Car Shows

Ok, I guess it's been to long since I've written because all of a sudden I've got three topics to talk about, 2 of which I'm just not liking right now.  So over the next week I'll have several post that will go over each of the 3 things.

But let me start with a car show that we are PAYING for to come.  Now I'm not 100% up on all of the details, but know enough to know that you don't pay for car shows to come to your town.  And get this, Gonzales Mainstreet is paying $14,000 + 25% of the take to a promoter out of Lockhart - Joel Aaron Gammage/Hat Rod Productions.  

So what are my problems with this?  Where do I start? 

1) This is a Saturday right in the middle of the OUTSTANDING Friday Night Concert Series.  This series is the best thing, to me even better than the winter fest, for our town that Main Street does and is what they should be concentrating on. Why wouldn't you do an additional event in another month when there are no functions going on?

2) While I'm not a car show expert, we've had several in town put on by several car groups.  NEVER ONCE, REPEAT NEVER ONCE have we the city paid a dime to sponsor one of those shows!!!!  Car shows are NOT something you pay for someone to promote and sponsor, ESPECIALLY not with city money.  

3) This board has just turned down at least 3 different request for money because they'd run out for downtown development, signage, and other request, and yet they've found $14,000 to do this show.  As a board member of GEDC (I've been on since May of 2014) I can tell you our board will be looking at this for any future monies we give to Main Street.  

4) I'm pretty certain that this car show was not a line in the Main Street budget, and if rumor is correct it came out of the Christmas budget.  I will be putting in for a freedom of information request to verify this.  If so then that is improper use of funds as approved by city council.  

5) We have websites and tickets being sold for a function that hasn't even gone before City Council for their approval.  So we've spent, again if information is correct, $3500 unrefundable has been paid to , for something we don't even know will be approved by the city council.  In their current mode I'm thinking the council will have more sense then Main Street on this issue and reject their proposal.  

6) Ok, so want to guess who is the 'event marketing' firm?  None other than the cities Rockin' S Marketing & Design - Loretta Shirley.  Now isn't there a conflict of interest when you are ALREADY being paid to bring people to Gonzales and then get paid again to a city sponsored event?  I have a HUGE issue here with this as unethical. 

7) So we as a community need to get all the facts.  Bottom line is when this was asked on the web page the questions and the even picture were removed from Facebook.  Instead of answering the question they so that EVERYONE can know exactly what's going on they are hiding and transparency is not to be seen on this item.  Our city managers is keen on transparency, so I'm hoping this will be rectified quickly.  

Ok, so later in the week I'll post about JB Wells (I have a meeting with City Manager Allen Barnes on Monday), and their losses out there last year, and about the Charter Amendments that we'll be voting on in May.  So please stay tuned. 

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser

Update - I received an email from city manager Allen Barnes today with the following points in it: 

Please understand the following:

1.        Main Street is a 501 (c)3 that in many ways operates separately from the City, but like EDC is very closely associated with the City.

2.      The Main Street Director is an employee of the City of Gonzales and as such falls under the ultimate supervision of the City Manager.

3.       The City Manager directed the Main Street Manager, as a City Employee, to NOT obligate the City of Gonzales in anyway with regard to the car show.

4.       No monies have been paid to the promoter of the car show, or to anyone with regard to the car show.

5.       No activities of a for profit nature will take place on City owned or controlled property without the expressed approval of the City Council, by written resolution.

6.       The promoter of the car show, may or may not desire to proceed with the car show without Main Street funding.

7.       If the promoter wants to proceed with the car show without the Main Street funding, the Council will consider his request prior to any staff level approval.

8.       The Main Street Board will meet on March 24 at noon to discuss this issue further.

  

 Look if this guy wants to go on his own without city money (501c3 or not) and resources then I'm ALL for it, that's enterprise and something going on down on the square, go for it!!! The only thing I see that council could be concerned with is the desire to have 400 cars downtown.  I know the Come And Take It car show puts 100 cars down there and 4 times that would be a bit of a struggle, but I'm willing to let them try. 

If they want to proceed with city money, well let's say I'm still against it.  

$136,799.46

Last night our council approved $136, 799.46 (see packet here) for magazine advertizements through the Tourism Committee.  Now I first want to start out by saying I'm not opposed to spending $136,799.46 on advertisements.  We need to market our town, and the revenue stream this is coming from (Hotel/Motel tax) has a limited scope of things that it can be spent on, and advertisement is a big one of those things. 

So where is my problem with this? It's the pie in the sky thinking.  It's the thought process that says $10,000 spent on an ad that is primarily distributed outside of the 150 mile range of Gonzales is going to do better than a $8,000 billboard on I-10.  "More people would read our ad in Texas Monthly than drive down and would see our billboard on I-10"  OMG!!!! Pull your head out of your ass!!!  When Loretta Shirley said that to the council last night I thought this was a done deal, put it away, go back to the drawing board, but nope, all but Tommy Schrig vote for it.

For 20 minutes the council asked why aren't we in our 150 mile radius?  Why is it that those with successful advertisements for their city have billboard, radio ads, and newsprint, and we don't?  Why do I have to look at Cueros' Turkey Fest every time I drive down 183, Lulings Watermelon Thump when I'm in Austin and on I-10 and when those times come I hear about them on the radio like KVET, and yet we don't have one ...no one single solitary ad similar to theirs, AND WE KNOW THEIRS WORK!!!!  Have you been to a Thump in the last couple of years? If so you know what I'm talking about.

Bottom line is that people are going to drive 2 hours to visit Gonzales.  So I challenge a billboard leaving Fredericksburg saying, "Next time visit where it all started" would be more effective than 90% of the advertisement dollars that was spent last night.  Those that are outside of that range are coming to Gonzales for reasons that were already in their plans, not because Texas Monthly or Southern Living has a full page ad. 

Want to know what gets people to Gonzales?  TV spots like this Day Tripper spot http://video.klru.tv/video/1570851687 where we got a blurb of a comment about the cannon.  Ask the Museum curator Marlaina Haberman how many people came in wanting to 'hug' the cannon after this 2009 episode recently re-aired.  What did it cost? $0.  That was a great return on investment.  So maybe we need to be educating some of the other shows and working with people like Texas Country Reporter to get more air times in some of those than wasting money. 

Oh, and the kicker, when asked by Councilman Opeala "It sounds like the budget had $140,000 in it and so you tried to spend every last dime", the answer was "Absolutely".  *slapping forehead again*

The council berated Ms Shirley about the cost of individual ads. About the 'where' the magazines were going.  About the lack of vision for some of their media proposal, but at the end of the day they couldn't tell someone standing infront of them "No, you've got it wrong, go back and do it right this time".  Again, I want to stress that Tommy was the only one that did the tough thing and said "No, we're not going to waste taxpayer money that way."

*sigh*

Ok, that's off my chest I hope everyone has a great weekend, and GO APACHES GO!

God Bless,
Dennis

PS - Just to be clear, I'm not saying 100% of the ads were a waste of money.  Those ads that are web based, the Austin based ads, and the like I see as beneficial and targeting those who are going to come to Gonzales.