Question Concert Cost

Organizers of a benefit concert on Wednesday to raise funds for Denis Craine, an East Hampton man with Lou Gehrig's disease, have found willing hands just about everywhere they have turned, from the headline performers Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, and Dr. John to vendors and high school student volunteers.

However, they did not find the nods they were looking for on Tuesday when they asked the East Hampton Town Board to absorb the cost of overtime town police services, which could be as much as $15,000.

"It's not our money, it's taxpayer money," Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said. "What you're asking for basically is a gift to a charity."

Grants to several nonprofit organizations are made yearly as part of the town budget, but those funds are included in budget planning and the public has a chance to comment on them before they are approved.

"Community Effort"

"This is one of the few benefits that occurs in this community that serves someone in this community, someone who has given to this community," said Laura Anker, an East Hampton School Board member and an organizer of the concert, which will be held on the high school grounds.

"We're hoping the town will waive the overtime fee, in the spirit of this being a real community effort," Ms. Anker told the board. "This is a different kind of benefit because of the numbers of people Denis has touched. In a sense, he's done that rather than take care of his family, and has been left with a devastating disease. And now his family is in desperate need."

Mr. Craine has five children, three of school age. He is the founder of a group called Wilderness Experience, or WE, which sponsors events to raise awareness and fight bias. He was also involved in the Study Circles project, part of a town anti-bias task force initiative.

"Everyone else in the community is donating. I just think it's pretty mean-spirited," Ms. Anker said.

According to Town Police Chief Todd Sarris, fees for extra police services are waived for some traditional events, such as the St. Patrick's Day parade, and for small fund-raisers for "bona fide charities" that may require only traffic control rather than uniformed officers. In any event, Mr. Sarris can make a recommendation, but the decision is the town board's. Overtime fees were paid recently during a shark fishing tournament and the New York Hamptons tennis events.

18 Officers

Town board members worry that concert traffic could clog streets leading into and out of the village, and that it will be difficult to secure the site, where up to 3,000 concertgoers are expected. No one will be allowed to bring in alcohol or food. The Fairway restaurant in Sagaponack was expected to set up a concession stand, and those who pay extra for V.I.P. tickets in a tent.

Twenty town police officers, almost half the 45-member force, had been scheduled to work on Wednesday for up to 12 hours each. Chief Sarris said, following a meeting with organizers yesterday, that he would reduce the number to 18, some of whom could work a partial shift. He asked that the organizers place $10,000 in escrow to cover the $60-per-hour overtime costs.

"This is a significant event," Chief Sarris said. "It would have a significant impact on my budget." The town board agreed to the request.

"This could pop up 30 times a year. If we're expected to do whatever it takes, our police budget could be blown out of the water," Councilman Pete Hammerle said. "There are so many of these events." In addition, in light of worries over crowd and traffic control, "I don't want to send the message that the high school should become the next concert venue for fund-raisers."

Ms. Anker questioned whether such police presence is needed. CNC Security, which has handled events at Jones Beach and Central Park, will have 30 staffers on hand, and a parking service will oversee the placement of cars on two high school fields. All parking is expected to be accommodated on site.

Traffic control could probably be handled by fewer officers, said Chief Sarris. "However, my concern is that if there's some kind of an outbreak in there, then it's going to be our responsibility to go in there and resolve it." He said two or three officers will be stationed inside the gates. Also, "we have every intention of shutting down Long Lane once the concert gets started," he said.

Annual Event?

Councilwoman Pat Mansir questioned whether it was legal, or appropriate, for the town to spend thousands to provide police coverage for a fund-raiser that benefits only one person. "There are many people suffering in this town who need help in this way," she said.

It would be different, Councilman Hammerle said, if "any family in need could apply."

"It's not to benefit one person, it's to benefit one family, who are the chosen designees of this year's benefit," Ms. Anker said. Organizers hope to make this an annual event that could benefit a variety of local organizations and individuals, she said. Town board members cautioned them to wait and see.

"They're not professionals, and yet they're holding a rather large event, very unprofessionally," Mr. Hammerle said. "And they're holding it in everyone's face that it's for a good cause. I'm not denying the cause."

Approximately 1,500 tickets to the show had been sold by press time. Ms. Anker said they hoped to sell 2,000 general admission tickets, at $50 each or $30 for students, and 400 V.I.P. tickets for $200. She said leftover tickets would likely be available at the door, but provisions for last-minute sales, which town board members were concerned could cause an unruly rush, had not yet been made.

Proceeds would go directly to the Craine family, Ms. Anker said. Larger donations could be made to Share the Care, a division of the Amagansett Children's Foundation, a nonprofit formed to provide support for local children and families, and are tax-deductible.

In an effort to honor Mr. Craine's vision of an integrated society, the Study Circles groups bought $3,000 worth of tickets to be distributed to minorities and lower-income residents "who don't generally have the opportunity to come to these kinds of events," Ms. Anker said.

The concert is sponsored by a combination of organizations and citizens who six weeks ago decided to stage the event. They include a group of Mr. Craine's friends, including John Kowalenko, a caterer overseeing the fare in the V.I.P. tent, Michael Brosnan of Montauk, a contractor and entertainment producer, and Paige Kevin of Northwest Woods, another entertainment producer.

The school district, the Amagansett Children's Foundation, Share the Care, and the WE organization are sponsors as well.

Concert organizers first met with the town board two weeks ago, "as a courtesy," Ms. Anker said. They were asked to return with more detailed plans, but proceeded before that occurred, prompting board members to feel they were being dealt with "in bad faith," in Councilwoman Diana Weir's words.

Although the school district is exempt from many town regulations, this event requires a mass-gathering permit for the V.I.P. tent, the town board contends. It was applied for and is expected to be issued at a town board meeting tonight.

"I almost felt like this event was going to go on regardless," Mr. Hammerle said. After consulting a school attorney, Noel McStay, the East Hampton school superintendent, said yesterday that the district should be exempt from mass-gathering permits. "Otherwise, we would have to get a permit for every basketball game or other event," he said. It remained unclear if the town could require other organizations using school grounds to obtain a permit.

"This could be a mess, this concert," Mr. Schneiderman said Tuesday.

"There could have been better planning," Mr. McStay acknowledged.

The planners, who are not "professional concert people," Ms. Anker pointed out, went to the town board immediately after learning Paul Simon would do the show. "If we ever do it again we would have learned a whole lot," she said.

Chief Sarris, who said providing police manpower at no cost was "a very bad precedent," met yesterday afternoon with Mr. Brosnan and village police, whose primary concern is traffic back-up on Newtown Lane. The situation has prompted the chief to draft a policy guiding future similar decisions. Ms. Anker said she hoped the town board could be convinced to pay the costs.

According to Eric Bregman, the town attorney, if the escrow is required and not paid by tomorrow or Monday, the board could go to court for a restraining order that would allow police to take charge of concert funds. Alternately, the town could sue for reimbursement of incurred costs.

"If they're going to require local organizations trying to raise money for local causes to expend that kind of money, then there are going to be no benefits," said Ms. Anker yesterday. She cited the difficulties local organizations face in raising funds.

Regardless, she said, the concert will go on.