Copperas Cove versus Mega-Bunny!

Cue the music for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, y’all!

Coming, to a city council chamber near you – the City of Copperas Cove versus Mega-Bunny!

On one hand, you’ve got the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce, “cut off at the knees” according to Sorry-Charlie Youngs, as it crawls and stumbles on its stumps, the appendages it has left.

On the other hand, you’ve got the City of Copperas Cove Tourism Department, busily promoting its festivals and events and sports and pool stuff.

The $100,000 question is: WHO’S GONNA GET THE FUNDING?

What funding, you ask, dear readers? 

HOT funding. Hotel occupancy tax funding.

The brass tacks of it is, dear readers, what do residents want?

Here is what the city wants to use the funding for:

Fall-O-Ween - $11,805

Tree Lighting - $12,550

Polar Bear Plunge - $8,325

Farmer's Market - $3,400

Food Truck Festival - $19,225

City of Copperas Cove Visitors Bureau - $75,147 to fund the CVB itself

Staff: 1 full time (to run the office and plan events), 1 part time (for event setup etc.); to advertise the city and what it has to offer; quarterly recreation and activities guide.

Here is what the Copperas Cove Chamber of Copperas Cove wants to use the funding for:

Krist Kindl Markt -  $17,400

Jack Rabbit Run - $1,417   - Running event

Rabbit Fest - $18,375

Summer Run to Fun - $1,962  - Running event

Gallop or Trot - $1,499 – Running event

Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau operations, etc.  - $106,695

Staff – 2 full time, 1 contract worker. Also for advertising the city and what it has to offer. A tourism guide.  

Lemme shock you, dear readers, by taking hard look at the City’s proposed activities, first. Good things and things that could be better.

GOOD things for the community – Ever since the City of Copperas Cove established its visitors bureau, it has expanded its current events and added to them for the benefit of the community. That’s a plus for residents.

BUT are any of these events that put “heads in beds” and bring people to Copperas Cove?

Not necessarily. Although, the Farmer’s Market will bring people to it. There are plenty of people who go to Killeen and Harker Heights for their farmer’s markets. Also, people will come to Copperas Cove for a food truck festival, if they go to the same in other communities. So, not heads in beds – who would come overnight to go to a farmer’s market or overnight to go to a food truck festival?

The city has used funds for recreation guides, which are very nice to inform people of the recreational activities and festivals. But, will children’s sports activities bring people to the city for tourism? Other cities also have their programs, some of which are cheaper than Copperas Cove’s.

While the city’s programs have contributed to the overall quality of life in Copperas Cove, Curmudgeon does not believe these programs have increased tourism.

I would tend to agree with the current chamber president that likely not very many people say, “Oh, I’m going to Copperas Cove for vacation,” or something like that.

Now, for the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce events.

More of the same old, same old. They divvied up their funding requests like the city did and we can actually see this time around what they plan to spend the HOT funds on. The city council can ask to see receipts and how the money was spent – just like everyone else. So that is a improvement!

But these are the SAME events the chamber has always put on – and continued to put on since 2016 without ANY funding!!!!

What do they plan to do now? Same activities.

I swear, if I see one more plastic lightup sword or thingie like it at Krist Kindl Markt --- !!!!  

The chamber already improved Krist Kindl Markt on their own without funds from the city.

So why do they want it now??????

What do they plan to do to improve things??????

Again, the lion’s share of the HOT funding the chamber is asking for is for its employee salaries where it concerns tourism events.

That’s a snazzy approach, y’all!!

The Copperas Cove chamber be like:

“Let’s do some tourism events and get the CITY to pay for a chunk of the events through hotel occupancy tax funds!!!”

“Let’s make the events the SAME!!”

Let me remind you of how much money the chamber used to receive and now wants to have again, to continue doing what it has “always done.”

At one point during its heyday, the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce received nearly $200,000 in hotel occupancy tax funding!!!!!!! For pretty much the same events – see back in 2011 when they received almost $200,000 in funding!!!! See here, y’all. I’m not yankin’ yer chain on this.

Mind you, dear readers, the chamber is a PRIVATE, DUES-PAYING organization.

It is a MEMBERS-ONLY CLUB.

There is nothing wrong with a members-only club.

But we are on the brink of going back to the same-old, same-old.

What’s the solution, council??

Your Sorry-Charlie Place 7 councilman has made it clear from the very beginning that he was ON THE COUNCIL TO SUPPORT THE CHAMBER because it was “DESTROYED!” His word, not Curmudgeon’s.

How then, has the chamber managed to function for three years after being DESTROYED??

Seems like they are still alive and well, and are continuing the battle with the city that has been ongoing for years.

For cryin’ out loud, neither the city nor the chamber would budge on NOT having a TREE LIGHTING on the same night!! Why would we divide our time between two events, taking away from them both? You will remember the kerfuffle over Krist Kindl Markt versus the City’s Christmas Extravaganza on the same evening. Nobody would budge.

And yet Sorry-Charlie who promised the chamber they would all “TAKE THE CITY BACK” will likely get his way.

Let’s hope someone has the spinal and intestinal fortitude to not take some of this event funding away from the city.

Who’s gonna lose in the end?

Who will be the REAL losers????

Residents who want activities for families and yet two powers-that-be can’t get it in gear and cooperate over a simple one-night festival, that's who will lose out.

That, dear readers, would have been an easy fix with the CITIZENS’ BEST INTEREST IN MIND.

What a fine kettle of fish! Because the city has already factored its tourism department into the budget, that will be undone, and two employees will be LAID OFF so the city can fund the chamber. 

We’ll see, come August 13. It may have already been decided at tonight’s meeting if the chamber “gets tourism back”. (Yawn)

Peace, love, and bunnies, y’all!

P.S.: I am busy and overdue on some posts - but there's the election with TWO incumbents without opposing candidates. TWO. Dapper-Dan, who likes to skate around the city charter and work behind the scenes as long as no one knows! And Manning, who has had heartburn over the civic center fees because of the poor, picked-on chamber who couldn't afford to rent it anymore (remember, dues-paying club, y'all!) Anyhoo. Filing for office ends in TWO WEEKS!