“All For Me, None For Thee”

Last night, Orlando Calling, may have ended with a bang with acts like Kid Rock and Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, but for residents and vendors around the Florida Citrus Bowl where the music festival was held, it was more like a whimper.

Why?

Promoters of the two-day festival, which took place in the heart of one of Orlando’s oldest African-Americans communities, were allowed to build a fence around the Citrus Bowl, closing off its north, south and west sides.  This 8 foot chain link fence, in essence, effectively shut out some 40 to 50 residents and vendors, who depend on sporadic activities at the Bowl to make a living and feed and cloth their children.

As the vendors and residents put it, they had never seen anything like this before.   Albert, who has been in the area for 60 years and has a parking lot said, the fence reminded him of the fifties era.

“I think this (the fence) brings us back to the fifties, where things were all segregated,” he said. “I think the City of Orlando should not let this happen. I think its apartheid and I am very upset about this. Everyone is very upset.”

Albert said, at Citrus Bowl events he would normally house 70 to 80 cars in the parking lot which he operates on the west side. But on Saturday, he had five cars and up until 2:00 p. m. on Sunday, there wasn’t a single car.   He expected that Sunday would turn out pretty much like Saturday as festival goers were parking on city property and so, the neighborhood was making no money.

The anger of vendors who normally sell food and residents who provide parking around the Citrus Bowl, was palpable even on Sunday afternoon.

James, who owns prime real estate at 1815 west Central and offers parking for events at the Bowl said, he too, had never seen anything like this.

“This is a concerted effort to keep all the money in their pockets and put us out of business,” said James, who has been providing parking since 1997. “The city of Orlando has been slowly doing it for the last three years and at first I didn’t pay much attention, but now it has gotten to the point where it it time to speak out.”     It was his understanding that attendees were parking in city garages and also the Central Florida Fair Grounds and being bused to the Citrus Bowl.

He said that a number of vendors and residents of the area are planning to head to City Hall to discuss the situation so that it could be rectified going forward.   We are going in numbers to talk to them in a nice peaceful manner and if nothing comes out of that meeting, we plan to march with signs, he said.

And what’s James message for the city of Orlando?

“Be aware, we are coming. We really want to have a plan set in place that includes us in the parking, the traffic and the people coming through here  when all events take place at the Citrus Bowl,” he said.

James, like others said, no one came to discuss the arrangements that were being made — that a fence would be erected all around the Bowl, the west entrance closed off, streets closed, traffic re-routed and that residents and vendors would effectively be shut out.   A couple of days before the event a letter had arrived in which road closures were indicated, but there was no discussion.

“This is a black community and we did not ask for the stadium to be built in our community because it’s noisy, its confusion all the time,” James said. “But, it’s here and in our community and so, we want to profit from it. That’s the bottom line.”

Debra said that the fencing is an absolute insult to the community and wondered how this could happen in 2011. She didn’t see the need for all the road blocks and the cordoned off streets.

“These are residents, businesses and homeowners who pay taxes here,” she said.  “We have had vendors come in and pay the county and pay the City of Orlando their fees, which are not cheap.  And because of the fencing, they have not made any money and that’s depriving them of the opportunity to support their families and pay their taxes here in Orlando. We are angry.”

Debra confirmed what other vendors and residents said. No one came to talk to the businesses and residents in the area to discuss how they too, might be able to benefit from the music festival taking place right in their neighborhood.  She added that there must be engagement between the city and the residents and vendors.

“The City of Orlando needs to be in communication with its residents,” she said. “This is a small community that is rather cohesive. The city has got to ask people what they want, what they need and then work together to accomplish it.”

She believes that the city did not look out for the residents and vendors around the Citrus Bowl and instead took a short term outlook to make some quick money.

“The promoter came in, leased the lots and will be here for two days, then he is gone,” said Debra.  “We are residents who live in this community and they are going to be looking to us to pay taxes.  That’s year round.  So, they took a short term approach to making quick money from a promoter who had lots of cash and they forgot about the community, who their long term sustenance comes from.  That’s wrong.”

Pam, said that some vendors made as little as $20 on Saturday and that they had no idea that the west entrance to the Citrus Bowl would be closed off, allowing a single entrance into and out of the facility on the east side.   She said this had never happened before and is angry that the city could work out such an arrangement without any consideration for the area residents to benefit.

Pam operates a parking lot that holds over 200 cars. On Saturday, there was a grand total of 20 vehicles. Sunday’s prospects weren’t much better.

What did Pam wish to convey to the city of Orlando?

“We are going to be here. This is our city and we help to take care of it by paying our taxes and working toward building strong communities. There is a lot of anger over this event because people have gone into the hole to set up for this week-end and they haven’t made anything.”