Othello City Council approves Relay For Life site

The Othello City Council unanimously approved an agreement to allow Relay For Life to use Lions Park during its last regularly scheduled meeting June 26, but before it could do that, members had a long conversation on whether they should waive the event fee for the fundraising organization.

“We did this for the Seahawks,” said council member John Lallas, noting that the Relay For Life — which raises money for cancer treatment and research — is “a good cause.”

And there was some initial support for waiving the $200 event fee in the council for the July 21-22 Relay For Life.

But Mayor Shawn Logan wondered if waivers would soon be expected by every organization or group that rented the park.

“Everything is a good cause,” he said.

Parks and Recreation Coordinator Amy Hurlbut explained that the event fee allows the Parks Department to provide bleachers and additional trash containers, as well as cover the fees charged by the landfill for any extra trash the Relay For Life would generate.

“The fee is already built into their budget,” Hurlbut said. “And it will lead to difficult conversations when someone comes in the future and says ‘it’s a good cause.’”

Council member Genna Dorow suggested the best way to handle it would be for council members and city employees to “pass a hat” and raise enough money to cover the entrance fee, since the city cannot itself make donations.