Dave Felice

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More options Jul 19, 1:11 pm
From: Dave Felice <gelato...@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:11:43 -0700 (PDT)
Local: Sun, Jul 19 2009 1:11 pm
Subject: Attorney accepts one parks advertising scheme; rejects another
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Assistant City Attorney Patrick Wheeler says it’s acceptable to
put advertising on dispensers of bags for animal waste collection in
Denver parks. But, Wheeler rejects a proposed plan to put advertising
on golf carts at city courses.
In a memorandum to Parks and Recreation Manager Kevin Patterson,
the assistant city attorney also says the “temporary” nature of the
waste bag dispenser scheme could be open to challenge. He concludes
his opinion with a recommendation that “the Corporate Sponsorship
Policy be reviewed and modified in light of whatever advertising,
marketing and sponsorship proposals the Parks Department deems
appropriate in the future.”
According to Wheeler, what he calls the “Dispenser Station
Proposal” would be acceptable under current charter and park
regulations. He writes: “The Proposal would fit into the Site

Sponsorship category because the Proposal would provide in-kind

operating support to a specific Department need on a system-wide
basis, namely the placement of dispenser stations in parks where dog
walkers need to be encouraged and assisted in picking up dog waste.”
Wheeler says the golf cart proposal does not fit any existing
“limited corporate sponsorship” guidelines and “is purely a payment of
cash to the Golf Enterprise Fund for the right to place advertising
banners on golf carts.”
The assistant city attorney issued his written opinion after the
Parks Department agreed to put advertising signs on poles supporting
bag dispensers in locations including Commons, Skyline, Cuernevaca,
Confluence, Rivers and Trails, Sloan’s, Jefferson, and Berkeley Parks.
Because of a lack of public notice, many neighborhood advocates
want more opportunity for community comment. Opponents also contend
the sign plan violates both sponsorship guidelines and city charter.
The Parks and Recreation web site (www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?
alias=www.denvergov.org/parksandrecreation) says nothing of the plan,
even in the public notices section.
The entrepreneur proposing to operate the dispensers, Bill Airy
of Poo Free Parks (B...@PooFreeParks.com or 303-525-3323) has said
there would be no cost to the city. He apparently plans to operate
the program with profits from the sale of advertising.
Parks and Recreation officials have not offered a verifiable
number for the amount of money they contend the city might save.
Estimates range from $35,000 to as much as $200,000. However, nobody
explains how this money is to be saved and how simply putting up
dispensers would encourage irresponsible pet owners to clean up after
their animals. The Parks Department has not commented on the
possibility of increasing enforcement of existing regulations.
No one has said anything about what would happen to the homemade
dispensers some park users have voluntarily set up and stocked with
plastic bags.
Residents can send comments to Parks Manager Kevin Patterson.
His name, address, and phone number are not posted on the Parks web
site. Patterson’s e-mail is Kevin.Patter...@ci.denver.co.us. His
postal address is Department 601, 201 West Colfax, Denver 80202.
Patterson’s assistant, Angela Casias, can be reached at 720-913-0741.
The full text of Wheeler’s memorandum follows.

Story by Dave Felice (gelato321 @ol.com)

July 19, 2009

Bill @PooFreeParks.com
Kevin.Patterson @ci.denver.co.us
patrick.wheeler @ci.denver.co.us

(To use e-mail addresses in this item, remove the space between the
name and the @ sign.)

(City Attorney’s Office Letterhead)

MEMO – ATTORNEY CLIENT COMMUNICATION

To: Kevin Patterson
Manager of Parks and Recreation
From: Patrick Wheeler
Asst. City Attorney
Date: June 15, 2009
Re: Opinion re: Department of Parks and Recreation’s Corporate
Sponsorship Policy

Recently, there have been two proposals for agreements whereby

the contracting party would act as a “middle man” between corporate
sponsors and the City. The first of these would have the contracting
party, at no cost to the City, installing and maintaining dispenser
stations for dog waste bags in certain Denver parks where dog walking
is common. The contracting party would arrange for corporate sponsors
to pay the cost of the dispenser stations and some profit to the
contracting party in exchange for recognition of the corporate sponsor
on the dispenser stations. This proposal shall be referred to
hereafter as the “Dispenser Station Proposal”.

The second proposal would have the contracting party entering

arrangements with
commercial entities for the placement of advertising banners on golf
carts at certain City-owned golf courses. Again, the contracting
party would be paid by the commercial entity the costs of the ad
banners along with some profit. The City would get specific dollar
amounts for each ad banner placed on a golf cart. This proposal shall
be referred to hereafter as the “Golf Cart Proposal”.

Questions have arisen as to whether these two proposals comport

with the purposes, criteria, guidelines and limitations set forth in
the Corporate Sponsorship Policy (“Policy”). The Policy controls both
advertising and corporate sponsorships in Parks.

Charter Analysis
Section 2.4.5 of the City Charter states that park facilities may
not be leased except “for a park purpose.” The Policy acknowledges
this restriction in Section 3.0 and in Section 4.0 defines the park
purpose for which the policy was crafted. The Policy ensures that the
Charter restriction is honored by limiting Sponsorships to specific
programs, events, projects or sites at which the Department is
conducting park activities. See Section 2.1 and 5.1.

Advertising and Sponsorships

The Policy generally prohibits permanent advertising in parks in
section 2.3. “The permanent placement of a corporate logo, brand or
product placement in a public park or facility is considered
advertising and not allowed.” Temporary advertising, in the form of
corporate logos, branding, or advertising copy, is allowed if it is
associated with an event or program. Section 2.4.

Section 2.1 of the Policy defines “sponsorship” as the “financial

or in-kind support from a for-profit entity for a specific program,
event, project or site in exchange for tangible and intangible
benefits to the sponsor. The “benefits” can include “marketing
opportunities (product promotion and temporary advertising),” right to
promote the sponsor’s investment with the department or association
with department programs, and name association with events or
programs. This section also provides that sponsorship is a
“negotiated business agreement” anticipating that details of the
sponsorship would be negotiated.

Section 5.1 of the Policy further specifies the four instances in

which a sponsorship is
appropriate: 1) Event Sponsorship; 2) Project Sponsorship; 3) Program
Sponsorship; and 4) Site Sponsorship. The level of corporate
recognition differs for each of these four categories.

Golf
Proposal
The Golf Cart Proposal does not fit into any of the four
sponsorship categories because it is not tied to and does not directly
support any event, project, program or site improvement, as those
concepts are described in Section 5.1. It is purely a payment of cash
to the Golf Enterprise Fund for the right to place advertising banners
on golf carts. Therefore, this proposal would not be acceptable under
the limited corporate sponsorship categories.

Dispenser Station
Proposal
Site Sponsorship allows for recognition of corporate
contributions for “operating support of a specific department place or
feature.” Section 2.8 provides that “sites” can extend beyond
“individual features or areas” to an entire park or center, “and even
to an entire system.” The Dispenser Station Proposal would fit into
the Site Sponsorship category because the Proposal would provide in-
kind operating support to a specific Department need on a system-wide
basis, namely the placement of dispenser stations in parks where dog
walkers need to be encouraged and assisted in picking up dog waste.

Section 5.1 provides that “[m]arketing opportunities and

recognition of the sponsorship are negotiated in the agreement.”
“Marketing opportunities” is parenthetically defined in Section 2.1 a)
as “product promotion and temporary advertising.” However, a Site
Sponsor cannot be granted temporary advertising as defined in Section
2.3 of the policy through a negotiated agreement because “temporary
advertising” is limited to “the temporary display of corporate logos,
branding or advertising copy at a department event or on collateral
materials associated with an event or program.” There is no “event”
or “program” (as defined under the Policy) associated with a Site
Sponsorship. Although there is no definition of “product promotion”,
section 2.9 provides that Marketing Benefits include temporary
visibility of brands, products, corporate name and logo on City
property or materials. This may be instructive as to how “product
promotion” is distinguished, if at all, from “temporary advertising”
under the Policy.

Based on the above, the Dispenser Proposal could qualify as a

Site Sponsorship. Section 9.0 states that the negotiated agreement for
the corporate sponsorship recognition and marketing opportunities
should set the type and time limit of each sponsorship, as well as the
specific marketing and branding plan which would include duration.
Specific provisions should be crafted for the agreement to limit any
corporate sponsorship recognition to a time and manner in keeping with
the intent and purpose of the Policy. Since duration of such
arrangements is not defined in the Policy, any such display beyond a
short time period would be open to challenge. Care should be taken in
the drafting of the negotiated agreement to avoid any advertising,
permanent or temporary, to comply with the intent and purpose of the
Policy, and to avoid permanent commercialization of the sites.

Whether or not you proceed with the Dispenser Station Proposal,

we recommend that the Corporate Sponsorship Policy be reviewed and
modified in light of whatever advertising, marketing and sponsorship
proposals the Parks Department deems appropriate in the future.

CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER

DEPARTMENT OF LAW
DAVID R. FINE
CITY ATTORNEY
PATRICK A. WHEELER
ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY
OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY
MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS SECTION
201 WEST COLFAX AVENUE, DEPT 1207
DENVER, COLORADO 80202-5332
PHONE: (720) 913-3275
FAX: (720) 913-3180
patrick.whee...@ci.denver.co.us