QUARTZSITENEWS.COM

Town of Quartzsite previously admonished for attempting takeover of tourism
Council votes to disavow Chamber organizations; attempts to assume Chamber and tourism duties

 
Businessman Norm McGuinness, left, and Councilman Walt Akin        Controversial consultant Lance Decker at the community meeting

Quartzsite's Town Council met Tuesday evening before an audience interested in their review of the information provided to them by Lance Decker, of Lance Decker LLC. Decker was retained for $7500 by the council to consider the dual Chamber of Commerce issue in Quartzsite.

Decker's organization provided an 18-page document titled "Report to the Town of Quartzsite Chambers of Commerce Controversy," dated October 3, 2007, for which the Town of Quartzsite has agreed to pay $7500.00. Critics are many, varied and vocal.

"What are we doing with this guy?" one local businessman  asked at Friday's meeting. "When is the town going to address the real issues: overtaxation - the backwards approach to bringing new business into Quartzsite - we just lost a major franchise  because they [the decision makers] were not able to tolerate the tax structure here." [We must purposely omit the name of this business owner at this time.]

His comments were echoed throughout the morning, from many of the attendees.

Whether or not the council actually voted to hire the consultant is, at this point, unclear. But Decker's report was accepted and acted upon prior to Friday's meeting, which was actually publicized only after the acceptance of Decker's recommendations, presented at Tuesday's council meeting.

In the report, described by Decker at the community meeting Friday to contain only his opinions on the Chamber of Commerce issue, Decker concluded that the Town of Quartzsite should assume responsibility for "Quartzsite's development and economic future," by "immediately bringing those activities into an integrated programmatic system within the Town's administrative organization."

Decker concluded by indicating the Chambers of Commerce be officially 'unrecognized,' and that the town assume the duties commonly undertaken by Chambers of Commerce and the Tourism Bureau -- and that everyone, state agencies included, be notified of the town's actions and encouraged to do the same.

The copy of the letter is expected to be made public Monday, October 15, 2007.

According to those familiar with the policies commonly governing the relationships between Chambers of Commerce and the towns that benefit from them, the recommendation itself was flawed: Quartzsite's council members cannot simply vote to disallow the Chamber of Commerce the 'right or privilege' of promoting the Town of Quartzsite on a local, regional, state and national level: and in this situation the original Chamber of Commerce is recognized by the State Chamber of Commerce's governing board as well as national agencies and it has the tourism designation recognized by the State of Arizona.

In both Decker's report and his presentation he alluded to the fact that things needed to be accomplished under the official guidelines of the US Chambers of Commerce. Decker has been repeatedly advised that the original Chamber of Commerce has the official designations already in place.

The US Chambers of Commerce recognizes the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce, and the organization is in good standing with them. The tourism designation was awarded years ago, and the requirements to maintain it have been properly managed, according to the state tourism department.

Also at issue: Decker's 'formal' recommendations were presented in a proposal that was not a scientific report -- that did not cite sources or take polls or surveys into account. Instead, it was simply presented as another 'opinion' on the dual Chambers of Commerce issue, quoting a variety of comments [all from unidentified sources] and, ultimately, one that did not even involve itself with the business community that has heretofore supported the Chambers of Commerce in their efforts to represent the businesses in the region -- something the town is often criticized for consistently failing to consider.

Decker failed to interview some of those most closely associated with the Chambers of Commerce, in spite of promises to 'get back to them,' and, instead, quoted verbatim the comments of people not associated with nor members of the chambers or the boards of directors of each entity.

Paul Winer, board member of the Business Chamber of Commerce and a local business owner, confronted Decker openly during the community meeting, when Decker spoke about him and his business only to get his name wrong in front of the audience.

When informed of his misstep, Decker again failed to properly note his name and immediately [again] publicly called him 'Frank,' Winer demanded accountability on the part of the controversial consultant. "You don't even know who I am -- do you Dick?" Winer asked, as he stood and commanded the attention of those attending the meeting -- just prior to walking out.

Attendants further decried the council's actions, indicating that the council itself is overstepping its stated authority in an attempt to shut down both Chambers of Commerce on the basis of Decker's report. "The original Chamber of Commerce is a viable and independent entity: whether the Town of Quartzsite chooses to recognize it or not," stated Angie Masales, Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. "We will be moving ahead with our Chamber's duties, and hope - somehow - that the Town of Quartzsite will concern itself with the issues commonly considered to be under the jurisdiction of the Town. We aren't going to quit being a Chamber of Commerce just because the current council members in Quartzsite choose to ignore our authority," stated  Masales.

"We have been around long before they were council members -- and we will be here long after they are retired or not reelected." she said. "We have worked for many years to establish a sound Chamber of Commerce that can support the businesses here: we aren't going anywhere. The fact that they assume they can require us to stop representing our clients is absurd."

Representatives of the original Chamber of Commerce agreed, as did original Chamber of Commerce Board President C. Richard Oldham.

"I was Mayor of Quartzsite for three terms," Oldham stated. "We have to recognize the limitations of being councilmen: we can't order our constituents about, telling them what to do because it seems beneficial at the time to one or more members of the council."

"The State of Arizona has a great deal to say about how we conduct ourselves as councilmen. We don't have the authority to just order a civic organization out of existence."

Those facts, however, did not prevent Quartzsite's councilmen from addressing the issue at hand with openly antagonistic verbal assaults against the organizations.

The council utilizes a forum demanding that representatives of the audience submit to a three minute timeframe in which they are to frame their comments and make their case. Three light bulbs of different color indicate green to speak, yellow to wrap up and red to stop speaking. Another method is using a stop watch and gavel. When the three minutes is exceeded, the speaker is gaveled down and admonished to stop speaking.

The forum rules are a point of contention for citizens who have attended meetings trying to find 'common ground' with Quartzsite's council.

"If this is the level of childishness to which we have to be subjected," Masales stated, "it's no wonder they assume they can order us to disband or stop promoting Quartzsite or the businesses thereof. They don't want to hear solutions, answers -- they don't provide a forum in which genuine progress can be made or measured. We attend, make our statements, and sit quietly while they go on and do what they intended to do from the beginning.

"In light of the unchanging climate of the council and town manager, we are simply going to have to continue doing the work for which we were commissioned, with or without the support of the Town. It's not what we want:  but they won't hold those positions forever."

Of course, the 'support of the Council' would appear to include the payment of funds allocated to the town, for distribution to those organizations which actually do the work, as delineated according to the State of Arizona. Therefore, Quartzsite's Councilmen cannot simply and independently vote to withhold those funds: they are ultimately answerable to a higher authority.

At this time, the 'higher authority' in question does not  appear to be in support of Quartzsite's decision to try to 'starve' the original Chamber of Commerce out of existence. In fact, the original Chamber of Commerce organization has the full support of state officials in continuing its mission in spite of the problems the Chamber is currently encountering with the council.

Will it be necessary for overseers to eventually come in to evaluate the actions of Quartzsite's Town Council?

"We heard from the Town of Quartzsite some time back -- requesting that we turn the tourism designation over to the Town of Quartzsite: something neither legal nor prudent. We advised them that they do not meet the necessary criteria -- and cannot do so," a representative of the State of Arizona stated. "The town can't assume the responsibilities of a Chamber of Commerce in good standing with the State of Arizona, either, even if it were legal for them to assume those duties associated with the Chamber of Commerce and tourism."

It's clear that the citizens of Quartzsite are quite disillusioned with the sitting council, the meeting deteriorated into diatribes against the current officials and offering comments ranging from facilitating recalls to meeting the new election with renewed vigor to oust those least popular candidates, and replacing members of the council with businesspeople, more inclined to understand the needs of the business community.

With nearly five million winter visitors last year, Quartzsite has become more than just a popular winter destination -- it's an excellent choice for viable business endeavors that should be cultivated and encouraged. However, without proper leadership, Quartzsite continues to flounder, promises of coming businesses that never materialize.
 
The sitting Mayor, Verlyn Michaels, originally utilized WalMart as a campaign platform. Today, seven years later, WalMart still has not entered into negotiations to bring the store to Quartzsite -- and denies ever having done so.

"Michaels has been saying they're in negotiations with WalMart and he's lying," one executive stated. I deal with WalMart executives - we've sold land to WalMart in other cities. When we bring up Quartzsite they laugh! The leadership here is horrible -- and everyone knows that. They're not coming here until Quartzsite pays attention to business.

"We just built a building in [a large western city] and we don't have to pay taxes for seven years," he continued. "These are the kinds of business issues we never see addressed in Quartzsite. This meeting, this whole thing -- is just more of the same."

"What is the town doing blowing $7500 for just another opinion?" he questioned, "Where is the accountability here?"