The Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission is back at full capacity. For how long is up in the air.
At least that was the case after the commission’s June 22 regular meeting at The Auditorium.
Mark Hicks, who has owned numerous businesses in Eureka Springs in the past and currently owns Tuscan Manor, was nominated, and quickly approved by unanimous vote to fill a position that has been vacant for quite some time.
Meanwhile, the terms of commissioners James DeVito and Carol Wright are set to expire on June 30. However, when commissioners Autumn Slane and Nick Roberts inquired about the two upcoming vacancies, the topic was quickly deferred.
“Chances are I’ll be here past my due date.”
CAPC commissioner James DeVito, whose term expires June 30
“Well, are we going to … I know there were two other seats coming available,” Slane said not long after the vote to approve Hicks. Hicks’ appointment was approved by the Eureka Springs City Council at its regular meeting Monday night.
“Coming up, and those seats aren’t open yet, and when they become open, we’ll go through the process,” commission chair Jeff Carter replied.
Wright then asked which two seats on the commission Slane was referring to.
“Well, I thought it was James’ and your seat,” Slane replied. “I didn’t know, that’s just what I’ve been told.
Nick Roberts responded, “Yeah, I looked today, I think both of yours come up June 30 of this year … your term expires on the 30th.”
“So, James and I?” Wright asked.
DeVito said he would stay in his seat, even after his term expires, if no one has been selected.
“If nobody’s selected, I would stay until someone is picked,” DeVito said. “So, even if my term ends, I still hold the seat until someone replaces me.”
Appearing to contradict DeVito’s comments, Carter then said, “the seat has to be declared vacant and then we can go through the process.”
“So, at the next meeting it’ll be declared, and we’ll vote,” Wright said.
“Let me find, let me get all the ducks in a row,” Carter responded.
“So, chances are I’ll be here past my due date,” DeVito said.
“James cannot leave.”
CAPC chairman Jeff Carter on commissioner James DeVito, whose term expires June 30
“James cannot leave,” Carter said.
The CAPC is scheduled to hold a workshop on July 13. Its next regular meeting is scheduled for July 27.
The vote to approve Hicks to the commission came after two other applicants for the position, Heather Wilson and David Avanzino, spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting about their credentials and desire for the role.
Wilson, who owns Tia Sandy’s Empanadas and More, said she has a marketing background that would make her a good fit for the commission.
“Mr. Burnett, we met last year at the farmer’s market when you invited me to consider the CAPC and you mentioned that it was greatly misunderstood,” Wilson said, referring to commissioner Patrick Burnett. “And if people just had conversations and came together, there could be progress made.
“You also commented on my investment in branding as well, and I remember that it resonated with me.”
Avanzino, according to a resume submitted to commissioners, is a former private investigator and current co-owner of the Wanderoo Lodge and Gravel Bar. He told commissioners that his background and the success his business is seeing, including its social media presence, help make him a good fit for the commission.
“I’ve been here for almost every single meeting, even during this voting process, waiting for things to be figured out and for more people to step up willing to serve, which I have always been,” Avanzino told commissioners.
Neither Wilson nor Avanzino were mentioned by commissioners during the portion of the meeting where the position was discussed.
In other discussions, Slane had added to the agenda a topic to discuss “rules and guidelines regarding the CAPC.”
Slane said it an Arkansas statute was recently brought to her attention that led her to question whether the CAPC can legally approve funds to individuals and groups for marketing support, which it commonly does.
Slane read different parts of the statute regarding how commissions such as the CAPC can award money, but added, “not one thing in here even talks about marketing, what we’re doing.”
DeVito said the topic needs to be addressed with the Arkansas Municipal League.
“For one thing, A&P legislation is a rather new addition to Arkansas,” DeVito said. “And rather than start a conversation, and we don’t have the background for this, I would suggest that if you do have questions that they go to the municipal league. … They are the ones that are versed in constitutional law, the A&P laws, which as we found, are being developed right now as we speak, because we’ve had a couple of Supreme Court rulings on the CAPC just in the last couple of months.”
Wright said that when the CAPC bylaws were developed, they were vetted with the city attorney and the municipal league.
“It’s possible they’re not as inclusive as they need to be,” Wright said. “I mean, we can certainly always make changes. We could talk about them in a workshop, get them answered, and then just vote in the meeting.”
Carter finished the discussion asking Slane to submit any questions she has. He said he will refer those questions to the municipal league.
In other reports, CAPC finance director Scott Bardin reported a bank balance as of May 31 of $1,674,571.85. Included in that is $107,443 approved and earmarked for renovations to The Aud.
Bardin also reported tourism tax collections of $86,150 for food and beverage in May, an increase of $11,150 from what was budgeted. Lodging brought in $75,772 in May, $772 more than budgeted. Year to date, the CAPC has collected $655,564 in the two categories, $151,564 more than budgeted for the first five months of 2022.
Tourism director Madison Dawson told commissioners that 78 percent of visitors in May stayed overnight, and 79 percent of visitors came from out of state.
Ashley Dowgwillo, a representative of St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Paradise Advertising and Marketing, gave a report to commissioners saying that in May, Eureka Springs had more than 100 million estimated impressions from earned media placements.
“And about 900 million estimated media value for those placements,” Dowgwillo said.
She also gave an update on “industry insights,” saying that gas prices have outpaced COVID-19 as a concern for travelers.
“So, we are evaluating the campaigns and how that’s affecting our campaigns and our travelers,” Dowgwillo said. “So, even though gas prices are rising, industry reports indicate that there’s still an interest in automobile travel.
“We’ve actually seen a little bit of a decrease in airline travel. From April to May there was about a 2.3 percent decrease in airline travel. So that’s not enough, we feel, to completely remove airline and markets from our demographic targeting.”
