Centennial Committee Spared Payment to City

The City Council agreed last Tuesday night to absorb city-incurred expenses for the Manhattan Beach 100th anniversary instead of asking the volunteer centennial committee to pay $38,671.20 in costs it did not authorize.

Unlike previous Council discussions on centennial committee matters, this one passed on an unanimous 5-0 vote.

The committee, charged with planning events for the city's centennial and raising funds to cover expenses, said it would scale back plans if the dollars raised were insufficient to cover the bills. 

As of last Tuesday night, city staff reported the group had a balance of $7,664.19 after all event expenses had been tallied and paid.

Prior to the meeting, Councilman Nick Tell who also sits on the centennial committee, said: "They [City Council] can ask it [for the committee to pay the city's centennial expenses], but they're [the centennial committee] not under any obligation to do so."  

City Attorney Quinn Barrow confirmed that as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the centennial committee governs itself and has its own set of rules and bylaws. 

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