One Noteworthy 11 July 2016 City Council Work Study Session Item

ABSTRACT: One Noteworthy 11 July 2016 City Council Work Study Session Item, namely Receive presentations from representatives from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Burghardt+Dore, Carmel Chamber of Commerce, receive community input, and provide staff with direction on marketing for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, is featured.

Agenda Work Study 07-11-16 by L. A. Paterson on Scribd

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA WORK STUDY SESSION MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

ORDERS OF BUSINESS Orders of Business are agenda items that require City Council discussion, debate, direction to staff, and/or action.

4. Receive presentations from representatives from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Burghardt+Dore, Carmel Chamber of Commerce, receive community input, and provide staff with direction on marketing for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. 

Tourism Expenditures In Context

City Council Agenda
Regular Meeting
August 7, 2007

VII. Consent Calendar
These matters include routine financial and administrative actions, which are usually approved by a single majority vote. Individual items may be removed from Consent by a member of the Council or the public for discussion and action.

D. Consideration of a Resolution entering into a Destination Marketing Agreement with Jeff Burghardt, President, Anda/Burghardt Advertising, Inc. for Economic Revitalization and Destination Marketing services in an amount not to exceed $60,000 for Economic Revitalization and $125,000 for Destination Marketing.

COMMENTS:
• City expenditures for tourism include, $125,000 for “Destination Marketing,” $60,000 for “Economic Revitalization,” “Economic Development and Marketing Director,” and $108,376/year for Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau (MCCVB) “marketing services.” Note: MCCVB figure is for FY 2006/07; anticipate higher cost for FY 2007/08.

• Total City Tourism Budget FY 2007/08: $293,376 annually. $308,600 budgeted for “Marketing and Economic Revitalization” per Adopted Budget.

• For context, compare $308,600 annually for "Marketing and Economic Revitalization" (FY 2007/08) vs. total department expenditures (FY 2007/08), as follows:

$ 308,445 Legal
$ 313,101 Information Services/Network Management
$ 328,574 Building Maintenance Services
$ 457,661 Forest, Parks and Beach

$ 13,094,894 TOTAL EXPENDITURES (FY 2007/08)
(Source: CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA CALIFORNIA ADOPTED BUDGET FISCAL YEARS 2007/08 THROUGH 2009/10)

• Never in the history of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea has the City had record amounts for our annual budget (FY 2007/08 $13,094,894), Reserve Funds ($ 9.6 million), “marketing and economic revitalization” aka tourism promotion ($ 308,600). Yet from residents’ perspective, never has the City had a closed community center (Scout House) AND a cultural center which is no longer a “community center” (Sunset Center) AND a closed and publicly inaccessible National Register of Historic Places building (Flanders Mansion) AND a dilapidated and unkempt Forest Theater property AND an unused and non-maintained city park (Rio Park) AND poor streets, roads and avenues AND only now being rectified “flunked” fire hydrants and water lines AND an unfunded and non-existent tree and forest program for our senescent urbanized forest.

• Question: Does this state of affairs reflect a City Council and City Administration striving to honor the city credo, namely that “THE CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA is hereby determined to be primarily, a residential City” (Ordinance No. 96, 1929) or does it reflect a City Council and City Administration consumed in a vicious cycle of insatiable greed for greed’s sake?

REFERENCES:
City Council Minutes
Regular meeting
July 3, 2007

X. RESOLUTIONS

X.B. Consideration of a Resolution authorizing the City Administrator to enter into a consulting agreement with Anda/Burghardt for the position of Economic Development and Marketing Director in an amount of $60,000 annually.

Council Member ROSE moved approval of the concept of a revised combined consulting agreement with Anda/Burghardt for the positions of Economic Development and Marketing Director with a required clear division of labor between the two positions for accounting purposes and measurement of results, seconded by Council Member TALMAGE and carried by the following roll call:

AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: HAZDOVAC, ROSE, TALMAGE
& McCLOUD
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: CUNNINGHAM
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE
ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: NONE


City Council Minutes
Regular meeting
September 12, 2006

VII. CONSENT CALENDAR

H. Consideration of a Resolution entering into an agreement with the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau (MCCVB) for marketing services in an amount not to exceed $108,376 for Fiscal Year 2006-07.

MCCVB: Carmel-by-the-Sea's Membership Fee Changed From $241,170 to $108,360!

“For years, Carmel and the bureau have discussed the city joining, but the $200,000 cost was prohibitive, according to City Administrator Rich Guillen.”

(Source: “Tourism bureau decides to charge: Not all cities think services worth fees,” Dania Akkad, The Monterey County Herald, 3 July 2006)


On Monday, 3 July 2006, Dania Akkad, The Monterey County Herald, reported that the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea had for years been discussing the possibility of joining the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau (MCCVB). However, according to City Administrator Rich Guillen, the “$200,000 cost was prohibitive.” Recently, however, it was reported that MCCVB “reformulated” the amount Carmel-by-the-Sea would be required to pay to $108,000. And at that bargain cost, the City Council unanimously voted to join MCCVB at the City Council’s 22 June 2006 Special Meeting.

In an e-mail to Naiomi Skiles, Manager, Membership & Convention Services, MCCVB, a request for an explanation as to how Carmel-by-the-Sea’s membership fee changed from $200,000 to $108,000, was answered as follows:

“...the previous formula was based on a percentage of TOT revenues from FY 1998-99, whereas, the current, or new formula is based on a percentage of TOT revenues from the previous year (in this case, FY 2004/05). The exact formula changed slightly, which explains the variance.”

As a follow-up, when Naiomi Skiles was presented with Carmel-by-the-Sea’s TOT revenues of $3,547,616 (FY 1998/99) and $3,611,990 (FY 2004/05), and her response that the exact formula had “changed only slightly,” she did not respond to a request for an explanation as to the membership fee changing from $200,000 to $108,000, nor did President/CEO John McMahon, but Nat Rojanasathira, Marketing Coordinator did respond, as follows:

“The membership fee for Carmel-by-the-Sea was previously about $200,000, based on 6.8% of TOT from FY 1998/99. Today, it is based on 3% of TOT from the previous year (in this case FY 2004/05), and is $108,000. This is how the membership fee has changed from $200,000 to $108,000.”

A follow-up request for clarification, as follows:
The previous membership fee rate of 6.8% TOT revenues FY 1998/99 of $3,546,616 is $241,170.

The current membership fee is 3% of $3,611,990 or $108,360.

Comparing Carmel-by-the-Sea with the city of Monterey, for example, Monterey’s membership fee is $478,000 on TOT revenues of $13,627,997 (or 3-4%).

Question: At the time Carmel-by-the-Sea was quoted over $200,000 as MCCVB membership fee, were the cities of Marina, Monterey, Sand City and Seaside paying MCCVB membership fees of 6.8% of TOT revenues FY 1998/99?

Nat Rojanasathira’s response: “...the Cities of Marina, Monterey, Sand City, Seaside and the County of Monterey have contributed fees of 6.8% of TOT from 1998/99.”

Today, Marie Vasari, Herald Staff Writer, wrote that John McMahon, President/CEO MCCVB, is currently promoting a tourism business district which would raise an “additional $2.2 million for designation marketing.” Moreover, it was reported that this additional revenue for designation marketing is needed in order to remain competitive with other tourist destinations and because MCCVB’s “operating budget is $2.1 million, compared to $3.1 million in 2001.”

COMMENTS:

Déjà vu: The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s MCCVB membership fee morphing from $241,170 into $108,360 is reminiscent of City Administrator Guillen’s Storm Water Drainage Utility Fee Program in 2003. His Program initially cost Carmel-by-the-Sea property owners $$442,600 (with $250,000 diverted to the General Fund), then $270,600, then finally $151,500.