Carson City Needs Tourism to Thrive
Carson City is at the heart of a tourist mecca and our governing officials, for the most part, see Nevada's capital community as a potential hub for more visitors.
Not so, with my opponent (Jim Shirk), who has said that local residents are sometimes inconvenienced by visitors. No doubt some feel that way, which is their right, but we're in the midst of a tourism jewel, our city is the Star City and making tourists here play second fiddle makes little economic sense. Your favorite restaurant, bar or retail shop most likely relies on tourism to stay viable. Fewer visitors could end up meaning fewer places for locals to enjoy.
Certainly citizens take precedence on a multitude of matters city government does, but having a Visitors Bureau push pride in our history and recreational opportunities, arts and entertainment, great state museum and other options is just good common sense.
Visitors enjoy our restaurants and bars, come to our attractions and events, and help drive our economy. Not only has the Visitors Bureau brought in Epic Rides mountain bikers, but now all of city government is getting behind this award-winning event to make it go more smoothly in the coming four years.
Many tourists also pay an 11 percent transient occupancy tax for lodging space, which finances the Visitors Bureau's work put forth on the city's behalf. Among those things are outreach to other potential visitors, efforts to market and back various events held in town, debt service on the V & T Railway and more.
In addition, the bureau and community now have an arts and culture coordinator to help boost those aspects of our local entertainment scene for residents and visitors alike. Would my opponent rein that in?
My question goes to the heart of our situation as the economy nationwide and in the region recovers, hopefully moving from surviving to thriving. Will he also get rid of classic car events that pack Mills Park some weekends, dog shows that take over Fuji Park at times, cut the number of summer and winter sporting events drawn here because some people aren't happy with them?
From my perspective, these are all part of our great Carson City culture and here for residents AND visitors to enjoy.
I'm not running for supervisor from Ward 4 to make anyone unhappy, but that's occasionally the result when hard choices must be made. What we need is a balance between attracting visitors and making all our arts, culture and other events a boon to residents and tourists alike. Let's face it, however; expanding the economy by bringing in visitors with dollars makes sense.
Hard choices, by the way, are what government often faces. Any issue, from tourism to paying the freight so we can flush our toilets, will have two sides. My opponent thinks his job is easy, one of just following the will of the majority. Constituents must be served, I'll agree, but no one has a crystal ball telling him or her where the shifting majority may lie on every issue.
For example, I'm betting I'm in the majority when it comes to him taking pay raises for a job he thinks is so easy. Perhaps we should have had a vote of the people on that issue.
Tourists can't vote. I hope you will and support me.
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