There are four recent developments in the debacle that has been the October Warriors and Wizards (formerly Harry Potter) Festival in Jefferson, Wisconsin. Despite problems during its two years in Edgerton, Jefferson picked up the festival, and the Daily Jefferson County Union touted the shabby festival even as residents were screaming about the low quality of the event and dishonesty of the event organizer. See Iceberg Aside, Titanic‘s Executive Pleased with Ship’s Voyage.
Now the DU has been playing catch up, reporting on the sad truth of the event after hundreds of people – some undoubtedly relying on prior false & absurdly laudatory DU coverage – attended the event.
(I did not lose any money on this event, and have no personal disappointment. The story here is how lying boosters pushed an obviously cheesy festival with no regard to ordinary patrons’ time or money. Far from representing and defending the community, the DU‘s then-publisher and current editor and reporter sold out their own neighbors. The DU’s reporting now has no choice but to concede what’s plain to every last sentient creature on the planet – and was plain to so many these last few years.)
Obvious point – I live in Whitewater. My concern is here. If something like this happened repeatedly in Whitewater (and I do not believe it would), neither the officials involved nor the reporters deceptively flacking it would deserve their jobs. Sometimes one writes of nearby mistakes as both a cautionary tale and a reminder that our small and beautiful city will always deserve better.
Here’s what’s happened after years of DU puff pieces:
Early November 2018. Jefferson City Council assesses the festival (something like assessing whether a tsunami is a destructive occurrence).
Mid-November 2018. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department opens a criminal investigating into accusations that the promoter wrote several bad checks to private vendors who supplied services for the festival.
Mid-November 2018. City of Jefferson officials admit that they were aware of the festival’s problems (that is, city administrator Tim Freitag admits lying about his previously stated ignorance of any financial problems with the event (he should have been fired for his dishonesty).
Late November 2018. City of Jefferson decides to extend the time to decide whether to cancel the event (if you need to think it over…)
Early December 2018. Festival promoter Scott Cramer misses a payment deadline (of course he does).
Mid-January 2019. City of Jefferson sends collection notice to festival’s promoter (alternative headline: City of Jefferson Tries to Get Blood from a Turnip.)
Mid-January 2019. City of Jefferson terminates contract with the festival.
For it all, the city’s taxpayers and many vendors have not yet been paid.
Previously: Attack of the Dirty Dogs, Jefferson’s Dirty Dogs Turn Mangy, Thanks, City of Jefferson!, Who Will Jefferson’s Residents Believe: Officials or Their Own Eyes?, Why Dirty Dogs Roam With Impunity, Found Footage: Daily Union Arrives on Subscriber’s Doorstep, Sad Spectacle in Jefferson, WI (and How to Do Much Better), What Else Would a Publisher Lie About?, Iceberg Aside, Titanic‘s Executive Pleased with Ship’s Voyage, and New Developments About Jefferson, Wisconsin’s ‘Warriors & Wizards’ Festival.