Enduring the effects of waning tourism revenue during the pandemic, people voiced frustrations by showing up in larger than normal numbers at the regular City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting on Jan. 27. The top issues from about 10 commenters were the advertising budget, an out-of-state advertising company, residents vs. businesses, nomination of a new Chair, highway businesses vs. downtown, and special events.
Limited to three minutes each, comments began with former mayor Beau Satori who said he hopes there are special events in 2021, however he is more concerned with the leadership of the CAPC saying, “I think the main issue here is Chairman Wright… she has created an adversarial relationship with the staff. I think as the chairman she is out of control… she acts outside of her role and I would like for you to not nominate her for chairman again.”
Satori complained that the off-camera CAPC workshops create a non-transparent government and said, “All of your workshops should be held on camera as well as your regular meetings, and then we could actually see what is going on with the commission and with over $1.2 million.”
Satori shifted to the CAPC’s primary expense of marketing and advertising, a line item that has gone up incrementally from 2019 through 2021. Satori asked, “With nothing happening in the city, everything being closed, how do you go through a half million dollars of advertising?” Satori said, “I don’t know that we need to be doing a half million dollars of advertising with a Florida ad agency while we’re in this predicament.”
City alderman Autumn Slane relayed concerns from residents and business owners in the areas of the commission’s transparency as well as how the CAPC is spending tax dollars. “Like Beau said, where is it going?” Slane asked. “Honestly, it’s just a complete breakdown of trust.”
Chamber Chair Mike Seals highlighted the tough year for the business owners, especially those on US Hwy. 62. “The highway businesses are much more dependent on events and festivals and parades,” Seals said. He asked commissioners to look for variations or creative ways to hold events.
Alderman LauraJo Smole spoke about the CAPC staff’s use of social media, calling it “the airing of laundry on social media.
“We do need to promote our events creatively, but there is an impression that we’re trying to bring in groups, not illegally, but groups that violated state standards, the efforts are not there to maintain those.” Smole said that citizens are concerned that groups bring in Covid and pose a threat to their public health. She encouraged better communication to bridge the divide between businesses and residents.
Several other residents and business owners/managers provided comment including Stacey Burnett of Sherwood Court, Jack Moyer of the Historic Hotels, and Dave Avanzino of Wanderoo Lodge. Avanzino said, “I have to be honest and say it’s reprehensible that you are charging us all of this money that we are paying, these taxes, and quite frankly you are doing nothing with that money except paying staff.
“We are doing our own event planning, we are doing our own advertising, I don’t know if you know it, but FaceBook is free, and I never see anything from [CAPC] tourism on my FaceBook page about Eureka Springs that is not from one of us in this audience.”
Avazino also said he finds it unfair that lodging and restaurants are burdened with the CAPC tax but the retail shops are not taxed the same. “The shops that don’t produce food or lodging should be paying this tax as well.
“The fact that you pay an out-of-state advertising agency to do advertising for us is just, I can’t imagine, we have so many talented people here to do those things, and yet you’re spending almost half of your budget for advertising to a firm in Florida.”
Special Events committee approved
As proposed by Jeff Carter, commissioners deliberated the possibility of creating a special events committee made up of collaborators from the CAPC, city administration, the public, and possibly CAPC staff.
Commissioner Bobbi Foster was adamantly opposed saying she believes that decisions of the special events should be made solely by commissioners. “I think everyone of us when we agreed to sit on this commission knew that there were going to be decisions that needed to be made—some of them would be easy, some of them would be challenging.”
Foster said she believed a committee would be an act of giving up decision-making power originally afforded to the CAPC. “I feel like it is our job to do it,” Foster said.
Carter recommended the CAPC not make any permanent hires for the special events coordinator at this time, but Foster disagreed saying she wanted to give full authority to Interim-Director Gina Rambo to make all the hires and fires as she sees fit. After lengthy discussion a vote was made, 3-3, Foster, Harry Meyer and Greg Moon opposed, and Chair Carol Wright broke the tie in approval of the creation of the Special Events Committee, of which Foster refused to participate.