Pants on the ground

Riff Raff, by Michael Tilley
[email protected]

Folks who rant and rave about the so-called failure of the Fort Smith Convention Center are a tad off base. More than a tad, really. But they have proven effective.

The primary reason persistent purveyors of public sector animosity continue to garner any measure of credibility is because officials responsible for dissemination of accurate info and/or rational explanations have failed to stay ahead of the message. As Churchill noted, a lie is halfway around the world before truth has time to put its pants on.

Officials responsible for decisions related to promotion and/or funding of the convention center are as deficient with messaging on this issue as is humanly possible. They seem disinterested — if not on occasion, petulant — in putting the pants on what are relatively simple truths about the business of conventions and tourism promotion/development.

The city of Fort Smith recently issued a detailed note on the budget cuts necessary if the 1% prepared food tax is not approved by voters. The note from city admin noted that more than $200,000 in funding for local social programs and more than $300,000 in police budget cuts would be possible if the tax does not pass.

Any chance Fort Smith officials also pushed a detailed note on how revenues — estimated at $1.8 million annually — from a 1% prepared food tax would be spent? Nope. Unbelievable. Incomprehensible. Unacceptable. Dumb.

And here we are. The various half-truths, outright misconceptions and twisted realities about the convention center and the tourism industry have been allowed to clog the city’s consciousness. It’s as if the scientists who understand that the Sun is the center of our solar system show no interest in explaining to the oppressive Papacy that the Earth is not the center of our known universe.

To put a finer point on it, we are just a little more than nine weeks from the Nov. 8 election and the folks allegedly responsible to promote a rational and motivational message about the convention center are scarce. You’d have better luck finding a vegetarian loading shotguns in a duck blind than finding proactive convention center messaging.

Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders, Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack, Advertising & Promotion Director Claude Legris and the Fort Smith Board of Directors should be embarrassed about losing the high ground on this issue. They are either wholly out of touch related to public sentiment or unable to push a meaningful public relations campaign. Or both. (The lack of public relations acumen is not limited, unfortunately, to the convention center issue.)

On so many levels and for too many years, elected and employed city officials have failed to adequately explain that convention center/tourism promotion is an economic opportunity and not a problematic or unjustified expense. Unbelievable. Incomprehensible. Unacceptable. Dumb.

In the vacuum of leadership, a few folks are attempting a ‘“feel good” campaign about Fort Smith city government. They want us to appreciate the work of our city employees. And we do. And we appreciate their effort to broaden the appreciation. But such appreciation has little or nothing to do with the issue at hand. Emotion is a superficial gauge. Sentiment for or against city employees has — or should have — nothing to do with proposed budget questions and tax issues.

Voter approval of the 1% prepared food tax is the most common sense decision and best approach to convention center management and regional tourism development. What is a common and effective convention center/tourism promotion funding solution in cities around Arkansas and the U.S. should have been an easy sell.

However, the folks who fail to understand or willfully seek to misconstrue the benefits of our regional tourism economy have been given a chance to prevail. If they do prevail, the city’s tourism effort will be at a certain disadvantage in competing for convention, event and tour group business.

The 60%-plus percent of Fort Smith citizens who typically make good decisions related to Fort Smith tax proposals are justified in being confused about this issue. From the better-late-than-never files, a campaign is being readied to address the confusion and promote passage of the 1% prepared food tax.

Am hopeful the campaign will succeed, but don’t be surprised if Nov. 8 finds us caught with our pants down with respect to being able to fund effective convention center/tourism promotion.