Holbrook Chamber’s Animosity Toward City Centers On Lodgers Tax Allocation

At the last city council meeting it was suggested by city staff that the funds to the chamber be cut by $5,500 from what was received last year, which would be $14,500 less than the $66,000 the chamber requested for the coming year.

The battle over lodgers tax funds is an annual event between the city and the chamber. For many years the chamber has been the promoter of events for the city that would, in turn, bring visitors to the community. The efforts tied in well with the purpose of the two percent lodgers tax fund, which is to promote tourism.

As a result, the chamber is a recipient of a large portion of those funds, along with the Navajo County Historical Society, which operates the Visitors Center at the historic courthouse, and the Navajo County Fair Board, which hosts events in the city ranging from the annual county fair to weekend equine and 4-H events.

Now that the city has hired Kathleen Smith as the community events coordinator, funds are also being allocated to her department to organize new events and those previously under the purview of the chamber.

The only events now organized by the chamber for the city as a whole are the summer cultural dances, the Festival of Trees and Wild West Days, the city’s largest event involving a two-day celebration featuring a professional barbecue competition, entertainment and vendors. It’s a time consuming event, taking as much as six months to prepare.

Over the past four years the event has been dominated by the barbecue competition, with as much as $15,000 paid to Tom Duncan, owner of Whiskey Ranch Barbecue, in 2013 to organize the event and pay for prizes. Last year those funds were limited to $5,000 and this year an additional $5,000 in sponsorships was requested by Duncan from the chamber board.

Although the event appears to bring in large crowds, last year’s records show the profits for the entire weekend event totaled just around $3,400, a far cry from the $18,885 used to host the event, which also has costs for entertainers, permits, the race and other items. The funds generated from the event are from the entry fees from the Bucket of Blood Races, beer revenues and vendor space fees.

After reviewing the costs, the city staff informed the chamber that funds designated for Wild West Days would be reduced to no more than $7,000. If the chamber board felt it couldn’t do it for that amount, the city would take over the event under the direction of Smith, who would discontinue the professional barbecue and instead organize an amateur barbecue competition with an entry fee that would cover the prize money.

A majority of the chamber meeting focused on that event, with President Yvonne Larson stating that she wasn’t opposed to the city taking Wild West Days. “If the city can do it, it would take a big part of our workload off, and we could focus on doing more mixers and promoting businesses in the community,” she noted.

The suggestion appeared to offend at least two board members, with Chris Olthouse offering some harsh words for the city, stating that if the city took over the event, it would likely “screw it up” and expect the chamber to fix it. He admitted that the event had become a source of pride for him since he believes the chamber is responsible for the event’s success.

Steve Gallegos shared those sentiments, believing all the hard work done by the chamber board to put on the event would go to waste if the city took it over.

Vice President Troy Klein stated, “Let it fail, they have no concept of man-hours.”

When board member Missy Daniels asked what the chamber gained by doing the event, Gallegos stated that they gained the trust of the community.

Olthouse commented that it was name recognition; “the barbecue teams travel and tell others.”

As many as 30 teams come to town during the event, but the food they cook is not available to the public and aside from perhaps informing others about their stay in Holbrook, and the purchase of fuel or supplies in town, there is nothing specific to indicate that the barbecue alone brings in any revenues to the city.

In further discussion regarding lodgers tax funds from the city, Klein stated, “Our money is going to their (the city) events, even the historical society. The city is looking backward to the past instead of paying attention to the future; we need to create jobs for our kids,” he said, adding that he felt the chamber was being singled out by the city with the proposed reduction in funds, but that he also wasn’t opposed to having the city take on Wild West Days, as it would allow the chamber to focus more on member services.

Of the members present, five indicated that allowing the city to operate Wild West Days would free up their resources to do the work that the chamber should be doing, such as networking with other businesses and promoting opportunities for business owners. Despite that, all seven board members present, including Olthouse, Gallegos, Klein, Larson, Daniels, Faryn Seal and Jeff Johnson voted unanimously to inform the city that they want the $66,000 originally requested in the budget and to continue with Wild West Days, but that if the city should take over the event they would want $51,500 so that they could move their part-time director’s position to full-time.

A discussion that did not take place during the meeting was what the chamber would present to the council to justify any funding if Wild West Days was removed from them, since that would mean that the chamber would provide little in the way of directly promoting tourism.

The chamber’s role seems uncertain even by its own board, as revealed by an item on the agenda that was discussed later in the meeting calling for the dissolution of the chamber.

Johnson, who serves as secretary of the board, presented the item, stating that he preferred no action be taken, but that the board consider the issue.

“I’ve been thinking of our function as a chamber of commerce and how effective we’ve been with our limitations. I dislike this contention with the city. I dislike how they stick their nose in with what we do, but I want to work in co-operation with the city. So are we necessary? It’s my inclination to give up the battle. Are we fighting just to preserve the institution?”

Klein indicated his frustration by stating, “No one votes for our city council or our board,” referring to the low voter turnout for the recent council election and the 13 members who voted in the recent board election for the chamber of the approximately 52 voting members, most of whom were already on the board. “We’ve forgotten the function of a chamber.”

Gallegos disagreed, stating, “It’s name recognition; the chamber should help the city grow. I see a need for us and still have fight in me. Maybe just a change of direction.”

The item was tabled until a future meeting.

Prior to that discussion, Director Michael Nilsson reported on the results of the recent board election, noting that newly elected board members include Lynda Young, and returning board members Shar Gillespie, Olthouse, Johnson, Seal and Klein.

The board also accepted the resignation of board member Richard Nowell, and agreed to visit with Larry Hager regarding his continued role on the board.

In addition, the board approved the contracts for the summer cultural dancers.