Mono monitors community events

April 3, 2025 · 0 Comments

Written By JAMES MATTHEWS

As you do when hosting events, Mono keeps track of resident participation, costs, and the return from municipal public activities.

A resident asked council when it met on March 25 if the town keeps track of public turnout to the numerous events promoted by the municipality. He also asked if there’s a means to gauge if money should be spent elsewhere as opposed to events that draw little interest.

Kim Heaton, the town’s recreation director, said events are routinely reviewed and a number of things are considered to evaluate success or failure.

There’s a recreation advisory committee, she said.

“We go over the pros, the cons,” Heaton said. “We go over how much money was spent. We go over what the attendance was. And then from there we make decisions as to what would make the event better or whether to even go forward with it.”

She said each year’s budget includes revenues versus expenditures for the department.

A case in point is the community cleanup event called Make Mono Shine. Last year’s was held in May and included prizes for participants who collected garbage throughout the town. There were guided hikes, a garage sale, and booths for local groups to get their information out.

That event will take an altered approach for this year’s edition.

“We felt that the attendance for that event versus the amount of money that was put into the event wasn’t a good way to spend taxpayers’ dollars,” she said.

On behalf of the committee, Councillor Melinda Davie said more details will soon be cemented about the 2025 Make Mono Shine Day.

“We clearly follow what the community wants, is the plan,” Davie said. “Come up with ideas, and then if people are not interested, we don’t keep hammering going forward with them. We don’t waste money.”

“If there are any events that people think we should reconsider or abandon or reconfigure, we’re open to those suggestions,” Mayor John Creelman said. “We’re also open to suggestions of new events that might capture the imagination of the community.”