Mayor's Response: 4th of July Salsa Concert

Early Monday morning, we posted a who was upset that a salsa group, singing completely in Spanish, was allowed to play the Twilight Concert in Capitola Village on the Fourth of July last week.

The letter elicited two dozen responses on both sides of the argument. Mayor Mike Termini emailed his response as well. See his entire take on the situation below:

While I stand by the Art and Cultural Commission’s choice of bands, I do feel, in hindsight, that we should have also had a program of patriotic songs and events prior to the regular Wednesday night concert. The band was a Latin salsa band and, for better or worse, the Art Commission’s charge is to provide entertainment for all. The crowd, almost 1,500 persons, had a wonderful time dancing to the music. They also provided a wonderful rendition of our National Anthem at the beginning of the concert.

I have had to ask myself if rock and roll or blues would have been more appropriate and I am not certain. Add to this the last-minute shuffling of the band schedules due to the prior engagements of some of the bands as well as the unfortunate loss off the leader of the originally scheduled group and we found ourselves with the band in question playing on Independence Day.

The final schedule was not able to be put together until late April, not unlike most years. I fully understand the positions stated and, I am sincerely sorry if anyone found it insulting. The choice of bands for our concerts is taken from submissions to the commission in January. I assure you that there were no bands available to provide the program some have described.

One person stated we should have had songs like "Yankee Doodle Dandy" so folks could sing along. Could we have invited one of the school bands to play the songs some have mentioned? Yes. Was that a miss on our part? Yes. Would we have used any of those bands for dance music from 6 till 8? No. Believe me when I say that everyone at the concert fully embraced the importance of the day and took the opportunity to be joyous in celebration of this significant holiday.

Two more important points: There was a time in our country’s history that, regrettably, jazz and blues were thought to be un-American and not acceptable to play for the masses, and yet this music has become a part of the fabric of our musical heritage. And secondly, is this what we have come to? Are we to vilify those that work hard all year to provide many of the free events we enjoy? Certainly not. Could we have done better? Agreed. Is it time to have a public stoning? No. voices of community members have been heard and all their positions taken seriously. Words like horrible, detestable, shameful and disastrous are frankly out of place.

What do you make of Mayor Termini's response? Is there now more understanding of the entire process? Anyone else have an opinion they haven't yet shared? Tell us in the comments!