By JEFF FARRELL

Staff Writer

GATLINBURG — The Celebrate Santa festival still has not paid its debts to the city, and event coordinator Joe Moore of Seymour is blaming the city for his inability to pay the bills.

The city hasn’t decided what to do about the money still owed.

The festival still owed the city more than 60 percent of its 2009 bill for using Gatlinburg’s convention center when the 2010 event arrived in March. David Perella, director of the city’s Department of Tourism, said Celebrate Santa officials had told the city they hoped to get sponsors for the event who would help pay last year’s bill and this year’s bill.

On March 10, with the event just around the corner, the city was informed Celebrate Santa not only could not pay its bill for the previous bill but had no funds available to pay for this year’s event. With the date so close, Perella said the city decide to go ahead and allow the festival because many people had booked trips.

Moore issued the city a promissory note saying his organization would pay the bill in full by June 15. However, he confirmed Wednesday that he hadn’t met that obligation. Then he blamed his problems on the city, saying its public complaints about the matter prevented him from getting sponsors after the festival.

“They basically shot themselves and us in the foot,” Moore said in a phone conversation with The Mountain Press. “They said some pretty bad things about us and made it really difficult for us.”

The city issued a statement about the matter in April, sending it to some Internet sites for professional Santa portrayers. City officials also commented on the matter in a story that ran in The Mountain Press. Perella said the statements were issued after officials saw complaints aimed at the city on some of the Web sites, claiming the city had raised rates on the festival and treated the organization unfairly.

He said the city didn’t change its rates, and decided to proceed with the event in an effort to be fair to people who had already paid for rooms and to attend the event.

At the time, Moore didn’t indicate he had any problems with the city. “We never publicly complained about the city of Gatlinburg,” Moore said. “They handled everything beautifully.”

Now, he blames the city’s statements for preventing him from getting investors or sponsors to join the festival.

Perella could not be reached for comment on the matter Wednesday. City spokesman Jim Davis confirmed the city hasn’t received money from the festival, despite the passing of the deadline.

Davis said the city hasn’t decided yet whether to take additional action.

jfarrell@themountainpress