UPDATE: A city council vote on whether to temporarily shut down the Eureka Visitor’s Center has been postponed until May 2 to allow Mayor Frank Jager and City Manager Greg Sparks to attend the meeting.
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The Eureka City Council on Tuesday will consider temporarily shutting down the visitor’s center after the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce’s $110,000 service contract runs out at the end of June.
A staff report for the consent agenda item recommends rejecting the chamber’s proposed rate of $13,500 a month to keep the doors open while the city goes through an open bid process for the center’s operation, noting “the budget savings will be helpful going into next year.”
In an email to the Journal, City Manager Greg Sparks says he would prefer not to have a gap in service but “we believe that visitors receive information in many different ways about Eureka and Humboldt County and do not believe this gap will have a significant impact on visitor spending.”
Proposals to take over what for decades has been the chamber’s role are due in June. The city is requiring that the center — which serves an average of 10,000 walk-ins and 26,000 website visitors a year — be up and running by January of 2018.
The chamber also produces 40,000 Eureka Visitor Guide copies annually as a part of its contract with the city.
Chamber Executive Director Don Smullin says the business organization is still considering whether to submit a proposal as members weigh the chamber’s priorities in the wake of an increasingly bumpy relationship with the city.
He says the chamber has been spending about $40,000 a year to subsidize the center’s expenses after the city reduced funding levels in recent years, citing budget constraints.
Sparks also terminated the city’s long-term contract with the chamber to provide visitor services, which resulted in the current one-year agreement that expires in June.
“This has been an ongoing thing for four years now,” Smullin says. “It’s very frustrating.”
Sparks states there were questions about what kind of return on investment the city was receiving and the decision was made last year to put the contract out to a competitive bid.
The center currently operates out of the chamber’s Broadway office, which is owned by the city. The chamber’s 75-year lease on the building runs out in 2032.
“We thought there may be a more cost-effective way of providing services,” Sparks wrote.
Read the council agenda item here.
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The US Chamber of Commerce is a corporate-led organization with agendas that have no bearing to small towns such as Eureka. Get off their bandwagon, the sooner the better, to free this city from the unwanted interference of out of area political influence. Most of the voters couldn’t give a rat’s whisker for Mr Trump’s approval for the local dogcatcher. These funds will just as well spent by local organizations
It seems kind of stupid to shut this thing down in the middle of the summer….our “high season”. Perhaps short-term services can be temporarily extended through October?
A look at the list of businesses which are members of the CoC makes it seem like the Chamber is double dipping.
Businesses pay for the benefits of being a chamber member and Eureka pays for the benefits of…informing tourists about the same things?
I think it would be very interesting to see what the people who run the chamber pay themselves.
I like to see what others think so I did a little research and found these articles:
https://tuluwatexaminer.wordpress.com/2016…
https://tuluwatexaminer.wordpress.com/2014…
The last link has the interesting question:
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Why should we be bringing up this old news now? Because the recent approved budget included cuts to Public Safety, yet the council still approved almost $571,500 going to the Eureka Chamber of Commerce and the Humboldt County Convention and Visitor Bureau.”
I’m wondering with all the attention paid in various journals to the lack of decent hotels, the unattractive streets and the inhospitable appearance of much of Eureka why the Chamber hasn’t take an active roll to get local businesses (who would benefit) involved with supporting law enforcement and other services to make Eureka a better place not just to visit, but to live.
It would be a shame to close down right before the high season. People need to look at the conflict of interest going on right under their noses. The location of the current Chamber on Broadway is Ideal. The Concrete Anchor Outside let’s people know you have arrived. Eureka!! Parking is readily available for large Motor Homes, Trailers and the like. Think about it People!!
http://www.times-standard.com/article/NJ/20170421/NEWS/170429974
BTW, just a note to all that the $571.500 budget does not all go to the Eureka Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Broadway. The Convention and Visitors Bureau that is in Old Town Wants it all. Not only is the location not visitor friendly to find when entering Eureka From the South it may be difficult for many visitors to our city to just drop in. The location on Broadway has served our community for many years and can continue to do so. Why not share the friendliness to our visitors and support each other? The politics you speak of were drummed up by a recent previous president of the Chamber Board who is no longer there but supports the Old Town Location and would love nothing better than to take all of the budget and dump it into their pockets.