Gastonia now has a downtown events manager

Gastonia has never had a paid municipal employee specifically tasked with overseeing events downtown, much less elsewhere in the city.

But that officially changed recently when the city carved out a new position to handle those duties, and filled it with a new hire. Christine Carlson’s official title is “event planner and resource manager,” which will involve her overseeing events throughout the city. But as a result of recent history, a lot of public attention will be paid to her involvement up and down Main Avenue.

Carlson got started in late November and said she’s ready for the challenge.

“I’ve always loved being involved with the community,” she said, adding that she now wants to help bridge the gap between government and the community. “That’s really appealing to me and I hope that’s what I can bring to the table.”

Carlson is a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who graduated in February from Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte. As an intern for the Charlotte branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, she planned meetings and events for the bank.

“That’s where I developed a passion for corporate and government event planning,” she said. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do when I graduated.”

Carlson’s annual salary will be $47,000, but the city didn’t have to approve new funding for that. Last summer, City Council members took advantage of a staff restructuring within the Parks and Recreation Department to reclassify the duties of an existing position.

Gastonia Parks and Recreation Director Cam Carpenter said about 170 people applied for the event planner/resource manager job. The city eventually narrowed it down to six finalists who were interviewed by a panel in the fall.

“She had a lot to offer,” Carpenter said of Carlson’s selection. “I can tell you in the month she’s been here, she’s impressed me.”

The city carried out its signature downtown festivals over the last six years by partnering with Melanie Blankenship, a private events coordinator, to put everything on. But a dispute resulted in the two sides parting ways earlier this year. Because it could find no one to organize it, the city had to cancel the all-day downtown festival it has held on the Fourth of July every year since 2012.

Carpenter said what still hasn’t been determined is how many annual festivals the city will be involved with downtown. A year ago, the plan was to have one every season, adding two events in the spring and fall to the established Fourth of July and Christmas celebrations in the summer and winter.

There has been more recent talk of the city establishing some type of annual multicultural event downtown as well.

“I really think the vision is still four events,” said Carpenter. “But that will have to be the direction we get from City Council. That will come out during the budget process we begin in January and February.”

Carlson will also work with the local Rotary Club in its organization of Gastonia’s downtown summer music concerts. She’ll oversee the parks and recreation social media presence, and be involved with parks and recreation marketing, Carpenter said.

She will additionally serve as the point person in all future requests for in-kind services and permitting, which involves the city lending its resources during community events for street closures, trash collection, law enforcement security and the like.

“The last few years, in-kind services have been housed in two or three different departments,” said Carpenter. “Now it will be a one-stop-shop deal.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or on Twitter @GazetteMike.