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Council to vote on CVB contract termination at next meeting
city council

The Turlock Chamber of Commerce’s stake in the Turlock Convention and Visitors Bureau could be coming to an end pending a vote from the Turlock City Council on Feb. 10.

The CVB is tasked with bringing tourists to town and the Chamber of Commerce has operated the organization for the city for the past several years.

In November the former City Council was perplexed by the near quarter million dollar budget proposal presented by the Chamber of Commerce to run the CVB in 2015. The Council approved the budget with the stipulation that the Chamber would return with a more in-depth budget explanation within six months.

On Tuesday, Mayor Gary Soiseth stated that a motion to initiate the 90-day termination process with the Chamber for the CVB contract will appear on the next council meeting’s agenda.

“To be honest, I was not the mayor in November when the agreement was made that they would return in six months with metrics,” said Soiseth, noting that his aim is to create clear expectations for both the City and the party performing CVB services.

"I was rather surprised at the announcement about the Feb. 10 agenda item since we were given a contract in November for a year and given six months to bring another presentation to the council," said Turlock Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sharon Silva. "They are doing it within weeks and notifying the public before notifying us."

 

If the motion to terminate is approved, it will initiate the City’s Request for Proposals process to find a new organization to perform marketing and tourism services for Turlock. If the Chamber so chooses, it can submit a bid to regain the CVB contract. 

 

In November, the Council approved the Chamber’s CVB budget proposal in a 4-1 vote, with council member Amy Bublak casting the sole dissenting vote.

“As I’m reading this, and I’m looking for results and data and statistical analysis, all I have is expenditure stuff. I don’t have any projections of revenue, what you did the last couple years, what worked, what didn’t work, what we can anticipate in six months, what we can anticipate in a year,” said Bublak at the Nov. 18 Council meeting. “I’m sure you have it, it’s just not here and if I’m supposed to represent the public at large I need to let them know that I wouldn’t spend $250,000 of my own personal money, or theirs, without knowing what I’m getting for it. And I’m sure they can give us that information — I’m sure they can ­­— ­ but it’s not here.”

Bublak was not the only one questioning the $249,235 CVB budget proposal as two former council candidates vocalized concerns not that the organization was unworthy of the funds, but that the amount requested seemed inordinately large.

 “The council synopsis is longer than the two pages dedicated for this budget,” Arts, Park, and Recreation Commissioner Sergio Alvarado said, noting the lack of information on why the CVB needs funds. “$250,000 is quite a bit of money. That was five times the amount of money budgeted for roads last year in last year’s budget.”

Alvarado also brought attention to the fact that over half of the budget will “not be seen by taxpayers” because it is allocated to an administration allowance. A portion of the $138,000 administrative allowance includes an event planner position that was added in the past year and is shared amongst the City of Turlock, Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Property Owners Association and CVB.

Then-council member Forrest White, who has served on two convention and visitors bureau boards in other counties, noted that in order for a city to remain competitive, a robust budget is necessary to bid on projects to bring to the town.

“I can tell you one hundred and some thousand dollars in administrative is cheap,” said White in November.

According to former CVB budgets, funds for directory and visitors guides, official city maps and conferences have remained constant over the past few years, but money for various other elements of the CVB’s budget have increased significantly. For instance, the 2013 budget allotted $500 for tours, and the approved 2015 budget allots four times that amount. According to the Assistant to the City Manager for Economic Development and Housing Maryn Pitt, this is the result of a formalization of practices that have been in place for years, such as offering tours to international guests interested in learning more about business and life in Turlock.

In November Silva stated that the CVB is undergoing a transitional time and noted that it has evolved since her involvement 16 years ago when Turlock played host to a mere two hotels. As the town has grown, so has the number of hotels, and in turn the Transient Occupancy Tax dollars which is a tax imposed on occupants who stay at Turlock hotels and motels. These funds are a part of the City’s general fund and allocated to the Chamber as per an agreement. The agreement between the City of Turlock and the Chamber of Commerce as the administration of the CVB is not permanent and can be terminated by either party with or without cause within 90 days of written notice.

"As we grow as a community, then we need to change our Convention and Visitors Bureau and get some things moving in the right direction... Part of the whole effort of the Conventions and Visitors Bureau is about marketing this community," said Silva in November.