OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Carson City CTA Board Meeting - January 12, 2026

Board of Supervisors — Monday, January 12, 2026
BodyCarson City, Nevada
SessionBoard of Supervisors
DateMonday, January 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:50:19

Transcript — Verbatim
1:24

The Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority Board of Directors meeting.

1:28

Today is Monday, January 12th, 2026.

1:31

It is four PM, and we are at the Carson City Community Center, Robert Bob Krull Boardroom.

1:38

And can we get a roll call?

1:42

Andrew Reno.

1:44

Here.

1:44

Diana LaForge.

1:46

Stacey Giomi.

1:48

Garrett Le Pierre.

1:49

Matt Dodd.

1:50

Here.

1:50

We have a quorum.

1:52

All right.

1:53

Can everybody please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance?

2:07

Undergone.

2:09

Liberty and Justice File.

2:14

Thank you.

2:16

And with that, we will open it up for public comment.

2:24

Hearing none, we will move on to item five, approval of minutes from the December eighth, twenty twenty-five CTA board meeting.

2:33

Do we have any additions?

2:35

No, I move to approve the December eighth, twenty twenty-five board minutes.

2:39

I will second that.

2:40

All in favor.

2:42

Aye.

2:44

Anyone opposed?

2:46

Thank you.

2:49

Next, we will move on to the consent agenda that which consists of item six and seven.

2:57

Does any member of the public or the board have anything they'd like pulled for further discussion?

3:05

Hearing none, can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda?

3:09

Make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

3:13

All in favor?

3:14

Aye.

3:15

Any opposed?

3:17

Hearing none, we will move on to let's see here.

3:25

Discussion and possible action regarding adjusting the salary range of the CTA executive director's position.

3:33

And with that, I will turn it over to Chris.

3:40

So this is the um item that Andrew asked for for a possible salary range change to the CTA executive director.

3:51

The current range is a hundred and ten thousand two seventy-one eighty to the top of the range at one seventy-six, eight fifty-one.

4:08

And then we had a three percent cost of living increase in April of twenty-three that was approved for July first.

4:14

Then it we had a one percent COLA increase in April of twenty-four, which changed on July first of this year to make the range where it currently is.

4:31

Do you want me to describe anything?

4:33

Um, we can start out with does everybody know the current salary, the current salary ranges.

4:50

And I was looking at the director's salary range with the city, and my thought was to take it up to the two oh seven eight fifty-one twenty.

5:00

But I want to leave the minimum down to the 109 or to the where was it?

5:06

Yeah, 109.

5:08

And the reason for that is I was doing a little bit of research on other directors, executive directors of tourism authorities.

5:18

And they're pretty much in that salary range of the 207,851, but most of them are on a bonus program.

5:27

And we do not have a bonus program for the executive director in Carson City.

5:33

So I don't know where you guys stand, but I'll just open it up for conversation.

5:40

Yeah.

5:40

Uh I'm not a fan of a bonus program.

5:44

I that in my mind doesn't fit in government.

5:48

Um I it doesn't fit to me.

5:52

I mean, I think the taxpayers whose money this is have a right to understand what their tax money is going to, and the the bonus thing feels squishy to me.

6:07

Um I don't like that.

6:08

Um I don't have an issue raising it.

6:12

I think the position is equal to a department director position um within the city.

6:20

I I don't know that it makes sense to not move the whole range up.

6:25

Um if we're gonna keep the bottom of the range.

6:31

I I I don't think it makes sense to keep the bottom of the range that low, but I I'm not that married to that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Tourism████████████████████████████████████████40%
Public Art███████████████15%
Personnel Matters████████████12%
Public Engagement███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Arts And Culture██████6%
Marketing and Communications██████6%
Parks and Recreation███3%
Budget Equity Analysis██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Carson City CTA Board Meeting Summary - January 12, 2026

The Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority (CTA) Board of Directors convened on January 12, 2026, at 4:00 PM at the Robert Bob Krull Boardroom. The meeting addressed routine approvals, strategic adjustments to executive compensation, the annual performance evaluation of the Executive Director, and a series of updates regarding tourism initiatives, arts and culture projects, and marketing campaigns.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the December 8, 2025, board meeting.
  • Approved the consent agenda (Items 6 and 7) without pull or discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were received during the meeting; the session moved directly to agenda items upon the chair's inquiry.

Discussion Items

Adjustment of Executive Director Salary Range

  • Chris presented a proposal to adjust the salary range for the CTA Executive Director, citing market research on comparable tourism authority directors (mostly in the $207,851 range) and the absence of a bonus program in Carson City.
    • Position: Chris proposed capping the range at $207,851 to align with city standards without implementing bonuses.
    • Diana LaForge: Expressed full support for the salary increase but stated a strong personal opposition to bonus programs, noting they "don't fit in government" and are "squishy" for taxpayers. She recommended moving the entire range up rather than just the maximum.
    • Stacey Giomi: Expressed full support for moving the entire range up in tandem to attract talent suitable for the higher tier, arguing the bottom should rise with the top.
    • Garrett Le Pierre: Noted a preference against tying the CTA salary to city department director resolutions due to the city's existing 2% COLA provision, which the CTA had not signed on to; suggested handling future adjustments via board motion rather than automatic linkage.
  • Outcome of Discussion: The board agreed to increase the minimum salary significantly from $110,271.80 to $129,906.99 and the maximum to $207,851.20.

Annual Performance Review of David Peterson

  • David Peterson (Executive Director) presented a comprehensive overview of the past year's achievements, including the approval of personnel policies, the management of the Carson City to Canada Quest media launches, the expansion of special events (Rock and Reno Tournament, KaboomCon), the launch of the 3D Cultural Corridor Project (Dust and Wander Trail), and the implementation of DataFi analytics. He identified key opportunities for 2026, specifically a need for better "soup-to-nuts" event coordination and collaboration with local businesses (restaurants, attractions) to maximize tourism impact. He highlighted challenges including the loss of Centralian fields revenue, a lack of snow impacting winter tourism as a Tahoe overflow destination, and limited marketing budgets.
  • Garrett Le Pierre: Expressed interest in developing a system for in-house aggregated visitor data beyond property-specific room nights, though acknowledged the difficulty of accessing private property data.
  • David Peterson: Responded that while they have Omnitrack data for visitor profiles, accessing specific casino/hotel client data from private entities is not feasible, suggesting collaboration events as a workaround.
  • Chris: Expressed full support for the team's creative use of limited funds and noted David's regional leadership.
  • Stacey Giomi: Expressed full support for the "outstanding" rating based on David's accessibility, responsiveness as a public servant, and ability to collaborate across diverse tourism sectors.
  • Diana LaForge: Expressed full support for the "outstanding" rating, praising the energy of the team and David's leadership.
  • Andrew Reno: Expressed agreement with the assessment of the team's strength and David's knowledge, though noting he was new to the board and abstaining from the formal rating.
  • New Objective Proposal: The board added an eighth objective to "initiate an event coordination plan" to improve collaboration among tourism stakeholders.

Key Outcomes

  • Salary Range Approval: Approved a motion to adjust the CTA Executive Director's salary range to $129,906.99 (minimum) to $207,851.20 (maximum), effective January 13, 2026.
  • Performance Rating: Approved the annual performance review for David Peterson with an "Outstanding" rating.
  • Salary Increase: Approved a 5% merit increase for David Peterson, effective January 13, 2026 (adjusted to ensure alignment with the new salary range).
  • Future Objectives: Approved the 2026 objectives for the Executive Director, including the addition of the eighth objective regarding event coordination.
  • Updates Provided:
    • ABA Meeting: The team provided a recap of the American Bus Association (ABA) meeting in Reno, highlighting successful pre-conference sightseeing tours and upcoming FAM trips for tour operators in Carson City.
    • Economic Data: Transient lodging tax revenues were down approximately 3.42% against the budget but ahead of the previous fiscal year, with optimism for recovery as synthetic turf fields at Centennial open in late April/May.
    • Arts & Culture: The "Carson City Lights" festival was announced for February 2026 (teaser year) at Mills Park. The Dust and Wander Trail RFP for 40 railroad spike sculptures was released. A pilot documentary series featuring muralists is being explored.
    • Marketing: December showed a 26% year-over-year increase in lodging referrals. The "Winter Charm" campaign continues to drive engagement through quirky video content.
    • Regulatory: The City is drafting an ordinance to license and regulate vacation rentals (VRBO), which the board noted may eventually allow the CTA to collect transient lodging taxes from that sector.
    • Scheduling: The May board meeting was rescheduled from the 11th to the 8th to combine the budget hearing and board meeting.

Meeting Transcript

The Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority Board of Directors meeting. Today is Monday, January 12th, 2026. It is four PM, and we are at the Carson City Community Center, Robert Bob Krull Boardroom. And can we get a roll call? Andrew Reno. Here. Diana LaForge. Stacey Giomi. Garrett Le Pierre. Matt Dodd. Here. We have a quorum. All right. Can everybody please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? Undergone. Liberty and Justice File. Thank you. And with that, we will open it up for public comment. Hearing none, we will move on to item five, approval of minutes from the December eighth, twenty twenty-five CTA board meeting. Do we have any additions? No, I move to approve the December eighth, twenty twenty-five board minutes. I will second that. All in favor. Aye. Anyone opposed? Thank you. Next, we will move on to the consent agenda that which consists of item six and seven. Does any member of the public or the board have anything they'd like pulled for further discussion? Hearing none, can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? Make a motion to approve the consent agenda. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, we will move on to let's see here. Discussion and possible action regarding adjusting the salary range of the CTA executive director's position. And with that, I will turn it over to Chris. So this is the um item that Andrew asked for for a possible salary range change to the CTA executive director. The current range is a hundred and ten thousand two seventy-one eighty to the top of the range at one seventy-six, eight fifty-one. And then we had a three percent cost of living increase in April of twenty-three that was approved for July first. Then it we had a one percent COLA increase in April of twenty-four, which changed on July first of this year to make the range where it currently is. Do you want me to describe anything? Um, we can start out with does everybody know the current salary, the current salary ranges. And I was looking at the director's salary range with the city, and my thought was to take it up to the two oh seven eight fifty-one twenty. But I want to leave the minimum down to the 109 or to the where was it? Yeah, 109. And the reason for that is I was doing a little bit of research on other directors, executive directors of tourism authorities. And they're pretty much in that salary range of the 207,851, but most of them are on a bonus program. And we do not have a bonus program for the executive director in Carson City. So I don't know where you guys stand, but I'll just open it up for conversation. Yeah.

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