RECAP: Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting, February 29, 2024
RECAP: Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting, February 29, 2024
An invasion of arts, science, and comedy, a social media kerfuffle, and a TBID board member steps down
Lions, tigers, and bears? More like mural invasions, comedy festivals, and barbecue! Thursday afternoon’s meeting of the Twentynine Palms Tourism Improvement District (TBID) was a marathon that lasted more than three hours and included the awarding of $57,100 for events grants and $17,550 for event sponsorships. Prior to the meeting, a closed session of the TBID Board took place in which they announced the “above average” outcome of Marketing Director Breanne Dusastre’s performance evaluation.
TBID Grants. The board was presented with five event proposals for grant funding from the Twentynine Palms Historical Society, Rediscover 29, Positional Projects, Desertrade, and comedians Caitlin Gill, Andy Wood and Matt Kirshen. The Desert Trumpet previously covered the grant funding process, which was being used for the first time, in our TBID agenda recap, published here.
Money for the grants derived from a $200,000 fund generated from self-imposed TOT (transient occupancy tax) revenue. Each grant project was to take place between March 1 and June 30 and had been scored by a five member panel consisting of TBID Board and Event Subcommittee members Heidi Grunt, Patricia Knight, and three community members. Grants with a score of 80 points or higher were given the opportunity to present their projects to the full TBID Board for funding.
Steve Reyes, Vice President of the Twentynine Palms Historical Society, presented on the Desert Rat Convention. Proposed for Saturday May 4, 2024, from noon until night, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about local history, get a glimpse into the Old Schoolhouse Museum operations, and enjoy food, wine, and live entertainment.
Mike Usher, co-owner of Grnd Sqrl, addressed the board on the Area 29 Art Invasion on behalf of Rediscover 29. The non-profit organization proposed a “mural invasion” event April 12-13 that will feature hourly mural tours, live mural painting in Freedom Plaza, food vendors, and a comedy night. “This isn’t just about new murals—we also want to honor the rich tradition of murals and the artistic history that exists in Twentynine Palms,” said Usher.
Chair Rakesh Mehta, operator of SureStay by Best Western Hotel, expressed concerns over the Art Invasion date clashing with Coachella (April 12-14 & 19-21). Ashton Ramsey pushed for more events to take place in May when tourism season slows. Boardmember Patricia Knight asked Usher to clarify discrepancies between the Rediscover 29 grant application and the live presentation before the TBID.
Karyl Newman spoke on Conjuring Cathy Allen. Allen, who passed away in 2022, was a Wonder Valley resident and an art professor at Copper Mountain College who also apprenticed with Noah Purifoy. Her Non-Urban Renewal Project (NURP) explored the preservation and deterioration of structures in nature, and the event will feature an audio tour of the Noah Purifoy outdoor museum narrated by Allen along with a tour of her outdoor NURP structures, which are composed of materials found on-site.
Zach, Resident Curator and Director of Operations for Desertrade, presented on behalf of choreographer Ryan Heffington. They outlined plans for Sand to Sky, a multi-weekend event with sound baths, health and wellness activities, queer spaces, venues for artists, film screenings, and geology tours. Heffington hopes that the Desertrade event will become an area staple, synonymous to Joshua Tree Music Festival and Highway 62 Open Studio Art Tours.
The fifth presentation, To 29 And Beyond, given by Andy Wood, Matt Kirshen and Caitlin Gill, will feature stand-up comedy, scientists, and astronomy. Wood co-founded the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon and co-hosts the Probably Science Podcast with Kirshen. The podcast boasts more than 10 million downloads and the hosts identify as “Professional comedians with so-so STEM pedigrees.” The event will feature state-of-the-art telescopes for optimum stargazing and hopes to bring in big-name comedy entertainers.
The individual grant presentations were addressed by residents during general public comments. The board heard from TBID Events Subcommittee member Cindy Bernard, Susan Peplow and Veno Nathraj, all of whom supported funding the presentations. Additionally, Heather Basile, owner of Mojave Moon Apothecary, spoke in favor of the new extranet feature on the Visit29 website and encouraged business owners to reach out to the TBID marketing director if they have questions.
Residents had a second opportunity to discuss the grants during public comment on Item 5: Sponsorship and Event Grant Applications. Speaking about the grants and grant process was Cindy Bernard, Mary Jane Binge, Veno Nathraj, Susan Peplow, grants panel member Audrey Philpot, and City Councilmember Octavious Scott. Binge encouraged businesses and promoters to work together when coordinating these events while Scott spoke enthusiastically about events that would be taking place around the Coachella weekends.
TBID Board members were then faced with deciding how to allocate the $160,000 dedicated to the event grant fund category to the projects presented, while recognizing that monies would also be needed for projects taking place July 1 - December 31. Chair Mehta made a calculation that $51,000 was available for the $67,100 in current requests. “I think it’s really hard, it’s a challenge,” said Grunt. It appeared that no process was in place to prioritize funding allocations.
Mehta suggested a 15% cut to all requests but Board member Maria Madrid argued that Desert Rat Convention should be funded in full, as she felt the request was small and the focus on area history would draw tourists. The Board then voted to fully fund that project. Board member Ashton Ramsey made a motion to make an equal 15% cut to the remaining grants but that motion was interrupted by Chair Mehta who, after some discussion, made a motion to fully fund To 29 and Beyond, contingent on moving the event to June.
The Board considered each event individually, funding Conjuring Cathy Allen in full. Then, with only $29,900 left per Mehta’s accounting, it was decided to fund Sand to Sky and Area 29 Art Invasion for $15,000 each, essentially making a 25% cut to each of those requests. The final full event grant funding list is as follows:
Desert Rat Convention, score 86.17: Granted $3,000 (full ask)
To 29 And Beyond, score 94.34, Granted $9,100 (full ask)
Conjuring Cathy Allen, score 89: Granted $15,000 (full ask)
Sand to Sky series, score 86.17 : Granted $15,000 of $20,000 ask
Area 29 Art Invasion, score 82.98: Granted $15,000 of $20,000 ask
Despite cutting funding for two projects in the events category, all sponsorship applicants received full funding for a total of $17,550, nearly 50% of the $40,000 allocated for the nine month period. Additionally, one of the projects, Highway 62 Open Studio Art Tours, was allowed to submit a $2000 request for an October event outside of the March - June funding period specified in the guidelines.
The next series of TBID grant applications are due April 1st, 2024 and these events must take place between July 1 and December 31 2024. Applications and guidelines are on visit29.org.
General TBID Business. Moving on to general business matters, the TBID board addressed their marketing and advertising partnerships with Discover Inland Empire and the Palm Springs Airport. The board decided to renew their advertising partnership at the PSP airport terminal but will readdress their proposal with Discover IE at a later meeting. They also responded to a single proposal submitted in response to an RFP (Request For Proposal) request for social media.
Marketing Director Dusastre faced pushback from board members and audience members alike regarding the social media RFP. Chair Rakesh Mehta questioned why only one social media proposal had been submitted to the TBID and asked Dusastre how long the RFP request had been posted. “January 9th,” stated Dusastre. “I think there’s a lot of conversation about it but I’m surprised to see there’s no interest,” responded Mehta.
Boardmember Patricia Knight questioned where the TBID would find money in the budget for social media operations. Dusastre then stated, “I did not put a ton of energy into shopping around this RFP….We don’t have a dedicated budget for this.”
Public comments on the social media agenda item came from Audrey Philpot, who stated she feels it’s necessary the TBID post at least twice a week on social media.
Susan Peplow addressed the board. “It’s really important we carve out some dollars for social media. I’m a bit concerned, and since it’s an agenda item, you can respond— where was this posted?” Dusastre responded, “It’s posted to the About Us page on the Visit 29 site.”
Peplow said, “No publication or outreach or emails to anything? Okay, so that answers your question, Rakesh. It was limited outreach….It’s important I feel we get a foothold on social media quickly. I feel it would be fiscally irresponsible to hand it off to one applicant.”
“It’s not necessarily related to this particular proposal,” continued Peplow, alluding to the lack of promotion behind the TBID grant funds, “Why spend $200,000 and not tell anybody what’s going on? That’s just a poor use of funds.”
Business owner and Public Arts Advisory Committee member Paul Razo stated that he agrees that the TBID needs social media assistance but the slide deck for the proposed RFP submission was less than impressive.
Ultimately, the board decided to extend the RFP request another 30 days and floated the idea of forming a social media subcommittee. The meeting closed with board member announcements, in which Patricia Knight announced she will be stepping down from the TBID Board after the month of March but hopes to remain on the events subcommittee.
Desert Trumpet Editor-in-chief Cindy Bernard is a member of the TBID Events Subcommittee.
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it seems to me that since these TBID funds are generated by out-of-town tourist fees, the TBID feels able to frivolously and without much serious thought, spend these dollars because the are "just sitting there waiting to be spent". like it's FREE money.
In my opinion, none of the fore-mentioned projects will draw many attendees. There certainly is NO RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
I believe these vast sums (a $500,00 treasure chest) could be more wisely spent.
Use these funds to buy new lighting, new IT software for the sink-hole of Luckie Park. the town spends millions of dollars on this one place with little or no Return on Investment. This TBID money would be far better spent if it were given to the General Fund.