City rebukes effort on hotel-motel funds
Barber casts deciding vote against measure
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

During a sometimes-heated meeting, Jasper's city council voted 3-2 against moving the management of the hotel-motel funds back to the Jasper Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce.

Councilmen Joe Clyde Adams and Randy Sayers voted for the measure while Councilwoman Gloria Monzingo and Councilman Tommy Adams voted against the measure. Jasper Mayor David Barber broke the tie by voting against moving the funds away from the city's management.

The item was placed on the agenda by Adams and Sayers and backed by a large segment of Jasper business owners and McDonald's Big Bass Splash organizer Bob Sealy.

"I am in favor of letting the chamber have control of the motel taxes simply because I think they are better situated to handle it," Joe Clyde Adams said. "I think they have more time to devote to it more than anyone here at city hall."

Joe Clyde Adams said he made his motion with the stipulation that a representative of city hall be allowed to be on the chamber's committee that would handle the disbursement of the funds.

"They would be there to keep us informed," Joe Clyde Adams said.

Councilman Tommy Adams was the main vocal opponent against moving the funds back to the chamber. Adams said he didn't understand why the change should be made.

"I don't see what the advantage is going to be gained by going back to the chamber," Tommy Adams said. "We just need to leave it where it is and put some people who are experts on a committee. We are just going back and forth with it. All this happened before I came on city council."

But Adams was a member of city council when the measure was adopted and taken from the chamber and placed under the city's umbrella.

"I just feel that the chamber is better suited to handle this fund," Sayers said. "They did an excellent job when they handled it. I think the chamber was more in tune with handling tourism. As far as the funds being accounted for, I believe that fund was always independently audited. I just think the chamber did an excellent job with it."

Monzingo read some statistics stating that during 2005-2006, the chamber recruited six bass tournaments to the Jasper area. In 2006-2007, under the city's direction, the city recruited 12 bass tournaments and this year, the city has recruited 32 bass tournaments to the area.

"Why would we want to go back to the chamber?" Monzingo questioned. "I think we should put some people from Rayburn on this committee and keep it with the city. I don't think moving it back and forth is the thing to do."

Barber pointed out that even though the council could vote to move the money back to the chamber it would still be under the council's final approval.

"In the past when the chamber had control over it, they had to prepare a budget and had to be approved by the council," Barber said. "It still would be under the approval of the council."

Sayers then motioned to move allow Sealy to speak to council before a vote could be cast on the issue.

"I think that your city manager, Mrs. Denise Kelley and Mrs. Robbie Peek have enough on their plate dealing with the city to not worry about what is going with tourism," Sealy said. "Jasper doesn't need to be a stalemate, Jasper needs to grow. The only way that Jasper is going to grow is that you have to have the vision to see the potential for it to grow."

Sealy addressed Jasper's city council last month and presented two options for the city to consider. One being moving the funds back to the chamber and the second being the formation of a review board made up of city and chamber membership.

Sealy said he has four people who have already agreed to work on the review board with the chamber to make the tourism directions. Sealy said Berryman, Brent Meaux, Gary Collins and Susan Stover have agreed to be on the review board.

Tommy Adams questioned why the money was changed from the chamber to the city in the first place.

"We asked that as well and never got an answer," Sealy said. "If you want to know the truth, it's what you call local politics. But it needs to be put back where it belongs."

Sealy said if the money is placed back with the chamber, he urged to allow the State Comptroller's office come in an audit the books.

"I would like how much cash flow is sitting in this account that hasn't been spent, that should have been spent," Sealy said.

Grindstaff said he believed the city was doing a good job handling the money per state code the past two years since taking the funds away from the chamber.

"We have brought in more fishing tournaments and paid for more fishing tournaments," Grindstaff said. "There is a tournament at the lake almost every weekend and no, we don't sponsor every tournament. We are now sponsoring more tournaments than we ever did before. We can't fund everything that comes to us."

Sayers questioned whether the city takes into account the economic impact a fishing tournament has on the area when decisions are made on whether to fund an event or not.

"By law, we have to take into account how many heads are in beds," Grindstaff said.

"I just think when the money was with the chamber we didn't have the conflicts with the tournaments that we are having now," Sayers said. "How much knowledge does the city have in tourism? I just don't think we have that much - it's not our specialty. I don't even know why you would even want to mess with this."

To illustrate what Sealy perceives as the city's lack of knowledge with the fishing industry, the promoter turned to Grindstaff and questioned him on his knowledge of the industry.

"Do you know what FLW stands for?" Sealy asked to Grindstaff. "That is one of the largest tournament organizations that Wal-Mart has done. Mr. Grindstaff has already booked some FLW events for 2008 but he doesn't know what FLW stands for. That doesn't make sense. What about B.A.S.S.? That's Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society.

"Lake Sam Rayburn is an asset, not a deficit," Sealy said. "The lake is not a luxury, it's an industry. People come here to fish and then spend their money in Jasper. If you let Lake Sam Rayburn dry up, then Jasper is going to dry up.

"I'm not trying to take anything away from the city operation," Sealy said. "What I am asking you is to put it when people who have the experience and knowledge. Do what is best for the community. There is no power that is going to be taken away from you."