Stone Harbor Council Creates Tourism Director Position

STONE HARBOR — With opposition from councilmen H. Brian Levinson and Randall Bauer, Borough Council introduced an ordinance to create a year-round position for a tourism director at its meeting Sept. 1.
All other council members voted in favor.
The ordinance changes council’s Beach/Recreation Committee and Business Advisory Committee to include Tourism. Also, it establishes a Department of Tourism to oversee all organized tourism activities/events sponsored by the borough.
The borough will take over some of the event-planning responsibilities of the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce and consolidate efforts with a new tourism director.
Councilwoman Joanne Vaul, chair of the Beach/Recreation Committee, said the position was included in the borough’s 2009 budget. As an example, she said, three events were scheduled on the same weekend this summer and the borough could benefit from a “point person of focus.”
Tourism director position will not be one full-time position but rather two part-time positions to save on cost of paying employee benefits, Vaul said.
During a previous discussion on Aug. 4, Vaul estimated the position would increase borough expenses by about $13,500, which, she said, would be divided among 3,000 taxpayers and cost each household about $5.
On Sept. 1, Vaul said the position would have a “budget neutral impact” and would no longer impact household taxes.
Vaul asserted a tourism director position would not exclusively benefit only businesses.
Levinson said he still had a lot of questions as to whether the position is justified. He noted reduced home values and hard financial times. He said money for discretionary items should go into surplus.
Levinson said the borough hired a public relations firm, Parker & Partners, in 2006 and paid $22,000 in 2007 and $31,800 in 2008 for their services. He asked if there was any quantifiable increase in revenue or visitations to reflect that investment.
Bauer asked if Parker & Partners would still be needed to do promotion with the advent of this position. He said the borough has given significant amounts to the county for tourism promotion and “we [the borough] should see some return on that.”
The director is expected to coordinate events/promotion with other agencies, including the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce.
Councilman Karl Giulian, president of the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce, said he discussed the change with the chamber members who were “very happy with it.”
The borough has supported the chamber with $8,000, funded mostly through borough business permits and changing to a borough-driven promotion plan would require chamber restructuring.
“The chamber is not going away,” he said. “Chamber board members have always stepped up to the plate with regards to events, but it has always been difficult while they are also running their businesses, which is their primary focus.”
Stone Harbor has not had a tax-funded tourism position in the past. Avalon has tax-funded tourism services and Sea Isle City uses a lodging tax for designated tourism funds.
The ordinance states that the Tourism Director will have the following responsibilities:
• Serve as Chief Administrative Officer of borough tourism events/activities
• Analyze the borough’s tourism needs to develop immediate long-range plans in conjunction with the Beach/Recreation/Tourism Committee and the Business and Tourism Advisory Board
• Plan, organize and administer tourism services for the entire community
• Hire, organize, train and supervise such persons as are necessary to support the programs, subject to the budget limits set by council
• Supervise collection of event fees and insure borough accounting practices are followed.
The nine-member Business and Tourism Advisory Committee will have one representative from council and eight members of the general public, two of which will be officers, trustees or directors of the Stone Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
Its stated purpose is “to assist in the development, maintenance and implementation of a Borough Tourism Plan and make recommendations regarding tourism activities and events.”
Council also introduced a separate ordinance to establish fixed salary ranges for the position at a minimum of $15,000 and maximum of $30,000, which Levinson and Bauer also opposed.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com