Update: MTCVB's Performance Audit Points To Need For Greater Attention To Member Needs and Accountability

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Pima County established an independent team to evaluate The Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitor's Bureau ("MTCVB") performance.  The County announced last week that it will implement the result so this review.

The team, led by a consultant, issued its report last year (July 27, 2011).  Though, admittedly, the report is a bit dated, it does point to some of the problems that we perceive between Oro Valley and MTCVB.

MTCVB is funded by Pima County, the City of Tucson, and the Town of Oro Valley, .  Both Pima County and the City of Tucson have done "performance audits."  Oro Valley has funded MTCVB using the "blind faith","they are doing a great job", "let's think regionally", "no audit needed here" audit approach.

The County's report does not evaluate the success of MTCVB.  It looks at MTCVB's operations and its relationship with its constituents.

Many people from Tucson and Pima County provided input in the study. No one from Oro Valley did.  Clearly, the study consultant did not think Oro Valley's input would be valuable to the study. In fact, Oro Valley is mentioned only twice in the 124-page document. Fact is: Oro Valley is a the "small dog" in relation to its fellow members.

The study has implications for Oro Valley, since any changes that will impact our town. 

In our prior postings about MTCVB, we have observed both a lack of accountability and a lack of demonstrable performance in relation to Oro Valley from MTCVB.   This report validates our comments.  The following are some the "Key Observations" from pages 8 and 9 of the report:

• There exists a perception with governments that the MTCVB views itself with an apparent sense of entitlement.
• MTCVB has a complacent attitude in dealing with government and is not partnering with officials to produce greater performance results through funding development.
• Last year the MTCVB booked for the community about $170 million in visitor spending principally from new conventions, sports and leisure tourism bookings [Note: There is no support for the dollar estimate provided in the report].
• MTCVB is capable of producing much more with performance productivity recommendations provided throughout this audit.
• MTCVB does not consistently provide transparency, accountability and a focus in communicating out to stakeholders and to the community its performance productivity, including future goals to be achieved. Also missing is the return-on-investment from major marketing initiatives.
• The MTCVB Board of Directors is not fully engaged, energized or pro-active in representing the stakeholder community. 

Report recommendations include:

• Developing a standardized model agreement format that can be applied for each jurisdiction (report page 23)
• Creating MTCVB performance measures based on third party independent validation (report page 25)
• Developing a true brand identity with strong community collaboration from its stakeholders and partners. (report page 40)
• Developing a Marketing Plan in a team effort with strong stakeholder input, beginning in early planning stages (report Page 44)
• Providing funding partners with a comprehensive understanding of what is to be produced as well as the anticipated goal based  results (report page 45)
• Drafting a new mission statement (report page 49)

Our takeaway from the study is that:

• MTCVB should work more closely with its funding partners, like Oro Valley, to develop its plans.
• These plans should include specifically, agreed-upon targets
• MTCVB should provide more concrete proof of the results of its efforts.

Another takeaway is that Oro Valley is a "grain in the sand" when it comes to MTCVB.  We are the smallest contributor with the least representation. We are a "tag along."   Oro Valley has, at best, two voices on the MTCVB Board: Council Member Mary Snider from 2010 to June of 2012 (now Council Member Brendan Burns) and MTCVB Chairman, Lynn Ericson, from the El Conquistador.   They sit among  32-members of the MTCVB Board. 

Our final takeaway is that Oro Valley has to be serious about its involvement with MTCVB.  We are funding it. We are counting on it to bring room bookings to Oro Valley. We are counting on MTCVB to brings swim meets to our new Aquatic Center, as they have promised.  It is important to us.  Active Oro Valley involvement on the part of Oro Valley is imperative, especially as MTCVB makes changes to accommodate the "big dog."
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Guest View-John Musolf: MTCVB Activities In Report Are Not Oro Valley Specific

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The Metropolitan Tucson Convention Visitors Bureau ("MTCVB") presented their third quarter report at the May 2 Oro Valley Town Council Meeting.  As John Musolf notes in this "Guest View" There is very little in this report that directly relates to Oro Valley.

The Council's reaction to this report was favorable.

Mayor Hiremath was quick to ask the towns economic development department with the impact has been on our Valley based on some of the activities that have occurred here, activities that are purported to have occurred because of MTCVB's actions, such as the USA Triathlon Federation's Duathlon National Championships held in Oro Valley. The department estimated this to be $2 Million. There was no support provided for this.

The relationship among Lynn Ericson, who is President Of MTCVB and General Manager Of the Hilton El Conquistador, is very cozy.  Erickson and the managers El Consquistador contributed to Mayor Hiremath's 2010 campaign.   Council Member Snider is a member of the MTCVB Board.   There is simply too much inbreeding going on here.

Council Member Garner was the only council member to even attempt to question the MTCVB report. He asked that it be pulled from the "consent agenda" so that it could be discussed. It was. He noted that report is not specific to Oro Valley. He asked MTCVB to provide reports that demonstrate direct benefit to Oro Valley. Council Member Garner would like to see the total impact on Oro Valley. As you will note from John's comments, this report, like other MTCVB reports, don't that.
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Item B on the consent portion on the Town Council Agenda on May 2, 2012 was for approving the ("MTCVB") third quarter report of performance in relation to the Town of Oro Valley. This report is incomplete and warrants the full attention of the members of the Oro Valley Town Council.  



Let me provide a few examples of why this consent agenda item should be discussed by Council in more detail.

• The report is not routine or non-controversial.

  The shows 83 sales leads and 17 site inspections.
• The report does not provide any examples of the purported 83 sales leads.  Are they all from the same source? Do they count call-backs as 2 leads?  
• Nor does it provide information on the seventeen site inspections. Shouldn't the town ask for a couple of examples of the 17 site inspections for Oro Valley Properties? Who asked for the site inspections? Where and when did the inspections take place?

Another page in the report is “Public Relations Key Measures of Performance for Oro Valley”. It states there were 2 articles pertaining to Oro Valley.

• Arizona Republic (Media Print Article) “Day Trip to Tucson” Makes no mention of Oro Valley
• Explorer Newspapers, Inc.  (Media Internet) Each year the Explorer solicits input from its readers on the “Best of the Northwest” (examples: restaurant, hotel, retirement community, etc.) It then publishes them in its print and on-line versions and some mention Oro Valley. There is no apparent connection between this Explorer Survey and MTCVB. What does MTCVB have to do directly with this activity?

Another page then provides some statistics:

• Events - 6.  None of the events mentioned Oro Valley
• Sports Development - 5.  The 8th Annual Arizona Distance Classic was held on March 25, 2012 in Oro Valley. It does not mention what role MTCVB played in this sports development.
• Convention –  1. Plasma Spectro Chemistry Convention was held at the Hilton El Conquistador January 8-13 in Oro Valley.  Lynn Ericksen is General Manager of the Hilton El Conquistador. Mr. Eriksen is also the Chair of the Board of MTCVB. Was this convention a result of touting of Oro Valley by MTCVB?
• Marketing – 6. None of these marketing efforts mention Oro Valley
• Mexico –  MTCVB states they opened a second visitor center. There is no apparent connection to what it does specifically for Oro Valley. How many citizens of Mexico asked for information or came to Oro Valley as a result of this second visitor center?
• Film – MTCVB touts that they created 3 films. There is no mention whether Oro Valley is highlighted or even mentioned in any of them.
• Air Service – Southwest offers seasonal service between Tucson and Washington D. C./Baltimore. What impact does this specifically have on Oro Valley?

Then MTCVB includes supporting exhibits to illustrate MTCVB performance.

• The first exhibit was an article in the Arizona Republic titled “Day Trip to Tucson”. There is no mention of Oro Valley.
• The second exhibit was from the Explorer Newspaper. Each year the Explorer solicits input from its readers on the “Best of the Northwest” (examples: restaurant, hotel, retirement community, etc.) It then publishes them in its print and on-line versions and some mention Oro Valley. There is no apparent connection between this survey and MTCVB. What does MTCVB have to do with this activity?
• The third exhibit was an article from Media Monitoring titled “Arizona – Where Service Shines Like the Sun”. There is no mention of Oro Valley.
• The fourth exhibit was an article from the Arizona Star titled “Get Moving Tucson”. It mentions the 8th Annual Arizona Distance Classic held on March 25, 2012 in Oro Valley. It does not mention what role MTCVB played in this sports development.
• The fifth exhibit was from Hotel Business Magazine. The Hilton Tucson El Conquistador is extolled by Lynn Ericksen, General Manager of the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador. Mr. Eriksen is also the Chair of the Board of MTCVB.
• The sixth exhibit is from SN news source that promotes Geotourism in Southern Arizona. There is no mention of Oro Valley.
• The seventh exhibit is from SN news source that repeats what the fourth exhibit from the Arizona Star titled “Get Moving Tucson”. It mentions the 8th Annual Arizona Distance Classic held on March 25, 2012 in Oro Valley. It does not mention what role MTCVB played in this sports development.
• The eighth exhibit is from the Dodgers.com web site that talks about an Oro Valley Benefit Game for the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation. What role did MTCVB play in this activity? 
• The ninth exhibit is from the “Vin Scully Is My Home Boy” web site that talks about an Oro Valley Benefit Game for the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation. . What role did MTCVB play in this activity?
• The tenth exhibit is from News 4 Tucson that talks about the new attraction in Oro Valley which is the future upgrading of the aquatics capability for national and international swim competition.

There is no indication of how MTCVB was responsible for performance in any exhibits listed or how they helped Oro Valley’s economic development.

Summary
The point is: The MTCVB third quarter report should not be a "consent agenda" item. MTCVB’s performance should be fully vetted by council in view of the citizens of Oro Valley on a regular agenda item.
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MTCVB: Getting Little For $75,000

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MTCVB submitted its first quarter report to the Oro Valley Town Council.  It is included as part of the consent agenda for this Wednesday's council meeting.  The report indicates that MTCVB did no marketing that was specific to Oro Valley; rather, it focused on marketing the region or regional  special interests.

The only Oro Valley-specific activity of which we do know is the assistance provided by MTCVB in the design of the Aquatic Center logo that they unveiled in September.

We think that Oro Valley should get far more for the $75,000 than it is spending on MTCVB.  We believe that there should be MTCVB activities specific to Oro Valley.

Here's some of what the report includes:

• “Key Measures of Performance” has 64 sales leads and 8 site inspections.  There are no examples of the sales leads.  Are there any details on the inside inspections.  Were any of these for Oro Valley?
• The report states that Oro Valley is promoted as a leisure and meeting destination within the MTCVB's web-based visitors guide and meeting planners guide.  A visit to the website reveals that neither the home page nor the six tabs present anything on Oro Valley. You would think that Oro Valley would get some visibility for the $75,000 it is giving to MTCVB this year.
•  The report claims that Oro Valley businesses benefit from MTCVB’s “Real Southwest” marketing campaign. Really?  How so?
• The report notes that Oro Valley is promoted by the Tucson Film Office, a division of MTCVB, as a potential destination for television series and photo shoots.  Once again, we ask: "How so?" 
• MTCVB states that Oro Valley is invited to participate in MTCVB’s Tucson-Mexico Trade Coalition meetings. There is no projection or potential examples as to what participation in the meetings would do specifically for Oro Valley. How many companies or citizens of Mexico asked for information or came to Oro Valley?
• MTCVB states that it promotes Oro Valley to National and International Media; yet, there were zero travel articles pertaining to Oro Valley.

Oro Valley deserves more than general regional marketing from MTCVB.  Oro Valley deserves more than some accidental mention as part of a Southern Arizona marketing effort.  Oro Valley is the "Jewel" of Southern Arizona, not an adjunct of the "armpit" to our south.  Oro Valley is an example of the beauty and recreational pleasure available in southern Arizona.  In all respects, it far surpasses anything that the City of Tucson can offer.

The sad thing is that MTCVB is being allowed to raise Oro Valley's contribution to $120,000 next year and $175,000 the following year for shaky performance that can never be verified.

Perhaps allowing MTCVB to put Oro Valley on the "back burner" is satisfactory to those who sit on Council.  After all, the report is a consent agenda item. It won't even be discussed unless one of the council members pulls it for discussion. Frankly, our council members should set a higher set of expectations of MTCVB.  They should demand more for our considerable investment.
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Another Good Reason To Vote For Mike Zinkin & Only Matt Rabb

John Musolf tells us why candidates supported by Special Interest Groups can cost Oro Valley residents a "pretty penny."

Another reason to vote for Mike Zinkin for Mayor & ONLY Matt Rabb for Council.


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The Real Purpose Behind Amending Resolution R07-126, “Community Funding” on April 7, 2010 Council Meeting was for “Special Interests”.

Originally, the Community Funding Policy and Procedure (Resolution 07-106) was put into place in 2007 to have a standard, uniform, and equally fair method for all community organizations to apply for public funding. These were covered under Financial Participation Agreements (FPA).

All FPA funding was suspended for FY2010/2011 in November 2009 to balance the budget.

This cut-off of Public Funding deeply concerned two “special interest” groups: Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (MTCVB) and Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) that were under Community Funding.

Not to worry! A different approach would be found to continue the tax “earmarks” for selected “special interest” groups.

At the Town budget retreat on January 23, 2010 Mayor Loomis suggested that MTCVB and TREO should get some funding under an Economic Development Approach (EDA).

On January 27, 2010 at the Town Council meeting, Mayor Loomis made a motion, seconded by Councilman Al Kunisch, to add a study session for a “new” economic development process. That study session was scheduled for March 24, 2010.
Full Disclosure: Mayor Paul Loomis who made the motion to create a study session on a “new” Economic Development process was a board member of TREO until January 28, 2010. Councilman Al Kunisch who seconded the motion was the council liaison to MTCVB (until his resignation from Town Council).

At the March 24, 2010 study session, Loomis had “special interest” agencies MTCVB and TREO appear to “testify” that they needed tax “earmarks” under a “new” EDA process to get their funding restored for FY 2010/2011.

At the March 24, 2010 Council Meeting, Lynn Ericksen, Hilton General Manager, acted as a “spokesman” for MTCVB . The Hilton is a partner and board member of MTCVB. Mr. Ericksen stated in the meeting that MTCVB told him they would cut off sales leads to the Hilton if the Town cut off funding to MTCVB.

Why? The real reason for the cut-off of sales leads from the MTCVB to the Hilton. MTCVB depends on large public funding from Tucson and Pima County. If one little town (Oro Valley) can opt out of an agreement with MTCVB then it might provide a precedent for Tucson and Pima County to opt out. So, MTCVB made open threats to the Town (through Lynn Ericksen) that the Hilton and the Town would suffer financial loss if MTCVB got cut off.

Salette Latas brought up the example of where the Ritz Hotel in Marana had booked a major convention and was so oversubscribed that excess customers will stay at the Omni and be bussed over to the Ritz. Marana and the Ritz accomplished this without the use of MTCVB.
At the April 7, 2010 Town Council Meeting a Resolution 10-23 was passed to create a separate line item in the Economic Development budget through which the Council could allocate funding to economic development agencies if they so choose. This option would remove the allocation of funding for economic development agencies from Community Funding Process thereby providing council the discretion to allocate funding for these agencies during the annual budget process (MTCVB and TREO were these agencies).

The “new” approach “opens the door” for these special interests to obtain public funding. The Council approved this Resolution with no suggested economic development agency policy and procedure to handle the “new” tax “earmarks”.

So much for representing the interests of the people of Oro Valley!



John Musolf

Guest View-John Musolf: MTCVB's Quarter One Report Is Worth Council's Investigation

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[Blogmaster Note: Oro Valley contributes $75,000 annually to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (“MTCVB”). It is our contention that this expenditure is not justified. It is the contention of many others that MTCVB, itself, is a poorly functioning, poorly performing organization.  Click here to see our Tuesday, November 1, 2011 posting on MTCVB to learn more about our thinking.]
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Item D On the Consent portion on the Town Council Agenda on December 7, 2011 is for approving (“rubber-stamping”) the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (“MTCVB”) first quarter report of performance in relation to the Town of Oro Valley. In my opinion, the report is incomplete and warrants the full attention of the members of the Oro Valley town council.
The first page of the first quarter report shows statistics on MTCVB’s performance under Convention Sales, Convention Services, Travel Industry Sales, Communications and Marketing.

Convention Sales         Target         Quarter       YTD
Sales Leads                   350                 92            92
Site Inspections               44                 11            11

At least a few examples (detailed breakdown) of these 92 sales leads should be provided. Are they all from the same source? Do they count call-backs as 2 leads?  Shouldn't the town ask for a couple of examples of the 11 site inspections for Oro Valley Properties. Who asked for the site inspections? Where and when did the inspections take place?

Convention Services                  Target          Quarter      YTD
Meetings/Conventions Serviced      30                     7           7

Which meetings and/or conventions were serviced?

Communications                          Target          Quarter        YTD
Travel Articles                                    31                    9              9

MTCVB included 9 "travel articles" in the supporting exhibits:

• A letter securing of the U S Triathlon Duathon in 2012 in Oro Valley. This is specific to Oro Valley.

• A Smart Meetings Magazine article that refers to the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador. There is no mention of Oro Valley.

• An Explorer News article that observes that the Western National Parks Association is located in Oro Valley and that is looking for volunteers.

• The fourth exhibit is from the Newbienomore blog site which mentions that the Catalina State Park is in Tucson.

• The fifth exhibit is from the Republic-Arizona Central, talking about restaurants. No restaurants in Oro Valley are mentioned.

• An article from the Green Valley News and Sun talking about “Oro Valley Hosts Summer Crafts Fair” at El Conquistador. This is specific to the El Conquistador and Oro Valley.

• The seventh exhibit mentions Mr. Ericksen, General Manager of the El Conquistador, being honored as hotelier of the year.  This is specific to the El Conquistador.

• The eighth exhibit is from “Tucson On The Cheap.” The article mentions the Metropolitan Grill. This is specific to Oro Valley.

• The final exhibit is from the “Group Travel Leader,” but makes no mention of Oro Valley tours.

Other than first exhibit, there is no indication of how MTCVB was responsible for the items listed in the other exhibits or how they help Oro Valley economic development.

Also, The El Conquistador is a member of MTCVB and has a marketing agreement with MTCVB that is independent of the Town of Oro Valley.  So, wherever the El Conquistador is mentioned in any of the exhibits, MTCVB is taking "double credit"for it.

[Blogmaster "Follow the Money" Note: Hilton Manager Erickson contributed $250 each the Campaigns of Snider, Hornat and Waters. Hilton manager Garman contributed $400 to Hiremath's campaign.]

Why does the Town of Oro Valley continue to donate between $70,000-75,000 to MTCVB for incomplete or questionable performance?

Guest View-John Musolf: Oro Valley's MTCVB Investment

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(Blogmaster Note: Oro Valley contributes $75,000 annually to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (MTCVB). It is our contention that this expenditure is not justified. It is the contention of many others that MTCVB, itself, is a poorly functioning, poorly performing organization. Click here to view other postings we have made on MTCVB.)
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Item A on the consent portion on the Town Council Agenda on February 15, 2012 is for approving (“rubber-stamping”) the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (MTCVB) second quarter report of performance in relation to the Town of Oro Valley. This report is incomplete and warrants the full attention of the members of the Oro Valley town council. Council should not "rubber stamp" it.

Let me provide a few examples of why this agenda item should be discussed by Council in more detail.

The first page of the first quarter report shows 85 sales leads and 6 site inspections. The report does not provide any examples of the purported 85 sales leads. Nor does it provide information on the six sales leade. Shouldn't the town ask for a couple of examples of the 6 site inspections for Oro Valley Properties? Who asked for the site inspections? Where and when did the inspections take place?

The report includes supporting exhibits to illustrate MTCVB performance. The exhibits are suspect.

• The first exhibit was an article titled “Tourists Pay Wages for 21,000 Tucsonans” published as a guest column for “Inside Tucson Business”. The author, Lynn Ericksen, General Manager, Hilton Tucson El Conquistador and also the Chair of the MTCVB Board of Directors wrote a glowing report on how Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) such as MTCVB were key to Tucson (No bias from Lynn of course, just “fair and balanced reporting). Oro Valley is not mentioned in the article so why is it in the MTCVB Oro Valley Report?

• The next exhibit “Kansas City On The Cheap” is a web site that offers vacation deals. It talks about Tucson, Arizona. There is no mention of Oro Valley.

• The next exhibit announces that MTCVB has won the 2011 Gold Service Award from Meetings & Conventions Magazine and won it 23 times. What does this have to do directly with representing Oro Valley?

• The next exhibit is from Japan Tours. It has an article that discusses “Why Rent a Luxurious Holiday Rental Property As Opposed to a Resort”? The article gushes on how Ultimate Luxurious Rentals will save vacationers time, income, privacy, etc., especially in Tucson, Arizona. The article touts going to Tucson and expounds on the culture in Tucson. It does mention Oro Valley as an expanding growth area of Tucson (I didn’t think Oro Valley was part of Tucson) and then disparages Oro Valley as a difficult place to travel to (45 minutes).

• The next exhibit is from the Arizona Daily Star Newspaper titled “Tourism Plan Puts Spotlight on Science”. It discusses how biodiversity in Southern Arizona is growing and Tucson should be a Science City destination not just a “fun and sun” destination. There is no mention of Oro Valley.

• The next exhibit is from a web site “Get Me One”. The Article is titled “Visit the Catalina State Park and Other Arizona Attractions”. It mentions Tucson but not Oro Valley.

• The next exhibit is from a web site “I Blog Robot Dot Com”. The Article is titled “Tour the Catalina State Park and Arizona State Park”. It mentions Tucson but not Oro Valley.

• The next exhibit is from a web site “xaminer.com”. The Article is titled “Astounding Nature – Arizona holds the hummingbird capital of the United States”. It does not mention Tucson or Oro Valley.

• The last exhibit is from a web site “bali-catering.com”. The Article is a revised copy of the Japan Tours Article.

There is no indication of how MTCVB was responsible for any exhibits listed or how they help Oro Valley’s economic development.

Why does the Town of Oro Valley continue to donate $75,000 to MTCVB for incomplete or questionable performance?

Where is due diligence by the Town Council?

John Musolf
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Should Oro Valley Continue To Fund MTCVB? "Wake-Up Tucson" Has Its Say

Chris DeSimone was good enough to copy us on this email he sent to the OV Council Members. We thought it worthy of sharing with our readers----especially since Mayor Loomis (the "lame duck") is lobbying to restore funds to MTVCB (and TREO) that the council recently voted unanimously to discontinue because of budget constraints.

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While you grapple with the question of funding this organization, please take a minute to read this column that Joe and I wrote for this week's Inside Tucson Business. Tourism promotion is very important to our town, but the days of writing checks to outside organizations without 3rd party accountability is probably not the best use of taxpayer dollars. With some sort of accountability system in place, you can cast your vote with confidence instead of confusion.



All the best,

Chris DeSimone
Wake Up, Tucson! Radio Show
Oro Valley Resident



Making the golden egg shine: Maximizing the tourism dollar
WAKE UP, TUCSON: A plan for measurable results
By Joe Higgins and Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, April 23rd, 2010

With the decline of the construction industry in Pima County, tourism is again the economic engine that makes our world go. Tourism is an industry most people in the region can appreciate and respect. Environmental open space goals and policies that restrict growth fit perfectly into the tourism industry. Tourism brings in visitors with wallets full of new cash.

Southern Arizona isn’t a manufacturing mecca. We don’t have high-tech, clean industries so tourism is one of the few industries that helps fill governments’ tax coffers.

The organization charged with maximizing tourism’s economic impact is the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB). The agency is funded by formulas coming from hotel bed taxes that are paid by tourists to government entities: the City of Tucson, Pima County and, to a lesser degree, Oro Valley and Marana. The more tourists, the more bed taxes, and the more bed taxes, the more the MTCVB can promote.

The $9 million dollar question is, how is the Tucson region doing compared to its peers?

We go back to the question we posed two weeks ago: How would someone from a cold-weather city compare Scottsdale, Sante Fe or Tucson? It’s all perception. Did they watch the Accenture Match Play Championship? Did a neighbor tell them about some terrific place for Mexican food? Did they read an article? Did they see an advertisement on a cold day deep in winter that showed people having fun in the sun in Tucson?

When we talk to local elected officials about the effectiveness of the MTCVB, we see a lot of blank stares. It’s not their fault, they are not tourism experts. At the same time, these elected officials are the stewards of millions of dollars, going to the MTCVB.

Do the elected officials know the questions to ask? Do they understand the role of destination marketing versus lead generation? Is the MTCVB lean and mean and doing a bang-up job? Are there measurable results that show tax dollars delivering results? How does Tucson rate against other communities?

Is anyone even asking these questions?

The MTCVB should be put on a contract of two to three years, maximum, during which time a third party is hired to gather information and develop comparison and measurement data. A good start would be to develop a ratio based on current bed tax collections and the amount of money spent in tourism promotion, along with the resulting changes, either up or down, from bed taxes.

Nothing works in a vacuum so it’s important to see how Tucson stacks up against other southwestern destinations. How much does Scottsdale collect in bed taxes? How much is spent on actual marketing, versus overhead or other tactics. What’s the trend in bed tax collections?

What we suspect will be found is that destinations that market their unique attributes in key markets see increases.

Seems pretty basic, but how much of it is benefitting the Tucson region?

The process will take time, but it’s an investment in one of Tucson’s only economic bright spots. If the MTCVB trends favorably in that two-to-three-year time frame, then a renewal would be in order. Maybe even with cash bonuses for the staff. If the trend is negative, then governments should considering issuing an RFP for tourism promotion.

The MTCVB’s board is made of business people who are all under some form of an accountability system. It should be no different for their organization.

We understand and appreciate the hard work of the frontline people at the MTCVB. And, for as important as tourism is to this region, we all need to be assured their work is getting the maximum out of taxpayers’ dollars.

The family in Minneapolis or Toledo planning a vacation needs to have top-of-mind awareness of Tucson.

And Tucson’s No. 1 industry needs to be producing all that it can.

John Musolf: Asks--"Why Obsession With MTCVB, TREO Funds?

John knows from whence he speaks. Here's his Explorer letter.


Why obsession with MTCVB, TREO funds?

On Nov. 18, the Town of Oro Valley council voted 5-0 for the suspension of all community funding for 2010/2011.

This cut-off of public funding deeply concerned two "special interest" groups: Metropolitan Tucson Convention &Visitors Bureau and Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities that were under community funding.

Not to worry. A different approach might be found to continue the tax "earmarks" for these "special interest" groups.

On Jan. 23, Mayor Loomis stated that funding should be included for MTCVB and TREO in the fiscal 2010-'11 budget under economic development.

On Jan. 27, Mayor Loomis made a motion, seconded by Councilman Al Kunisch, to add a study session for a "revised" economic development process.

At the March 24 study session, "special interest" agencies MTCVB and TREO appeared to "testify" that they needed tax "earmarks" under a "revised" EDA process to get their funding restored for fiscal 2010-'11.

At the April 7 town council meeting, a resolution was passed to create a separate line item in the economic development budget through which the council could allocate funding to economic development agencies if they so choose. This option would remove the allocation of funding for economic development agencies from the community funding process, thereby providing council the discretion to allocate funding for these agencies during the annual budget process (MTCVB and TREO were these agencies).

On April 14, a balanced budget was presented to the mayor and council. It did not include any funding for MTCVB and TREO.

At the April 24 budget study session, Mayor Loomis raised some questions. One question concerned fiscal 2010-'11 funding for MTCVB and TREO. The discussion was moved to the April 28 budget study session.

Why the obsession with MTCVB and TREO funding?

Assuming that economic development agencies are critical to the town operations and funding can be found, then the economic development manager, could advertise for competitive bids (request for proposals) from economic development organizations for developing business and tourism growth. MTCVB and TREO should not be awarded automatically.

John Musolf, Oro Valley

The Mother of All Meetings (Update)

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The "Mother Of All Agendas" was followed by the "Mother Of All Meetings", an endurance session.  The path to the extensive consent agenda took 55 minutes. First, there were four call-to-audience speakers, one of whom told us the a consultant should pay the Oro Valley for the privaledge of doing a study the Oro Valley Police Department. 

Then, there was a "report" on how great the TREO junket to San Diego was for Oro Valley, presented by Council Member Lou Waters and punctuated by Council Member Joe Hornat.  The basic message was that it was their job to "plant the flag" of Oro Valley in order to encourage economic growth here.

After a couple of award presentations, students presented the results of an art "piece/bench"  that will be put at Hardy and Northern. It was beautifully designed.  Each student who worked on the bench presented.  It should be done in the fall.

The Council finally got to discuss the Consent portion of the agenda at 6:55 PM.

A number of items were "pulled" for discussion by the Council Members.   One that came early on regarding a three year agreement with MTCVB.  It is Item I:

• Council Member Zinkin had problems with the proposed MTCVB Agreement.  One of his concerns was the length of the agreement of three years.  He felt that it is unfair for the town to ask Members Zinkin and Burns to agree to a three year contract when they have been on Council for two meetings. Later in the meeting, Mayor Hiremath said that they could abstain from voting on this item.
• Also, Council Member Zinkin wanted the contract to be more specific in terms of performance measures regarding Oro Valley.  In additon, the leader of MTCVB is new to the job. Best to see how things go.
• Council Member Snider noted that: "We have more than a return on our investment in Oro Valley pointing the Triathalon."  Basically, she was reading from material that we think she got from MTCVB.  Then she brought in the idea of "rationalization."  We must, she believes, support these regional efforts.  Finally, she has no problem with the three year contract as she has seen, as the town's MTCVB liaison, the benefit of MTCVB.  "The purpose of the three year agreement is to demonstrate good faith" and long term commitment, according the Council Member Snider.  Later in the discussion, she noted that we do have some results from the Gem Show. "I believe we had some people staying at the Hilton."  Council Member Snider was serious.  Long on generalization. Short on fact.
• Then, Council Member Waters brought up his "thing" about "regionalization" and how important it is for Oro Valley to be part of a region.
• Council Member Garner noted that the new "normal" is "accountability".   The days of opening up a town to unlimited funding with no accountability are gone.  
• Council Member Burns said that the Council recognizes the value of MTCVB but that a year contract with specific measurables would work best. Where is the rush? Besides, bed tax revenues are down from prior year.  It is not financially prudent to sign a three year commitment when the town just now has its finances in line.
• Council Member Hornat says that the town doesn't have to fund the agreement if they don't want to in the subsequent years. The council does not have to fund it.  However, this would require that the town cut agreed-upon funding.
• The new head of MTCVB agreed with all of Council Member Zinkin's recommendations. 

This one item took almost one hour to discuss.  It was a healthy discussion.  We got to see how intractable Council Member Snider is regarding what she wants.   Mayor Hiremath basically told the new guys that the fact that they were new to the Council was irrelevant and that can abstain from a vote if they wish.  Council Member Hornat figures that it makes no difference whether or not the agreement is for three years because the town doesn't have to fund it.  Council Member Waters couldn't figure out how the timing of awaiting specific results would impact the funding over time.

The vote to approve was made.  The motion passed 5-2 (Burns and Garner opposed) with the addition of specific Oro Valley measures. 
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The meeting took 5 hours!! 
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Guest View-John Musolf: MTCVB "The Bully"

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Last Tuesday, we reported that the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB) made the town and the hotels and resorts located in Marana ineligible for membership beginning January 1. That means, for example, that the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain will no longer be touted by MTCVB because the Town of Marna won't support MTCVB.

Punishing resorts, like the Ritz Carlton, because of the inaction of the town is simply unfair.  Why punish an innocent third party for the actions of another party?

It looks the new CEO of the MTCVB, Brent DeRaad, learned his management creed and ethics on the “street”.   Here's his words:

"This isn't a step any of us wanted to take," said Visitors Bureau CEO Brent DeRaad. “It had to be done in fairness to other government partners who pay the agency for tourism marketing, he added”. (Source) 

DeRaad's “fairness doctrine” sounds like “bullying”.

His action speak to all members of MTCVB, including the Town or Oro Valley, which has a three-year commitment with MTCVB.

DeRaad is saying: “You play ball with me, pay up, and you're part of our team”.

His message in words we can all understand:  "Play ball our way or you could be next!"

Extortion? Ya think?
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Guest View-Don Bristow: Why Is Mayor HIremath So Devoted To MTCVB and the Chamber?

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Oro Valley resident Don Bristow wrote the following before the TREO announcement that it will not need funds from municipalities. Don's words, however, still have considerable merit in relation to Mayor Hiremath simply getting it wrong regarding the nature of why some question Oro Valley spending on MTCVB and the Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce.   It would be good for the Mayor, whose job it is to bring the council together, to watch his words and to not say things that deliberately set council members apart.
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What was the purpose of the article?

In the August 29, 2012 Explorer article “OV adopts “spend to earn” mentality” Mayor Hiremath and Town Manager Greg Caton state they have witnessed some opposition in funding organizations like Regional Tucson Economic Opportunities (TREO) and Metropolitan Convention Bureau (MTCVB).  "Mayor Hiremath goes on to state he thinks hesitancy to fund such organizations is the result of rhetoric from certain elected officials."

I have attended, what I believe is every council meeting when funding of TREO and MTCVB have been discussed and approved, and never heard any elected officials recommend not funding these organizations.   Mayor Hiremath, who are these elected officials and what is their rhetoric?

Having observed the Mayor and his followers, I suspect they are attempting to discredit Council Members Garner, Zinken and Burns and particularly Council member Garner.  Garner has
continuously requested that specific Oro Valley performance goals, with measurable results, be requirements for funding these organizations.  Thanks to his efforts, these performance measurements now exist.  Is this what Mayor Hiremath calls rhetoric?  The residents of Oro Valley should be thankful that Council Member Garner is concerned that their tax dollars are managed and delivering benefits.

One must also ask, what was the purpose of this article?  The message and tone of the article was one of an opinion piece to justify using the residence tax dollars for TREO, MTCVB, and The Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce (GOVCC).  There was no input from the “certain elected officials.”

Why is Mayor Hiremath so devoted to these organizations while other Tucson area governmental bodies either do not support or are questioning the effectiveness of TREO and MTCVB?

Donald Bristow
Oro Valley
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Is Oro Valley Pouring Money Down A Rat-Hole: Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau

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More than a year ago, we wrote how foolish it is for Oro Valley to fund, in any way, the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB)   You can read these postings by clicking here. It's one of those topics that just keeps coming up.

After all, if Oro Valley can't fund Coyote Run, a service vital to our most needy, why should Oro Valley fund this organization?

Currently, MTCVB is funded by the bed tax to an amount in the range of $70,000 to $75,000.

According to MTCVB's report to town council of July 15, 2011:

"Oro Valley benefited from two sports events that the MTCVB brought to the
Town-- the Iron Kids competition and the USA Triathlon Duathalon Competition
which combined made an economic impact of over $750,000 to the Town."

We wonder: How did they measure this?  Is an "economic impact" of $750,000 really all that much when costs in goods and services of providing this $750,000 are probably 90% of the "impact"? In other words, did Oro Valley really get much for it's $75,000 investment?

Apparently, we are not the only ones questioning the value of the MTCVB.

Last week, the Daily Star posted an article entitled: Tourism Bureau Gets Poor Marks.

You can read the article.

"Overall satisfaction with the bureau was pegged at "less than satisfactory," or 3.1 on a 5-point scale. Bureau leadership was rated "weak," as relates to economic development, at 2.9."

According to the people who use it, MTCVB is a mediocre organization.  Is it really worth any investment at all?
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Bits and Pieces

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"...Oro Valley plans to increase its contribution [To MTCVB] from 10 percent of its bed taxes to 20 percent over three years" (Source: Arizona Daily Star).  Exactly, how Oro Valley is going to do spend more on MTCVB is a mystery to us.  Much of the bed tax will need to be used by the town to pay for the aquatic facility reconstruction.
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There were three audience speakers at the December public hearing on the aquatic center in December 2011. One was Vince Trinidad, MTCVB's Director of Sporting Events. The other was Lynn Ericson, GM of the El Conquistador and Chairman of MTCVB.  Both spoke in support of the center and how they will bring business to the center.  Let's hope they will fill their promise.
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Office Max is looking for an assistant store manager for its Rooney Ranch (Oracle and First) store.
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Oro Valley is uprgrading its Granicus technology this August. The upgrade will enable all computers, regardless of platform, to view town council meeting videos.  At present, video recordings are the only form of recorded minutes.  Mac users can not easily view these recordings.  This change will be a vast improvement for all.
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We have added a new tab: The Aquatic Center.  Click on it to get background information on the aquatic center project. This includes getting copies of the feasibility study; watching the two town council meeting videos on this project; and linking to our may videos on the aquatic center project.
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Pima County completed a performance audit of MTCVB.  We'll post on it next week.
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Council Meeting Highlights: Aquatic Center Logo Unveiled

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Oro Valley's New Aquatic Center Logo

Oro Valley unveiled its new logo for the aquatic center at last night's Oro Valley Town Council meeting.  MTCVB  worked with the town to create it.  Economic Development Director Amanda Jacobs noted that the help from MTCVB was greatly appreciated.  The town needed to create the logo quickly so that the logo could used by MTVB to promote the aquatic center at an upcoming international swim.

Allison Cooper, Oro Valley resident and MTCVB Director of Marketing, presented the logo.  Allison noted that the aquatic center logo was designed to be:

• Usable across all media channels
• Easily understood
• Clean and simple
• Timeless
• Contemporary
• Representative of Oro Valley

Also, the town will have a new web site: aquaOV.com for the aquatic center.  (Web site is not yet operating)

Allison also showed collateral material (a mesh bag) to be handed out by MTCVB to swim conference to attendees. The bag has TUCSON SPORTS in big letters in the middle of it and aquaOV.com in small letters at the bottom of the bag. Tucson is predominate on the mesh bag and Oro Valley very small letters.  We do wish it had been the other way around!
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Last night, in the "call to audience" section, Bill Adler spoke regarding his perception that there has been reduction in the level of service at the Oro Valley Library since it was taken over by the county.  Bill remembers being assured that the services will be the same at the public hearing that was held regarding the transfer of the library to the county . Bill believes that the service has degraded. There are, he notes, no new programs. The web site is more difficult to navigate.
   
Did anyone else actually believe that the level of service at the library would be the same under county control?

Items D, the TREO report, was pulled  from the consent agenda for further discussion.  Councilman Garner noted that the report regarding specifics about Oro Valley were missing from the report.  The report was accepted on a 7-0 vote.

Regular agenda item actions:

• Approval of a liquor license for Wal-Mart by a 7-0 unanimous vote.
• A DUI home sentence resolution was approved for the magistrate court to use.  This may result in a reduction of incarceration costs. 
• By a 6-1 margin (Zinkin dissenting), the council approved reducing citizen input into the construction design process.
• A sign code amendment to add specific fines for sign code violations was denied, 5-2.   As we noted in a previous posting, the town has no means of nor any interest in enforcing these violations. They will consider what to do sometime in the next six months.

Meeting time: 2h 20 mins.

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Oro Valley Hotel & Suites Bites The Dust

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The Steam Pump Ranch's Oro Valley Hotel & Suites is in foreclosure.

It is important that all Oro Valley's lodging facility be successful since it is the bed tax that is funding much of the the $5 million aquatic facility reconstruction.

Apparently, the efforts of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau ("MTCVB"), which were heralded by Mayor Hiremath and Council Member Snider, Waters and Hornat at a June Oro Valley Town Council Meeting, do not extend beyond the assisting the El Conquistador.  In fact, when it comes to MTCVB, the only activities it seems to report in terms of driving tourism to Oro Valley faclities is driving bookings into the El Conquistador.  Could this be because Lynn Ericson, runs both MTCVB and the El Conquistador?

It would be good to see MTCVB serve all Oro Valley-based organizations not just the one that Lynn Ericson runs.
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"No TREO. No MTCVB."

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I their January 13 article posted on insidetucsonbusiness.com, entitled "Welcome to Marana, the city of tomorrow" authors Higgins and Chris DeSimone touts Marana as a town that get's it. According to the authors: "There are good number of Tucson business owners looking to Marana as the escape valve."

The list five reasons why they believe this.

Reason number 2 is: "No TREO. No MTCVB." A while back, Marana decided to keep the $50,000 they were pouring down the TREO rathole. Nor do they contribute to MTCVB.

These two groups, as we have noted repeatedly, produce little to no results for Oro Valley. Yet the town continues to invest in them.

Better to go it alone, Oro Valley, or as the two writers note in the article, do a regional approach with Marana.

Certainly, this huge waste of your money must be one of the opportunities for elimination in the 2012-2013 budget.

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Oro Valley Council Meeting Preview

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As usual, Mayor Hiremath has a jam-packed agenda.  Lots of items on the consent agenda.  First meeting in three months of the council.  That's a long time with no publicly visible governance.

We've previously commented on the unusually long length of the Mayor's meetings.  We noted that more frequent, shorter meetings are required to ensure that the Council is making sound decisions with fresh minds; and to insure that residents can attend full meetings.  These are open meetings.

It will be interesting to see how long this one runs!

Here are some of the items.

• MTCVB will unveil the logo for the Aquatic Center.  From Misti Nowak: "... the Town didn't pay anything for this branding process. This type of service from MTCVB/Tucson Sports is one of the perks of our financial participation agreement." (Presentation Item 3)
• Consent Agenda Items include:
• A report on Fiscal 2011-2012 final budget results
• TREO and MTCVB Quarterly Reports
• Resolutions regarding police funding

• Public hearings on design review changes and changes in the sign code fine.  This latter one will likely go down in flames since even the Oro Valley Development and Infrastructure Department employees who asked Council Members Zinkin and Garner to sponsor the changes don't support it.  Looks to us like these Council Members were "hung out to dry."  This is a lesson learned.

Live video of the meeting will be available on the Oro Valley town web site.
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A Preview Of Tonight's Oro Valley Council Meeting

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The agenda for tonight's Oro Valley Town Council  meeting is a bit thin.   It is so thin that there no regular agenda items. There are four  consent agenda items. One of these is approval of the minutes from last meeting.   Another is "Resolution No. (R)13-09, affirming the Town of Oro Valley’s commitment to share in the construction of a shade structure for the Fixed Archery Range at Naranja Park contingent on the successful procurement of a shooting range development grant from the Arizona Game and Fish Department in the amount of $35,000. 

This leaves the final two items:  Quarterly Reports from the Greater Oro Valley  Chamber Of Commerce (GOVCC) and the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau (MTCVB).

We've been told by several council members that MTCVB actually does provide benefit to Oro Valley.  There is some historical evidence of this in the assistance they provided in creating the logo for the aquatic center; and in securing some meets for the new center.    They successfully places a piece in the US Airways flight magazine  (page 83) in December It is titled: " Making a Splash".   It briefly discusses the town.   The report for quarter to details a number of other accomplishments  most of which relate to the activities of MTCVB  in general.   Still, there is enough in the report specific or value justify  the town's  financial commitment.

On the other hand, the town's investment in a truly private organization, GOVCC,  does not pass the same level of muster.  It's not that GOVCC does not do things that may benefit Oro Valley, its just that we can't figure out, from their report the true return from their effort.  For example, from the report:

"The Chamber President attended Business Retention Site Visits with the following businesses: Oclaro Phototonics, Inc., Alchemy Plastics and Fruit Shack Smoothies and Yogurt.

Ribbon Cuttings were held for Big Lots and Southern Arizona Urgent Care. Big Lots made a donation to a local elementary school at that event.

11 Town officials took advantage of the free Chamber breakfasts, luncheons and mixers. Total Return on Investment (ROI) = $220."

These are all nice things. They are also things to which GOVCC and the town agreed as detailed inthe financial participation between the parties.  Really, though, what is the benefit to Oro Valley for the $25,000 paid annually to the GOVCC?   Why the subsidy?
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Will There Be Any Accountability Before Oro Valley Helps Subsidize MTCVB & TREO?

We'll sit back and see what the Oro Valley Council does as it concerns giving tens of thousands of our dollars to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau (MTCVB) & Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO.)

Vice Mayor Bill Garner & Council Member Barry Gillaspie have stated publicly that there must be an accountability as to what we will be getting for our money.

This is certainly reasonable and a prudent business decision.

Inasmuch as the Hilton Resort will undoubtedly be the main recipient of any tourist dollars coming into the community, one would think they would be spending their money,(not ours) in generating tourism.

Read the Az Star article here.

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_d7c74625-4841-5061-a835-81f63cc44b48.html

Bits and Pieces

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This week's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting was cancelled. The agenda for the meeting is set by the Oro Valley Development and Infrastructure Department.  Guess there was nothing to discuss.
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Next week's Stormwater Utility Commission meeting is a study session They will discuss the origin of the stormwater fee,  current status and alternatives for the future. The meeting is March 13 at 4 PM at the Calle Concordia conference room  at the public works building on Concordia. (Agenda)
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Drivers Beware: The Oro Valley motorcycle force will be enforcing the the high  visibility enforcement area on Oracle Road between Magee and Suffolk.  Here are the dates and time:

• March 11, 2013 7 - 10 a.m. 
• March 15, 2013 4 - 7 p.m. 
• March 26, 2013 7 - 10 a.m. 
• March 28, 2013 4 - 7 p.m. 
• March 29, 2013 4 - 7 p.m.

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This months' Oro Valley Economic Develop Status Report is available here.
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 The construction crew  working on the 288- unit HSL Apartment complex on Oracle at Steam Pump Village punctured a gas line. This caused the evacuation of Baseline School. (Source)
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Oro Valley's Cafe Torino is expanding with a second unit in the Foothills in May. (Source)
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MTCVB has a new marketing director,Tim Vimmerstedt. (Source) MTCVB is a major provider of resources to Oro Valley's marketing team.
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