Carlisle Events runs 8+ major car shows a year at the Carlisle Fairgrounds, drawing over 100,000 attendees per event and pulling significant economic activity through our region. We are not anti-car show. Many of us grew up here and have memories tied to these events.

But the public costs of these shows are being absorbed by our schools, our residents, our small businesses, and our emergency services - not by the private company profiting from them.

During event weekends:

• Buses run hours late, forcing schools to close or cut days short
• Children walking to school face dangerous traffic, reckless drivers, and safety risks
• I-81 backs up for miles, delaying emergency response across Cumberland County
• EMT, fire, and police are stretched thin handling a private event's footprint
• Working parents scramble for childcare with little explanation of why
• Small businesses lose foot traffic while corporate hotels gouge prices on out-of-town visitors

Meanwhile, our kids are told to do remote learning for snowstorms - but lose full school days for a private event. The town adjusts around Carlisle Events, never the other way.

This is not how every other community handles major private events. Concerts pay for police. Festivals pay for security. Sporting venues fund their own safety footprint. Carlisle Events should too.

We, the undersigned residents, parents, alumni, and community members, are calling on:

Carlisle Events to fund the full public-safety footprint of their shows - including crossing guards, traffic control, additional EMT/fire/police coverage, and a community appreciation day that gives back to the residents who host them all year.

Carlisle Borough Council to require these costs as a condition of event permits going forward, and to publicly disclose what Carlisle Events currently pays vs. what taxpayers cover.

Carlisle Area School District to publicly explain why school closures are scheduled around private events, and to pursue reimbursement from Carlisle Events for any instructional time lost due to event-related disruptions.

We love this town. We want it to keep being a place worth living in. That starts with making sure the people profiting off Carlisle pay their fair share of the costs they create.

Sign if you agree. Then show up to the next Borough Council and School Board meetings - because petitions don't change anything alone. People do.