Organizers of the Gilroy Garlic Festival have phased out the
economic lifeblood of a Hispanic business association and are
withholding thousands of charity dollars from the group until it
regains corporate status.
Gilroy – Organizers of the Gilroy Garlic Festival have phased out the economic lifeblood of a Hispanic business association and are withholding thousands of charity dollars from the group until it regains corporate status.
A paperwork snafu caused the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to lose its corporate license and tax exempt status in November 2005, prompting the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association to withhold roughly $12,000 in charity dollars from the group.
“On the advice of our attorneys and (certified public accountant), we’re holding on to the money until they get re-instated,” said executive director Brian Bowe.
The money was earned on behalf of the chamber last July by roughly 150 volunteers, who dished up chicken, rice and other food in a gated hospitality area for the 4,000 volunteers who operate the city’s premier event.
Raul Vega, a former president of the Hispanic chamber who is working to re-organize the group, said the chamber has been unable to hold any of its traditional events this year or distribute funds to the community.
“Everything is on hold until we can figure out (the license),” said Vega. “The license is still suspended, though I can do business without it.”
This weekend, for instance, the Hispanic chamber will sell fireworks from a booth on San Ysidro Avenue, a fund-raiser that brings in roughly $7,000 annually. State law allows a nonprofit to continue fund raising even with a suspended license, though the group may have to pay an $800 corporation fee and an additional 8.8 percent tax. Those fees can be recouped once nonprofit tax status is restored, according to an FTB spokesman who said it is not uncommon for smaller organizations to have their licenses suspended, typically during changes in leadership. The chamber’s paperwork headaches date back more than a decade to the failure of a former bookkeeper to file paperwork with the state, Vega said.
Vega said he plans to reinstate the chamber’s status and collect last year’s festival proceeds by July 9. But it remains unclear what, if any, funds will arrive in chamber coffers this July.
Festival organizers decided this year to eliminate the hospitality area and let volunteers dine for free at Gourmet Alley, the giant food tent that churns out thousands of pounds of calamari, pepper streak and other culinary favorites.
“One of the motivating factors is that we’ve been listening to feedback for years from volunteers asking ‘How come we can’t eat from Gourmet Alley?’ ” said Brian Bowe, director of the nonprofit Gilroy Garlic Festival Association. “We decided to switch things up and give our volunteers the chance to eat their hospitality meal directly from Gourmet Alley.”
Though the chamber has not held a monopoly on the hospitality area, the group’s volunteers have traditionally accounted for 70 percent or more of the work performed in that area, according to figures from the Garlic Festival Association.
“We have worked with people in the Hispanic chamber to make sure the people who want to work are getting placed,” Bowe said. Other jobs at the festival include assisting with parking, garbage clean-up and serving food in Gourmet Alley.
Festival proceeds have traditionally helped the Hispanic chamber fund scholarships and grants for local organizations, as well as chamber operations. Chamber volunteers in 2005 helped complete a $10,000 pledge for the city’s future arts center by raising $16,170 at the Garlic Festival – the top earnings for any single group that year.
Since first establishing itself as a nonprofit business association in 1984, the chamber has performed mostly charitable functions with the help of volunteer organizers. It has never grown and maintained a presence as a clearinghouse for business information, networking and other services for the Latino business community.
Though the chamber’s corporate license will soon be re-instated, Vega said it could be some time before it formally resumes operations, complete with a nine-member governing board. At the moment, Vega said he is working with other Hispanic chambers in the region to craft a business plan for the future.
“We’re going to regroup and we’re going to be stronger than ever,” Vega said.
