Tourism council was not running under right formalities
By Correne Martin
The Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce and the Prairie du Chien Tourism Council are in a state of transition.
The two entities share office space at the tourism information center, 211 S. Main St., and a mutual mission to enhance the quality of life and business growth in Prairie du Chien. Though the chamber has paid staff leading its charge, there is no tourism coordinator and there hasn’t been one since mid-July.
Patti Wacker served as the tourism coordinator for 15 years, from 2001 until she resigned in April. Then, Anna Troester was hired, but left after just one month in the position. Since then, chamber CEO Bob Moses and assistant Brenda Grondin have filled in the gaps, and have been compensated accordingly, while design work has been outsourced. The tourism council, in closed session Dec. 8, began considering how to move forward with that position and plans to make a recommendation to the chamber board soon.
The chamber formed in 1950, as a member-based organization of businesses and professionals who have a unified goal of supporting commerce and the economy locally. The tourism council established itself in 1991, as the marketing arm of the chamber promoting the area as a tourist destination. The chamber board has 15 members, who, together, govern the 12-person advisory council.
It may seem like a straightforward arrangement. But members of both boards found out about a year ago, when state regulations were brought to light, that it hasn’t been exactly that for the past 25 years. Some were under the impression that the tourism council was always a separate entity—making its own decisions without chamber approval—while others believed it was a standing council of the chamber.
Attorney Lara Czajkowski Higgins researched the history in the spring and, at a meeting last week, provided the following clarification.
When the tourism council was created, a semantical error was unintentionally made in the initial documents, Czajkowski Higgins presumed. On paper, it appeared “bylaws” were written; however, that description was misnamed. Instead, the original papers should have been labeled “policies and procedures.”
“[The tourism council] simply was not operating under the appropriate formalities,” Czajkowski Higgins reiterated. “The goal here is to try to clarify how these organizations work together and how decisions are made.”
“If it is indeed part of the chamber, [the tourism council] wouldn’t have its own bylaws, just like other organizations,” commented Owen Vincent, chamber board member, at a Dec. 8 informational meeting of the chamber and tourism council. Vincent and chamber Moses were tasked with studying the tourism council’s policies and procedures and proposing changes to them for chamber board acceptance.
During the Dec. 13 chamber board meeting, the new policies and procedures were approved, including mere verbiage adjustments.
Addressing any past misconceptions, it’s now been defined that the council is the consultative body and the chamber board is the authorizing body.
“The chamber is the organization in control and it is looking to the council for manpower, recommendations, etc.,” Czajkowski Higgins articulated. “I realize this is a change, but I think it’s more of a correction. I would hope the chamber can trust, appreciate and respect the decisions of the tourism council.”
Despite the underlying animosity among both groups, tourism council chair Mary Antoine asserted that “little is going to change” with regard to how the council operates.
“I’m going to make sure the tourism council has a say in how tourism dollars are spent. We will be respected. Our opinions do matter,” she stated.
Moses and chamber board president Curt Zinkle agreed. “I don’t want to have to make those decisions. I want to see recommendations that we can approve,” Zinkle said.
Activities of the tourism council revolve around the city’s hotel/motel room tax, which the city began imposing in 1991. The tax is a separate fee paid by visitors, and, in turn, Prairie du Chien and Bridgeport lodging facilities, on the room rentals for each calendar quarter. According to municipal code, 70 percent of the revenue is used by the tourism council to provide funding for tourism marketing for all Prairie du Chien businesses regardless of chamber membership. The remaining 30 percent is utilized by the city.
With the changes made to tourism council procedures Tuesday, instead of having its own budget, the tourism council’s budget will now be within the chamber’s, and the room tax revenue will be held in its own account.
As has always been the course, council proposals are expected to generate paid overnight stays at multiple lodging properties in the community.
The tourism council operates on $325,000 budget, which included a healthy $235,000 in room tax revenue through November. Those figures are enormously greater than the few thousand the council had to work with in its early years.
Eric Frydenlund was a member of the chamber’s tourism committee in 1991, when it developed into the tourism council.
“I remember there being a controversy over the idea of having a room tax,” he stated. “We were lucky to have a couple thousand dollars when [the council first formed.] The council and the room tax have been a great benefit to our community.”
