June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 35

Memorial Auditorium (WMA),
a multipurpose rental facility that
hosts a wide variety of events to
enhance the lives and leisure time
of the Citizens of Fort Lauderdale
and surrounding communities.
We strive to provide these experiences while operating the
facility with no cost to the City
taxpayers. Revenue is achieved
through facility rentals, equipment rental, parking fees, concession sales, and reimbursement
for labor and services.
In addition, the " WMA Policies and Procedures " provided
the following guidance regarding
" decisions to enter into a lease
agreement " :
War Memorial Auditorium is
a multipurpose facility available
to be rented for events, meetings
and activities. The Auditorium
Manager reviews rental requests
on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the Parks and
Recreation Deputy Director. The
WMA management reserves the
right to decline rental under certain circumstances, including,
but not limited to, previous failure to abide by the terms of the
contract; failure to pay required
fees or costs; illegal or inappropriate activities or subject matters.
The City described the WMA
as " an asset which continues to
generate revenue for the city " by
hosting events that have included " an international collector car
auction, bodybuilding championships, PRIDE (serving the LGBTQ
community), MMA [Mixed Martial Arts] events and the Orchid
Show. " On several occasions, the
City had refused to issue licenses
for the WMA based on the content of the events, including an

adult toy show and a topless circus. According to the City, " there
had been no questions about the
appropriateness of gun shows at
the WMA until 2012, when the
sale of guns increased. "
In past years, FGS had organized
and promoted gun shows several
times per year at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale.
In 2015 and 2016, FGS presented
six shows per year at the WMA,
and in 2017 and 2018, there were
seven per year. Attendance generally was 3,500 visitors per show,
with most exhibitors coming from
locations within 100 miles of Fort
Lauderdale. FGS earned income
from these gun shows through the
sale of tickets to the shows and
table rentals to the exhibitors and
vendors that sold firearms, accessories, knives and gun-related items.
FGS claimed a " perfect safety
record with no incidents or arrests
occurring at any of its shows. " In
addition, it had " 10 police officers
at every show, some of whom are
stationed outside the WMA, to
ensure that all guns are in cases
and that no illegal activities are
taking place. "
FGS had existing license agreements with the City and had signed
a license agreement reserving dates
for 2019. It had complied with all
the agreements with the City but
acknowledged that " the WMA is
located within a park which includes recreation areas, " and other
FGS gun-show venues were not in
parks.
While FGS claimed the gun
shows were " family friendly, " the
advertising for the gun shows did
not reflect this, and there were no
play areas or activities for children
at the shows. On the contrary, gun-

show advertising showed a novelty " grenade launcher " and AR15
semi-automatic rifles without clips.
Ammunition and clips were also
sold at these gun shows.
Although FGS and the City had
worked out reserve dates through
2025, the City released these dates
in October 2018 after FGS's license dates were not renewed.
FGS conceded that the City had
tried to assist in finding a venue
other than the WMA for the gun
shows. Moreover, there was another FGS gun show scheduled
for September 2019 elsewhere in
Broward County.
Beginning in 2016, there were
protests by a group of about six
people at the FGS events. According to the deputy director of the
parks and recreation department,
the City had received complaints
from parents about gun shows being held in a park at the same time
as youth sport programs.

The City had received complaints
from parents about gun shows
being held in a park at the same
time as youth sport programs.
Park Appropriate
for City Manager
The city manager was the chief executive officer of the municipal corporation and made all decisions not
specifically reserved to the city commission. In a letter dated August
31, 2018, he notified FGS that the
City was declining its request for a
license agreement for 2019 and any
proposed license agreements for future shows beyond November 2018.
He did not seek guidance from the
mayor or city commission regard-

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June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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