Where is the evidence?

I am responding to an article written by former Councilmember Christina Strawbridge on Feb. 12. The writer presented the tourism campaign very well. It appears that it is a very effective tourism campaign. She states “A big part of Benicia’s tourism campaign is securing positive stories,” then she identifies the areas where the stories appeared. We all know that every city, county and areas of tourism destination appear in the Sunday papers almost every week. Sit in any waiting room and there are magazines galore to review tourist destinations.
Everyone is fighting for that tourism destination. That is not new, but just laying out the campaign does not ensure Benicia being a tourist destination. All it says is we are in the game also, at a very great expense with no qualifying info.
I will now lay out my opinion with information as proof why the tourism campaign was not effective. Before I go to that I suggest you get a copy of the former interim city manager’s goodbye message. It is very revealing, and it is all about what I have been saying. The city does have financial issues. Remember I did talk about the CalPers increase. It is all there. Does $605,000 seem like a lot of money? I think so, in light of the serious financial issues facing this fine city. The first two years of the campaign cost the city per year $140,000. Does that seem like a lot of money? I do think so. Then add in the yearly cost of $50,000 then $60,000 and now $65,000 per year over the past six years. Does that seem excessive? I think so.
It should be remembered this city had First Street sales tax of $193,000 before Wolf Communications. Now we have a First Street sales tax of $215,00 on a yearly basis not the fiscal year basis. That is an increase of $22,000 in sales tax. Now that is evidence that this Wolf tourist program was not at all a good investment. $605,000 to get $22,000 is very hard to digest in a city that needs all the revenue to go to needed fixes. A lot of potholes, sidewalks. and maybe even some streets could have been fixed. That would be a very reasonable use of money. As I said earlier, read the former interim city manager’s goodbye memo. It tells the whole story.
I still believe Wolf money was a very bad investment. We could be strapped with another two years of at least $65,000 a year. I sure hope the City Council does understand that the money was not a good investment. Time for this council to understand what issues we are faced with and act accordingly. I do believe that three of the councilmembers understand that. Let’s hope they stick together and get back to really digging into fixing this fine city’s financial situation. It will not be easy and could have some very tough financial decisions to make.
The council must spend more time on city needs.I do have the confidence in the three councilmembers to show leadership and not be bullied into backing off. They can do it. I do believe the residents know who I am talking about, and let’s hope the other councilmember and the mayor join in.
The “Owl” is always looking out for this fine city. Like it or not, some tough decisions are going to have to be made.

Bob “The Owl” Livesay,
Benicia

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