Members of the Derby Cultural Commission said they will be forced to cancel this year’s Derby Day if city government continues to require criminal background checks for vendors.
The requirement and associated expense — $25 — are keeping vendors from committing to the annual community festival held in June, they said.
“I’ve contacted numerous large scale festivals, citywide festivals and none of them heard of background checks before,” said Joel Descheen, one of four members of the Derby Cultural Commission who appeared at a Derby Aldermen meeting Jan. 22 to express their displeasure with the background checks.
The Aldermen were scheduled to vote on a number of changes to the city’s vendor permit Jan. 22.
The changes, which have been under discussion for months, are meant to streamline the process, elected officials said.
However, no action was taken after Art Gerckens, the newly-elected president of the Board of Aldermen, suggested the board hold off.
“Are we worried about pedophiles and criminals? They’re out there already. They’re everywhere. You have more chance of a public person coming to these events wandering around the green looking for children,” Gerckens said. “Where do we draw the line? Do we check every citizen that comes to Derby Day?”
For years the city has required vendors to go through a criminal background check conducted by the police department before getting a vendor permit from the city.
But members of the Cultural Commission said the background check requirement was never enforced until the last three years or so.
Vendors are required to pay a fee for the background check, in addition to paying fees to sell their wares at Derby Day, an annual community day on Elizabeth Street.
The bureaucratic obstacles are unnecessary, and the extra costs are keeping vendors away, Descheen said.
“We’re a volunteer group and we’re trying to keep the heart in this city going. There is mot much left in our city,” Descheen said. “This process isn’t the way to go.”
Rosalie Cota, another volunteer with the Cultural Commission, posed a question to vendors on a Facebook group for craft fairs — had any of them been required to have a criminal background check before a permit was issued?
The vendors said they’ve heard of temporary sales permits, vendor permits, food permits, and even registering with police — but never a criminal background check.
Several said they wouldn’t attend an event that required a criminal background check, mostly because of the cost. One vendor on the Facebook group called it invasive.
Members of the Cultural Commission pointed out that most of the vendors at Derby Day vend all over the region, and have strong reputations. They pointed out that if something criminal were to happen at Derby Day, chances are the crime would be committed by a member of the general public, not a Derby Day vendor.
“No one is going to be interested in vending. We’re having a hard enough time getting people into the city anyway,” Descheen said.
Laura Brezina, another member of the Cultural Commission, said she understands the desire for safety, but many of the vendors are school bus drivers and substitute teachers.
“(They’ve) already had background checks, but as per the ordinance that background check will not apply. They’ll have to go through the process and pay,” Brezina said. “With our $60 fee and a $20 background check, they’re barely making back their money.”
First Ward Alderman Barbara DeGennaro said an Aldermen’s subcommittee has been reviewing the city’s vendor permitting process for months in an attempt to make it easier for the public.
DeGennaro said the criminal background checks have been on the books in Derby since about 1976.
“The background checks have been there since the outset,” she said. “We have not added that in. I certainly understand the concern.”
But DeGennaro said the city should follow the rules laid out in local law, including the call for background checks.
“We have not changed anything that’s been there. The work that we’ve done over the last several months has been to help streamline those events so that we can get vendors in here and make the process easier. However, we can’t ignore the rules that are in place and that have been in place,” she said.
Alderman Felicia Monaco asked several times why the background checks had become an issue. Mayor Anita Dugatto indicated the permit ordinance was ambiguous.
Gerckens weighed in, saying he briefly researched whether criminal background checks are required by other major events in the region, and came up empty.
“I am absolutely against the background checks,” Gerckens said.
The Alderman said it’s already tough to get vendors for Derby Day.
“You’re glad when someone says, ‘Yeah, I want to come to your event’,” Gerckens said. “To add a layer of the background check, I think that’s a big discouragement and a disservice (to the volunteers).”
Gerckens pointed out the Board of Aldermen sent a $5 million referendum last year to voters with little discussion.
Yet Derby Day vendor permitting process is a never-ending discussion.
“This has been going on for two years or probably longer,” Gerckens said.
He suggested that it might be time to remove background checks from the 1976 law.
Alderman Ron Sill pointed out a potential loophole in the background check.
“Does anyone go out there the day of the event and actually check that the person behind the booth is actually the person who went through the background check?” he asked.
Sill and Alderman Peter Olenoski said that in the past, vendors with criminal convictions have been allowed to attend Derby Day.
Olenoski said Derby was specifically advised by the city attorney that the city was prohibited from denying a permit based on a past conviction.
Corporation Counsel Thomas Welch said the new revisions to the vendor permit process would give the Derby chief of police more power to say “yay” or “nay” to a given vendor.
The corporation counsel indicated removing the criminal background check didn’t necessarily decrease the city’s liability should anything happen at an event such as Derby Day.
Alderman Stephen Iacuone and DeGennaro said the criminal background checks go beyond Derby Day vendors. DeGennaro said it applies to everyone from hot dog vendors to “people who come to your door trying to sell you a magazine subscription.”
“You have towns around you trying to figure out how to stop people from preying on the elderly because (they) don’t have any checks and balances. There is a check and balance (in Derby) that’s been in the charter for years, and now, just because of public opinion, we want to remove it?” Iacuone said.
Alderman Carmen DiCenso suggested requiring background checks for anyone going door-to-door in Derby, but not for Derby Day vendors or other one-day events.
Gerckens pointed out there is already a heavy police presence at Derby Day and other one-day events.
“I just think this is overkill. You make the vendors go through this, you might as well cancel Derby Day,” Gerckens said.
Ultimately the Aldermen voted to table the matter for a month, with DeGennaro and Iacuone dissenting.
