Mr. Jackson contained nothing but praise for the city and police department and how we understood the nature of such a decision, if such a decision exists. He wrote his article despite our request for time to obtain additional information to properly answer his question. We promised to get back to Mr. Jackson once we knew for sure what was going on, and he agreed to contact one of us before publication. The purpose of this request was to correct any negative perception of the relationship between Riverfest and the city. In other words, he wrote the article prematurely without the facts.

If you are running a business or a not-for-profit organization such as Riverfest, any cost increase will have an effect. The last thing to be impacted would be police protection. The Riverfest Association's priority is the safety of its guests, and if we could not provide adequate protection during the event, we would not have it.

What this article failed to mention was that Riverfest is not angry with the city or police department for any fees we have paid, present or past, for their assistance. We understand the costs involved to support this type of event and are extremely grateful to the police department and its officers with whom we have built a relationship with over the past 20 years.

Instead of focusing on potential negative aspects of our event, why not turn it into a positive article for Random Acts of Kindness Week? You could focus on what we accomplish when the city, police department and 11 private citizens take the initiative to provide quality family entertainment to the citizens of Cape Girardeau for no charge. It could also focus on Riverfest's financial impact to tourism and area businesses.

TIM HAHN and JERRA HUTSON

Riverfest '98

Cape Girardeau