| NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE ISSUE?
-
Gaylan's Corner! - Opinions, comments and Notes from the
field - by Gaylan King
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BED TAX/CONFERENCE CENTER HISTORY OF EVENTS
- The Freedom Committee's goal is to repeal county ordinance 89-23 that has spawned the
Tourist Development Counsel (TDC) and bed tax (increase), and is also designed to fund the
proposed conference center. The TDC was created with this ordinance and therefore,
by law, will be disbanded with OR 89-23's repeal. In order to do this, a referendum must
come to a vote before the people.
There are four major areas on this website that are designed to do four
things:
1. Present the
FACTS supporting our case that
the Conference Center will be a financial burden to the taxpayers of Okaloosa County.
2. Provide a
HISTORY of the entire Bed Tax
increase/Conference Center and give an historical scope to the issue.
3. To present
OUR POINT OF
VIEW as an opponent of the Bed Tax Increase/Conference Center and it's
supporters.
4. To provide a
FORUM
in which others can share their point of view. |
Where were the tourists this (Labor Day) weekend?
Destin has been crowded and bustling this Labor Day Weekend, but not at
the expected level. I guess business is "down" in numbers as much as
25%. I've spoken with a number of friends in the rental business (Yes, and many
of them have donated money to support the referendum.), and they reported vacancies over
the weekend. I got quickly in and out of the grocery store at 7:00 P.M. Friday night;
Destin locals know that most tourists first stop is to stock up on food; the lines can run
long and slow, but not this weekend. Traffic was never as hopeless as it had been just
three short weeks ago.
Labor Day, along with the 4th of July and Memorial Day weekends, is one of
the "Big Three" weekends of the local tourist business
calendar. What's going on? As I remember it, the Tourist
Development Council is still around (we haven't finished the referendum yet, but soon!).
The TDC has been spending on its elaborate advertising and other assorted budget
items. They've stated, in effect, that they're concentrating more effort on the
"shoulder season" because the regular season is under their control; a given.
Maybe some vast ambiguity played itself out and a couple of thousand people just
forgot to come visiting this weekend. Maybe word's gotten out that we're no longer
"quaint"; or, as a tourist said to me, "All you get for coming
here is gridlocked traffic; hot, tired, angry people; poor food (this surprised me!) and
service in overly expensive restaurants; you can't go to the beach; Heck, you can barely
see it! Do you think we'll ever come back here? Our travel agent will hear from me when we
get home!"
Is the Greed and Growth, Bandit Building, Paradise to Purgatory scenario
actually starting to unfold? I sincerely hope not. There's still time
salvage a decent place to live; one that can co-exist with a successful, but not
dominant, tourism industry. Our over-active tourism
"gland" must be carefully paced to remain successful on it's own
merits, but not at the expense of the very things the majority of us value most about our
home.
I call your attention to the letter, in the Sunday NWFDN, wherein the writer
showed her understanding of the local makeup. She said, "Until we run a 100
percent occupancy rate year-round, we need more tourism." She reminds us all
of that dismal cycle where we go from 6000 to 14000 rooms in ten years. But, with 14000
rooms, we need more tourists. The TDC then raises the Bed Tax and pulls every lever to
mindlessly bring in more tourists. At some point, the developers notice the growth and
start building, again. Then we have 20000 rooms, and, again, need more tourists!
It never will stop until they've destroyed our present abundance through their
sheer greed! They must also believe that overcooked advertising budgets will finally
convince people that it's fun at the beach in December through March..
What balderdash!
The referendum mailout will begin this coming week. More on that tomorrow!
Cheers!
Gaylan
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