Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Can't Have it Both Ways

Ibiza is an island off the coast of Spain that is known for its nightlife and party scene. Will Ferrell wanted to produce his new Netflix film (called Ibiza) there...but the government said no after reading the script. So, it was filmed in Barcelona and Croatia.

Wouldn't you know it...now, residents of Ibiza are pissed because it wasn't filmed on their island. And, how their party culture is portrayed. Which, of course, they may have been able to influence had they allowed the comedy to be shot there in the first place.

Just sayin...

The Idiocy of Salary Caps

From this year's battle in the Florida House of Representatives to local communities across the land, it is not uncommon to see politicians challenge Destination Marketing Organizations on the amount of money they invest into professional staff.

Such attitudes may have made sense during the last century when Destination Marketing focused a lot of its attention on the purchase of visibility in print and electronic media. But, today's DMOs have evolved into a highly staff-dependent program of work that moves the ball with content generation, Social Media engagement and community story-telling. And, the talent required for this kind of advanced marketing doesn't come cheap.

But, that's what makes unsophisticated public officials crazy...as many don't believe what DMO pros do is all that hard. After all, many ran their own campaigns (and, oddly enough, won). Thus, they know (they think) marketing.

Next time someone suggests that staff compensation should be limited to some arbitrary figure that sounds good, I'd love for someone to ask why personnel compensation makes up such a high percentage of the Police Department's budget. 

You want the best of the best protecting residents? You should want the best of the best inviting future residents and investors to town.

Just sayin...

One More Myrtle...

What's happened this week in Myrtle Beach will likely be remembered as the moment in time when community leaders there decided that it was time, once again, to lead. 

Indeed, it was community leadership (both public and private) that set the tone and the table for Myrtle Beach to become one of the premier destinations in the country over the past 30 years. And then, not unlike in other communities across the nation, they suffered silently as the media and agenda-fueled wingnuts took potshot after potshot at them.

Old school public and community relations wonks told all of us to "turn the other cheek;" that, by engaging in a tit-for-tat confrontation in front of an audience that doesn't understand the nuance of community development, you do nothing more than fuel the fire and keep the issue alive. Nothing could be further from the truth. We'll go deeper on this concept in next week's edition of the Z-News (if you're not already a subscriber, you can join our family HERE).

To recap the story: On Tuesday, the City approved a 10-year extension of a penny sales tax that has provided an 82% property tax rebate to residents and powered the region's tourism industry and job growth to record heights. The approval came after the Mayor's rejection of a call from a small minority (less than 400 people signed an online petition) for the question to be put to referendum. 

Timed to coincide with this week's vote, a disgruntled ex-Chamber member brought a lawsuit against the Chamber of Commerce (which holds the Destination Marketing contract with the City) alleging misuse of tax revenues and "cronyism." Naturally, the media jumps all over the story, splattering the Chamber and several of its local contractors with incendiary innuendo.

Of course, within a day or so, a local TV station ran the numbers behind the allegations and found them to be wildly miscalculated and intentionally misleading. 

And then, the Chamber Board did something totally out-of-character for a body that had been proud of its ability to turn the other cheek...it pushed back. Hard. In a 15-minute news conference (starting at the 9:30 mark), several members of the Chamber Board punched back with the truth. If you're short on time, start at the 23:40 mark. Game on.

But, of course, the damage has been done. The community can't un-hear these allegations. But, the free pass to slander community leaders that Chamber and City critics have enjoyed for the past few years has just been revoked.

More on Myrtle

We mentioned here yesterday that the Myrtle Beach Mayor and City Council stood up to public and editorial criticism this week by extending a penny sales tax without hiding behind a Referendum. The  Mayor and Council did what they were elected to do...govern in the best interests of the citizenry. And, for those too unsophisticated (or agenda-laden) to understand why this was such a powerfully positive move by elected officials, let me fill in the gaps.

A decade ago, as the economy was heading over the cliff, the City of Myrtle Beach enacted a penny sales tax that invested 80% of the revenue into increased destination marketing while giving residents an 82% rebate on their property taxes. The increase in destination marketing resources resulted in Myrtle Beach scoring record levels of visitation (even during the Recession). The beauty of the property tax rebate is sorta self-explanatory.

Except when it isn't. Except when the media gives voice to those that try to position the rebate as unfairly benefiting the rich. In yesterday's story about the renewal of the penny tax, a reporter actually wrote these words:

"Because the rebate is based on a percentage of someone’s property taxes, the biggest benefits go to the wealthy. One person with a home worth nearly $9 million received a tax credit...worth $22,315.83 in 2017... According to the City, a person with a home valued at $199,000 would receive a tax credit of only $505.46."

Wait. Is the reporter attempting to infer that a person with a $199,000 house should get tens of thousands of dollars in tax credits because someone with a $9 million house does? Let's be clear, after their tax credit, the owner of the smaller house would owe something like a hundred bucks a year (thank you, Tourism). The owner of the bigger house would owe roughly $5,000. And, there's a problem here?

Only when the media wants to create one...

Referendums Are for the Weak

For the most part, elected officials that support Referendums are abdicating their responsibility to govern. While there are the rare instances of a question coming up that nobody could have anticipated in the last general election (thus, votes cast for candidates weren't influenced by their potential support or opposition of the question), most of the time, a Referendum is an elected body's way to dodge taking a public stand on a difficult issue.

Which is why what went down earlier today in Myrtle Beach SC is so damn refreshing. Despite public (and even editorial) calls for a Referendum to decide whether to continue a penny sales tax that has been an unequivocal win for the region's residents and taxpayers, the Mayor and City Council passed the resolution into law this afternoon.

Recently elected Mayor Brenda Bethune said that she made no attempt to hide her support of continuing the tax during her campaign last autumn. And, when she won in a landslide vote, "that basically was a referendum," she said. Thus, there was no reason to hold another.

True dat.

The Epitome of a Class Act

His name is Brad Dean. For well over a decade, he has headed the Myrtle Beach Chamber & CVB. His leadership has transformed the destination from an also-ran to one of the most searched for destinations online in America. And, visitation and non-resident spending has hit record levels during his time there.

Yesterday, he announced his decision to transition his talents to a destination that so needs what he has brought to Myrtle Beach. Brad will become the first CEO of the new DMO for Puerto Rico.

Not that Brad hasn't had his detractors over the years. As no good deed ever goes unpunished, there are the jealous or self-absorbed few that throw stones and try to derail the best of us.

Brad's farewell video is, as the song goes, "how we do it" And the shoutout to his critics is exquisite.

That we could all be so cool.

Congratulations, Brad. And, all the best in your future efforts to bring Puerto Rico back to its righteous place of prominence as America's most engaging Caribbean experience.

Hell yeah.

Free Agency for DMOs?

I can't remember a more interesting day for the NFL, Stupor Bowls included. It's Free Agency...a moment in time when unsigned and unprotected NFL players can deal with any team in the league.

Minnesota started this morning off with three pretty good Quarterbacks in their stable. They made a deal with a QB they think is even better. Their three existing (now former) QBs quickly made deals with three other teams. And that's just the action in the ranks of Quarterbacks. Scores of running backs, receivers and other players are making deals in numbers that should keep Sportscenter on the air for 3 hours tonight.

But, it got me thinking. What if there was such a thing as Free Agency for Destination Marketing Organizations? A brief moment each year when DMOs could poach the best and the brightest from other DMOs?

One one hand, our superstars would get paid a whole helluva lot more (think we could negotiate guaranteed contracts like Kirk Cousins?). On another, we'd certainly see just how much a vibrant visitor economy means to community leaders when bidding wars break out over top talent.

Would that mean we'd all need agents?

Just a thought...

The Most Dangerous Post in Government

While one might be excused for believing that the most powerful (thus, potentially dangerous) political position is the Chief Elected Official, I've come to believe that the individual with an unchecked power to put businesses out of business is the Assessor.

In some locales, the Assessor is appointed; in others, elected. In some, they require educational certification; in others, no experience is required. And yet, these individuals have the power to assign property values that result in property taxes being levied.

Over the past year, I have seen a number of blow-ups across the United States concerning Assessors that have, after years of ignoring their hotel community, come swooping in to re-assess the sector. In one case, a hotel was faced with a $1 million increase in property tax due. In another town, the lead hotel reported that his property tax had jumped 160% in one year.

The excuse from the Assessor's office in the first example was that they hadn't increased assessments during the recession in an attempt to "help" the hotel community during the downturn. Of course, the resulting unexpected $1 million invoice isn't exactly helping anyone (except the City).

Not that this blog is a platform for tax law reform...but, how does a single office have the authority to place a business on the precipice of solvency when its actions are neither easily anticipated nor fair?

I'm not saying that the hotels in question shouldn't be paying higher property taxes. If the land upon which they sit increases in value (based primarily on their own success), property taxes should go up. Just not by a million bucks (or 160%) in one year.

If an Assessor has the right to make up for missed increases in one fell swoop, the business should have the right to gradually achieve the new tax amount over the same number of years since the last assessment.

Just sayin'....

The Lazy Proxy for Talent Acquisition

According to a recent Harvard study, American employers are increasingly demanding a four-year degree for jobs that don't require them. In one example, 67% of job listings for a "production supervisor" asked for a college degree when only 16% of existing supervisors had one.

The reason? The study surmises that employers increasingly use the college degree as a proxy for certain skills (such as software proficiency and the ability to communicate effectively) that are expected from graduates. But, employers end up paying a higher price in the end because graduates command higher compensation, it takes longer to hire them and they don’t stay with the company as long. 

A better approach, according to Fortune's Alan Murray, would be to work with community colleges to provide non-college graduates with the hard and soft skills employers maintain they need. 

And, of course, convince employers to stop taking the lazy way out when hiring.

Airline Ground Transparency

Speaking of our Air Laws series, Air Law 15 was issued after a particularly heavy spate of bold face gate agent lies (mostly from United employees) regarding the status of delayed inbound aircraft.

So, imagine my surprise when it is United Airlines that recently announced they will provide total transparency on the reason behind flight delays, five minutes after they tell ground staff. They plan to test the new system in the weeks ahead in Houston and Phoenix before a potential nation-wide rollout.

If this all comes true...I'll be in an unusual space when I say, "well played, United."