Call me clairvoyant!

Curmudgeon doesn't like being clairvoyant, but here it is, folks.

No Fall-o-Ween Festival this year, not like it has been.

So apparently, going by what was said at last night's Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce will SAVE THE DAY where these events are concerned.

Like the above.
And Polar Bear Plunge.
And the Farmers market.
And the Tree Lighting.
And next year's Food Truck Festival?

With what money will the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce do this, to support ALL of these events, when obviously according to Sorry-Charlie Youngs they were cut off at the knees and dying, because they haven't applied for hotel occupancy tax funds since 2016 ('exceptin' for Rabbit Fest this year.).

How are they going to SAVE THE DAY to do these events too when for whatever reason they did the other events for which the council approved funding last night - events they've done for three years now! -- with out hotel occupancy tax funding.

I don't get it, y'all.

Better not be any back room negotiations going on with city funds, is all I'm sayin'. 

And now a Copperas Cove city employee finds herself with one more event to oversee and run -- the Food Truck Festival -- before she loses her job at the close of business on Sept. 30.

Keepin' it classy, y'all. 

More on this later but wanted to get this much out there. 

IT'S THE FREAKIN' APOCALYPSE, Y'ALL!!!

Here we go, Copperas Cove!!

Tuesday night will be a big evening for the city and its residents. Many will not know nor care until it is too late. 

Fall-o-Ween festival?

Buh-bye.

Christmas Extravaganza?

Buh-Bye.

Farmer’s market in City Park?

Buh-Bye.

Polar Bear Plunge?

Buh-Bye (after about 15 years!).

Food Truck Fetsival?

Buh-Bye.

All of the above will go away as we know them, Copperas Cove. 

If we’re lucky, durn lucky, we might see a shade of what these events used to be. Safe Trick or Treat, Christmas Extravaganza, and Polar Bear Plunge all existed before the city took on tourism with its 2016-2017 budget. They were very small, but were something.

Come Tuesday night, it looks as though the Copperas Cove city council will make all those go away when it will (LIKELY) designate the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce as being the “official” visitors bureau of the city.

The council will also let one full-time worker, the tourism director, know they don’t want her to have that job anymore. Who knows what she’ll be doing in the city, or if the job will be the same wage/salary as she has now. Maybe she can drive a truck for Solid Waste, but who knows????

If they approve that ordinance, they will ALSO approve GIVING the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce funding for ALL THEIR EVENTS and MONEY TO HELP RUN THEIR OFFICE AND PAY SALARIES.

Instead of events for our community, more events than the chamber used to “give” us.

All, for the sacred bunny and the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce.

Curmudgeon does not need to refer the reader to the wildly humorous and histrionic grandstanding of Copperas Cvoe city councilman Charlie Youngs, who from the dais made it very clear on Tuesday evening how he feels and how he is using his position to essentially say “UP YOURS” to five individuals – former City Manager Andrea Gardner AKA “Darth Vader” – Charlie’s moniker for her; and four Copperas Cove city councilmen – George Duncan, David Morris, James Pierce Jr, and Matthew Russell, whom Charlie also claimed “DESTROYED” our city and also “DESTROYED THE CHAMBER” ----- Um, what about the chamber was destroyed, Charlie?? – and “DESTROYED THE EDC” – maybe I’ll talk about that another time.

What  so HORRIBLE has happened to the chamber other than them NOT getting big fat checks from the city to help run their office and bring a handful of running and a couple bicycle races to the town,

and one large festival in dire need of revamping, and an open air Christmas market with plenty of plastic toys for kids and plenty of vendor things we can find anywhere else?

When will the voters of Copperas Cove get tired of Charlie? 

One more year, y’all, one more year, and his position will be up for election. 

Who knows what nonsense he will be able to do in the next year??

The four horsemen simply asked the chamber to be ACCOUNTABLE like EVERYONE ELSE getting hotel occupancy tax funding to provide receipts for what they used those funds. And a former president couldn’t do that. 

Not until she quit the job, they brought in a new president who conducted an extensive audit --- as required not only by the council BUT required by the chamber’s own bylaws when a president leaves.

Nothing “bad” was found but it was an interesting sight to see, I’m sure, what they spend their dollars on.

Here again 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 to include 1 fulltime staff person to run the office and plan events, 1 part time person for event setup etc.; advertising the city and what it has to offer; and publishing a 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. 

Remember, 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?? More on that in a moment.

OH, AND LET’S NOT FORGET A MUCH SMALLER THIRD PARTY –

The Five Hills Art Guild. They have requested $16,000 of hotel occupancy tax funds for their festival. Have you been, dear readers? The vendors at that fest pretty much blow away the vendors at Rabbit Fest. No commercial “vendors” as such. AND – somehow that group is able to put on a two-day festival run by VOLUNTEERS.

What will they do if the council does not give them the tiny slice of the pie they have requested?

Charlie Youngs is a hateful bitter man who is using his position to be vengeful and vindictive.

He’s a bully, and NO ONE has had the courage to tell him to shut his pie hole.

He’s like the creepy uncle who comes around at Christmas and makes people uncomfortable and says things that make the rest of the family cringe, but NO ONE says anything because they don’t want to “cause drama.”

Cause some drama, council. Why let him be a bully and act as he has? Call his behavior out on the dais, as he is conducting himself in a boorish manner. 

I've heard it said that my posts are "EMBARASSING" to the city. Well, Charlie Youngs is a HUGE EMBARASSMENT and is continuing to use his position for a special-interest group.

Chambers of Commerce historically help BENEFIT businesses in a city - um, their MEMBER businesses, that is.

 It is clear that both Charlie Youngs and councilman Jay Manning want the chamber to handle all  the tourism for the city. Jay Manning said he was ready to vote too, but wanted to let the presentations be made after hearing back from the Texas Hotel Lodging Association.

So, what would Curmudgeon do, if Curmudgeon had a seat on the dais and a vote? 

Fund the city events.
(But Don’t let the city pay for a recreation guide with hotel occupancy tax funds).

Fund the chamber for Rabbit Fest and Krist Kindl Markt. Don’t pass out, dear readers. At least give them something for their festivals and a chance to prove people wrong and make them better.

Fund the art guild festival.

And that’s it. It’s late and I have not crunched the numbers to see if it works and doesn’t dip into the HOT fund balance.

Has anyone checked to see how many of the seated council members own or work for businesses that are MEMBERS OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE?

Of COURSE you will vote for your own organization!

Joann Courtland AKA Dark Horse. Operation Stand Down Central Texas – chamber member.

Fred Chavez. Longtime chamber sympathizer. Unsure of his chamber affiliation.

Dapper Dan Yancey – First National Bank VP. Chamber member.

Jay Heartburn Manning – Manning Homes. Chamber member.

Kirby Reverend Lack – Minister and yes, chamber member – I believe.  

Marky-E-Marc Payne – unsure of his chamber affiliation.

Sorry-Charlie Youngs – chamber’s biggest fan. 'Nuff said  Sure hope former councilman Marty Smith is proudof his behavior.

Should the majority of the seated council recuse themselves???? Their own organization will benefit financially from the council’s action to approve funding. But it happens all the time, y’all.

The Copperas Cove city council would do well to remember that there at least 200 city employees and Curmudgeon would venture to think that they are ALL registered voters. It’s not a union, but they can share their voice with their votes.

Christmas Extravaganza, or, uh, Circus?

Miss me?

Yup, even the Curmudgeon needs a break.

Summer is about wound down, and the city budget season is too, but the elections are about to wind up!

Anyhoo, Curmudgeon made it through the last city council meeting. It was a long one. More chatter about senior discounts and fees, etc., etc.

Someone needs to get Marky-Marc Payne to speak more coherently into his microphone.

Long discussions on planning fees, which are important to builders ‘n such.

Here we go: 

Curmudgeon did promise dishing about city “tourism” events. It seems to me, dear readers, that what a tourism event is, is relative. Everyone keeps talking about “heads in beds” as the criteria for using hotel occupancy tax funds, of which the city council gave the thumbs-up to the city’s tourism department to the tune of $70,255.

Curmudgeon was preparing for there to be a bit of a brouhaha at the September 4 workshop. 

Evidently there was a gross failure to effectively communicate at the August 2 meeting about one of the tourism events, the city’s “Christmas Extravaganza” scheduled for Friday, November 30.

Councilman David I’m-a-writer-not-a-talker Morris asked if the CE was the same day as the Chamber of Commerce’s Krist Kindl Markt. Ms. Ariana Beckman in the Budget Department said she wasn’t sure.

Parks & Rec Director Joe Brown answered Mr. Morris’ question, sorta, saying that the extravaganza is going to be on November 30 2018.

Mayor Seffrood then asked if it was the same day.

Mr. Brown said that no, “It was the following week.”

Um.

Did anyone have the thought to pull out a calendar and check? It’s no secret when Krist Kindl Markt is.It's been around a long time.

Anyway, does it matter that two organizations have events in the city on the same night?

Does it matter?

At the workshop, Joe Brown said the city will help “promote” Krist Kindl Markt along with their one-night fest. According to Joe Brown, he was to meet with the interim chamber director the very next day after the meeting to talk about it. We'll see how that goes.

Back to tourism. Here’s the rundown of the city’s upcoming “tourism” events and how they are funded with hotel occupancy tax dollars:

Fall-o-ween Festival $9,555

Christmas extravaganza  $18,000  (Yikes!! What are they spending this on, for a one-night event???? An event that they are charging $5 per carload for? What does the $5 get you????????)

Polar Bear Plunge $5,300

Farmers Market $1,200

Food truck fest $12,000

Recreation and tourism guide – $24,200

Totaling $70,255 for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018.

So what’s a tourism event?

Is it something that brings publicity to the city?

Something that makes outsiders want to come and visit, and spend money? Because that’s what you want, people to want to come to Copperas Cove because it’s a happenin’ place.

The Parks & Rec department promotes its quarterly activities guide as $24,200 worth of advertising for the city’s tourism events.

Is that a good use of those funds? The majority of events listed in the parks and rec guide aren’t really tourism events.

Who would travel to Copperas Cove for their kid to play soccer or football? Five or six?

How many of those events listed above are true tourism events, as opposed to mere “community” events?

Does Copperas Cove have events that are distinctive and a little different than other communities?

Do these events provide value to those who attend?

Why does the city feel the need to charge $5 per carload for events?

To keep the number of attendees down?

Or to recoup costs?

Or make money?

What costs do they have to recoup?

When you rent a bouncy house, it costs the same whether 20 kids or 200 kids use it. 

When you pay an entertainer for a gig, it will cost the same no matter how many people show up to hear them.

Some things to think about.

Curmudgeon is curious to see how the Food Truck Festival ($5 per carload) will do on Saturday, September 22, the same day as another event, the first multicultural event held by the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant royalty (an event which is free).

In the future:

Some things have been brewing with FATHOM, the increasingly inept water billing company. Betcha the big-wig comes into town to try for some damage control. Too late, buddy. More on that later. 

And probably the senior citizen water discount, too.  

Tuesday night’s meetings look like a light schedule. Curmudgeon will buy snacks anyway and see what happens.

Curmudgeon talks Rabbit Fest and “Tourism” Or: We just ain’t a hot spot

Curmudgeon mentioned last week I was working on my Rabbit Fest review, so here ‘tis. I don’t know how long this post will be, so bear with me, dear readers.

It rained at least one morning – Sunday. Not sure if it was a total wash (ha ha ha) because Curmudgeon didn’t attend on Sunday. Or, maybe i did. Wouldn’t be RF without a good downpour.

Oh yes – Curmudgeon did go to Rabbit Fest this year. Curmudgeon has attended many, many times

over the past years. ALL HAIL THE BUNNY!! LET’S USE THE PARK FOR FREEEEEE BECAUSE RABBIT FEST BRINGS SO MUCH DOGGONE MONEY AND BENEFIT INTO COPPERAS COVE!!! WHAT WOULD WE DOOOOO WITHOUT IT????

Sorry, a snark leak. Had to get that out of my system.

Okayyy, now. Curmudgeon has to admit that Thursday’s opening ceremony complete with flags waving, a bit of pomp ‘n circumstance and some Bulldog cowbell, with appreciation shown to the Rabbit Fest founders and committee members was quite fitting.

But if you talk to longtime Cove residents you will hear all about how great “Rabbit Fest used to be.”

Yep, there was a lot more to it. There are reasons, of course, why some of those things went away and not all of the “used to be” things went away for the same reason.

Curmudgeon wonders why the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce doesn’t hire a bigger-name draw to the festival. “Back in the day” Rabbit Fest held concerts with headliners like Alan Jackson.

Curmudgeon remembers rumblings in the past by some in cahoots with those in charge that it was “too expensive” to bring bigger draws to the festival and “anyway, it’s about the festival, not the concerts.”

Well, with all that money the chamber is saving by not having to pay the city part of its profits, maybe it can now afford to book some larger gigs.

Okay, I’m laughing right now because according to the city council and chamber reports, the MOST the chamber has had to pay the city in profits was a $5,000 donation last year in 2017.

(I MOVE THAT THE COPPERAS COVE CITY COUNCIL DO AWAY WITH THE RESTORATION FEES. WHY CHARGE RESIDENTS TO “RESTORE” THE PARKS WHEN IT LETS THE COPPERAS COVE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WELCOME 20,000-PLUS INTO THE PARK TO TEAR IT UP FOR FOUR DAYS – WITHOUT ANY “RESTORATION” FEE???? WHY DOESN’T THE COUNCIL COME UP WITH A RESTORATION FEE OF $5,000 – THAT’S 25 CENTS PER RABBIT FEST ATTENDEE. BECAUSE, DEAR CITY COUNCIL, WHO DO YOU REPRESENT – THE PEOPLE OF COPPERAS COVE AS A WHOLE, OR THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE???!!!)

Which brings me back around to the good old days. Rabbit Fest USED TO contribute to the betterment of the city park. It built the Fester’s House bandstand/stage. It USED TO do a lot of things to help the park. Now it seems that over the past however many years, the chamber stopped giving to the park.

Again, it and the chamber started wanting something for nothing, and the council fell for it again because it worships The Bunny.

Newer readers and older ones who need a refresher can read more about my rantings and curmudgeonly rambles about The Sacred Rabbit Fest here:

Peace, Love, And Bunnies

and 

All Hail the Fest!

and particularly, a pure snark leak of which I am particularly proud:

Bacon Fest

At a future time, Curmudgeon will shine a spotlight on chamber’s finances and its “nonprofit” numbers

Back to the not spending money on a big(ger) name to come to Copperas Cove.

Ummm…you really need to take a good, hard look at what motivates people to attend an event.

So…..What were the big draws to Rabbit Fest this year?

The carnival was the biggest by far. They had a few new rides and some old ones. Either you love it or you hate it, but the carnival is there and it was packed. Curmudgeon heard whining online about how “expensive” everything was at the carnival. Curmudgeon also heard a few vendors disappointed in 2017 that all the crowds were at the carnival and not by them.

This year, lemonade. Lots of vendors had it. Lots of people drank it. The refillable metal collector cups.

Sporting events. I heard some people “complaining” that there were ball games held during RF weekend. Um, don’t you want people to attend? One kid typically brings at least 3-4 people with them to a game. Do the math. It’s a built-in opportunity for making sure you have people coming to the park.

Shopping was meh as far as quantity goes. Curmudgeon didn’t count the vendors but there were not nearly the same number there have been in the past. There were some new vendors Curmudgeon hadn’t seen before with some ACTUAL handcrafted items. That was nice. But the overall offerings seemed limited.

Now, the obvious elephant in the park was the parking. Curmudgeon has schlepped across the park at Rabbit Fest from days gone by, stumbling on rocks and stomping through dust or mud, depending on the year.

The V-shaped parking lot was not finished. It was the location of the disabled parking, which had to be shifted to just beyond the duck pond. This year, it seemed to work. Curmudgeon parked wayyyyyy in the back and it didn’t seem a bigger deal than usual.

But of course, let’s blame the city for the parking not being done. Because, the poor, picked-on chamber who gets to use the park for free because Cove is so benefited by a carnival.

Because that’s what it is…a carnival with a few add-ons.

Methinks the chamber could host a carnival in the fall at another location and still make bank with a lot less effort.

Over and over, Curmudgeon heard, where are all the rabbits? A shame there were no actual rabbits highlighted at the festival itself. Yes, Curmudgeon is aware there was a rabbit show on Saturday morning. A few years ago someone tried to do some rabbit-themed events at the fest itself, but, well...

And the Saturday morning parade? Not very much participation, maybe 25 entries if that? And only one had any kind of decor or embellishment related to The Sacred Bunny. It was the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant Royalty, who had their float decorated with rabbit shapes. Great effort!

Sad, sad level of participation overall, however. Why do other cities have bigger parades? There's no incentive to enter this one other than trying to be a good sport and be supportive. But, Curmudgeon digresses...

Why doesn't the chamber just rename it Cove Fest and be done with it? 

This ain't my Rabbit Fest, y'all. 

Maybe later this week, I’ll talk tourism. Because right now at this moment, neither the chamber nor the city really know what they are doing for effective tourism. Key word: effective.

We just ain’t a hot spot. Sorry, y’all.

Peace, love, and bunnies. 

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