A long list of popular events in Shreveport receives sponsorship money from the Air Authority. Should citizens be concerned? Columnist John Settle gives his common sense thoughts.
Questions have been raised by members of Shreveport’s private aviation community about many actions/inactions of the Shreveport Airport Authority (SAA).
One of these concerns is sponsorships of Shreveport organizations, events and the inter-relationship of the sponsorships with the SAA board members. These expenditures are made with public dollars.A public records request reveals the following sponsorships for the year 2015;
Mudbug Madness $7500 50 admission tickets
Strand Theatre $10,000 no tickets
Shreveport Symphony 2014-2015 Season $2500 4 tickets, Margaret Shehee, two
Shreveport Symphony 2015-2016 Season $5000 Mary Jackson, two, Bishop Brandon
Red River Revel $7000 30 general admission tickets
The 2016 sponsorships were:
Mudbug Madness $7500 50 admission tickets
Strand Theatre $5000 no tickets
Mudbug Hockey $5000 no tickets
Watermelon Festival $1500 no tickets
Christmas in The Sky $10,000 NO INFO PROVIDED ON TICKETS
Susan G. Komen Race $2500 no tickets
The 2017 sponsorships were:
Mudbug Madness $5000 no tickets
Bossier Chamber $2650 no tickets
State Fair $2000 200 tickets
Watermelon Festival $1000 no tickets
The 2018 sponsorships were:
Christmas in the Sky $10,000 4 tickets
Mudbug Madness $5000 no tickets
Red River Revel/Brew $2500 no tickets
Red River Balloon Rally $1300 no tickets
Watermelon Festival/Chamber $200 no tickets
Watermelon Festival U of A $1500 no tickets
Red River Revel $675 no tickets
State Fair of Louisiana $0/trade 200 tickets
The 2019 sponsorships, through July of this year, are:
Crawfest $3000 no tickets
Derby Day $1200 no tickets
Fashion Prize $2500 no tickets
Mudbug Madness $7500 no tickets
Red River Revel $675 no tickets
Robinson Film Center $5000 no tickets
Red River Balloon Rally $1000 no tickets
(The 2019 sponsorships are paid by a Department of Transportation marketing grant.)
SAA board members are Waynette Ballengee (chairman), Grant Nuckolls (vice-chair), Jonathan Reynolds, Margaret Shehee, and Mary Jackson.
Ballengee is closely associated with Christmas in the Sky and Robinson Film Center. She has held top leadership positions in both organizations.
The Shehee name has long been associated with the Strand, the State Fair and The Shreveport Symphony.
Nuckolls is a co-presenter of Crawfest and Derby Day.
Shehee was the board chair in 2018 and Jackon was board chair in 2017.
The relationships, if any of the board members to the other events, is not known at this time. The criteria for sponsorships for each year has just been requested along with ticket distribution by SAA.
Questions have been raised by the private aviation community on the legality of the sponsorships for the years 2015-2018. Hopefully SAA officials will promptly provide this information along with the sponsorship criteria and ticket distributions.
