Contract negotiations between the town of Los Gatos and Music in the Park producers collapsed late last week, prompting the town to issue a request for proposal for new producers. The Los Gatos Town Council will likely consider the request for proposal at its Dec. 19 meeting.

“Obviously, we are disappointed,” Mayor Rob Rennie said in an email. “We think this is an important event for the town and will be issuing a request for proposal shortly.”

Music in the Park has been a summer mainstay in Los Gatos since 1988, with 10 Sunday concerts on the Civic Center’s front lawn and a Labor Day weekend Park Dance at Oak Meadow Park.

The producers’ two year contract with the town expired last September, and negotiations for a new contract began shortly after that. But the negotiations stalled over a number of items, most notably Music in the Park’s request for an additional $5,000 on top of the $6,000 the town has given the event for the past two years.

The added dollars would cover the cost of security at the 11 events, plus new light poles for the park dance.

“The light towers they gave us are broken, and we asked for police or a parks officer to help with security and the town said they couldn’t provide that,” event co-producer Scott Canali said. “Before us, there was a parks service officer who was usually around. We didn’t have that, and last year it put our volunteers in a position of enforcing town codes.”

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Mayor Rennie noted that the Music in the Park atmosphere has changed in recent years.

“The type of music has changed, and it’s more of a dance party than it used to be,” Rennie said. “But it also means the crowd is a little but different—a more energetic crowd that might need more security.”

On Dec. 5, the council voted unanimously to approve a Music in the Park contract that included $6,000, but delayed consideration of the extra $5,000 until January.

Each concert costs about $10,000 to stage, Canali explained, with most of the costs covered by sponsors.

The council also specified that no alcohol be served to bands in the so-called “green room,” which is really the lobby area adjacent to the council chambers.

“We worked really hard to attract the top rock cover bands in the Bay Area. Since we pay them a fraction of what they normally get paid, we treat them really well,” Canali said. “We feed them and on a hot day we give them a glass of wine or beer, and that’s part of why we’re saying we want alcohol in the green room. It’s just for the bands.”

But there were other issues, too, including a $273 increase in permit fees that the council was willing to waive, and limits on pre-concert noise levels.

“We had some complaints that the music was actually starting much earlier, 2 to 3 p.m., and it was the background music, not even the band. It was just from the speakers,” town attorney Rob Schultz said.

Schultz said the Music in the Park producers complied with all aspects of the previous contract.

But the producers ended up saying “no” to the new contract.

“We just got to the point where it was clear the town wasn’t going to be able to make decisions about the extra money any time soon,” Canali said. “The council declining to address the financial request for security induces too much risk.”

So, the hunt is on for a new team to produce the 2018 concert series.