$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. 

Tourism Dollars

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it."  I tell my kids that all the time.  It's a fact of life.  Today I saw the council forget those words of wisdom when it came to handing out $60,000 in unbudgeted money. 

Now to be fair I want to start from the beginning.  We are talking about hotel sales tax, which came in way higher last year than predicted.  The additional hotels and the consistent high occupancy has created a surplus that is limited in how it can be spent (it can not go to general funds and spent). 

In the past, request for those funds would have gone through and been approved by the Tourism committee.  A year or so ago, the rules were changed a bit that a secondary approval had to be made if anything exceeded a certain amount (I believe $2000...though I could be off here).

But tonight council considered and approved $60,000 worth of funding that never went to the tourism committee.  $45,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, $15,000 to the Crystal Theater.  They did this even after the committee chair informed the council that they had circumvented his committee, and that he felt like this was a bad precedence.  He was right.

So looking at the documentation provided the city now will pay for 50% of the Crystal Theaters expenses.  We're paying 75% of a new float.  If I read it right we're paying 100% of the renovations for the kitchen and Chamber (Old Jail House) work.  By the way did I mention this building isn't even owned by the City of Gonzales?

The Chamber said at council meeting tonight that they can't get any funds from anyone in town.  Hmmmmm, think maybe the 15+ years of poor management are coming back to bite you in the ass?  I know this is a total new administrative team in there, but for the record we've been paying a minimum of $10,000 a year for very little return on our investment at the Chamber.  There was a time it helped the businesses of Gonzales, but that's been a long time ago, and the fact the Chamber board refused to make changes for so many years is the reason they are where they are today, begging for scraps.  Want my support, then let's see changes at the Come and Take It where we are truly bringing in outsiders and not just family that is coming in, you know like our surrounding communities do.  Let's see tourism planned and worked in a positive manner, not a put out a bucket and let's see what might fall into if attitude. 

The Chamber can be a very positive force for a pro Gonzales rally, and maybe the new team down there will succeed in getting those things done, but there has to be actions and not just words like we've heard for so long.  And until that action starts, and the train is moving, it would be a tough call to give them a plug nickel.

Look, in the long run maybe the city should of approved all $60,000, but they should of sent ever single nickle back to committee for approval FIRST.  That's what that committee is for.  If not than disband the Tourism committee.  Personally you'd of seen my resignation tomorrow morning if I was on the Tourism committee and was slapped in the face like they were tonight.  Just because the council COULD approve those funds doesn't mean they should of. 

God Bless,
Dennis

PS - Other budgeting and spending coming soon.