OpenPublica

Accountability starts with access.

© 2026 · Filed for the public record

Use casesAboutAPIPrivacyTermsLinkedIn
Home/Fredericksburg, Texas/City Council
OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Fredericksburg City Council Special Meeting on CVB CEO Search and HOT Funding – December 9, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, December 9, 2025
BodyFredericksburg, Texas
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, December 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
⇩ GET FROM SOURCE

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Original source
Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

I'll call it to order.

0:02

Um welcome, glad to have you here.

0:05

I understand that everybody except for uh Matthew, who probably will be here, and uh Jesse is here.

0:11

Is that correct, David?

0:12

And you're representing your board.

0:14

I hope that the uh segregation that happened naturally here is not an indication of our inability to coordinate.

0:28

As I understand it, folks.

0:30

Oh, does everybody know everybody?

0:31

You ever know everybody?

0:35

Okay, just for the sake of Letty, who's keeping notes.

0:38

Can we start right here with Karen to go around this way?

0:41

Karen Mayo.

Speaker 2

0:42

Sure.

0:42

Hi, Karen Mayo.

0:43

I am the vice president of sales services and strategic alliances

Unassigned speaker

0:47

for

Speaker 2

0:47

the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Group.

Unassigned speaker

0:50

My

Speaker 3

0:50

name is David Shields.

0:52

Uh chair of the CVB and I represent the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Speaker 4

0:56

Amanda Kieran, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relation.

1:00

Susan Johnson on the CVB board, Texas

Speaker 5

1:03

Heritage.

Speaker 6

1:05

AK Welch, also on CVB board, exec committee, and um

Speaker 5

1:11

some other least.

1:13

Uh Chris Pernew, uh board and executive board,

Unassigned speaker

1:16

uh

Speaker 5

1:16

Aerosol Vineyards and Yano Estacato.

Speaker 7

1:19

Kid Patterson, co-owner looking like Texas and Board Labor.

Unassigned speaker

1:29

You

Speaker 7

1:29

need to let me know.

1:30

Tony Carol Hoover,

Speaker 1

1:34

Todd Edson, Emily Birchner, Garrett Bonn, Letty Bosek, Clinton Bailey, and Bobby Watson.

1:40

Thank you all.

Unassigned speaker

1:42

I

Speaker 1

1:42

know all of you have at least one business, done several.

1:46

Yeah.

1:47

As I understand that the reason for this meeting was to, it's long overdue.

1:53

And that is for us to have a good open conversation about

Unassigned speaker

1:58

the

Speaker 1

1:58

relationship between the city's interests and what we're in control

Unassigned speaker

2:01

of

Speaker 1

2:02

and what you're in control of and what you do to maximize the impact of our convention visitors bureau.

2:10

It felt good that this would be the right time since we're in a leadership transition, and to lay maybe a new foundation.

2:18

May I encourage you, please.

2:21

Do not leave this meeting with any questions that you did not ask.

2:26

Do not leave this meeting with any perceived misunderstandings.

2:30

I'm not sure what was said, was that meant, whatever.

2:33

That's what this is about.

2:34

Drill down to absolute knowledge of what you need to know.

2:39

And same with the council, but I know my council, I don't have to say that because that's who they are in any way.

2:47

But we've not met as a group before.

2:49

And um, so I obviously there's probably some missing relationship.

2:54

Come in, Matthew, we're waiting on

Unassigned speaker

2:56

you.

Speaker 1

2:57

Um, we're not waiting on you, but we're glad to see

Unassigned speaker

3:00

you.

Unassigned speaker

3:01

Um

Speaker 2

3:02

actually, this isn't a great challenge.

Speaker 1

3:04

She was holding it warm for us.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Tourism Promotion███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Historic Preservation█████████████████17%
Arts And Culture████████8%
Budget Equity Analysis████████8%
Community Engagement███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Fiscal Sustainability████4%
Strategic Planning████4%
Public Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Fredericksburg City Council Special Meeting on CVB CEO Search and HOT Funding – December 9, 2025

The Fredericksburg City Council held a special meeting on December 9, 2025, at 9:00 AM at the New City Hall to discuss the Convention & Visitor Bureau's (CVB) search for a new President/CEO and to review Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funding priorities. The meeting brought together the City Council and the CVB board to improve communication, clarify funding structures, and align on strategic goals for tourism and community benefit.

Discussion Items

  • Relationship and Communication Gaps: Mayor Hoover acknowledged that routine reporting from the CVB to the Council has been neglected, and both sides agreed to improve communication. Councilmember Kirchner emphasized the need to better educate residents on tourism's benefits, including property tax relief from the half-cent sales tax.
  • HOT Funding Allocation and Arts/Historic Preservation: Councilmember Kirchner raised concerns that 99% of HOT funds were spent on marketing, despite statutory allowances for 15% on historic preservation and 15% on arts. CVB representatives explained that marketing often promotes arts and history, and both sides agreed to clarify definitions and improve tracking. Mayor Hoover encouraged a shift toward programmatic support for heritage and arts organizations, with the CVB handling marketing.
  • Budget and DMO Tier Status: City Manager Bailey explained that the CVB’s budget was historically funded by five-sevenths of HOT collections, but as collections grew, a reserve of over $5 million accumulated. The Council then moved to a fixed annual budget, reducing the CVB’s operating budget from $5.3 million to $4.2 million. This drop below the $5 million threshold changed the CVB’s designation from a mid-size DMO to a small DMO, losing access to industry opportunities and making CEO recruitment harder (mid-tier candidates vs. senior leaders with 10+ years experience).
  • Multi-Year Funding Proposal: The CVB board requested a multi-year contract (three years discussed) to provide financial stability. City Manager Bailey and Councilmembers expressed openness to such an agreement.
  • Reserve Use and Cost Recovery: The City discussed using HOT funds to recover costs for emergency services related to tourism (estimated $200,000–$500,000 per year for special events, and about 17% of fire/EMS budget for out-of-county visitors). However, state law restrictions may require special legislation.

Key Outcomes

  • The CVB will provide the City Council with:
    • A breakdown of HOT spending by category (arts, historic preservation, marketing).
    • The new CEO job description.
  • The City Council will consider:
    • A public update on the CVB’s progress (tentatively scheduled for January 2026).
    • A multi-year funding agreement with the CVB.
    • Possibly supplementing the current CVB budget from reserves to restore the $5 million threshold.
  • Weekly email updates from the CVB to the City Council will begin, using a template similar to other city departments.
  • The CVB will be invited to the City’s annual strategic planning workshop to align goals before the budget process.
  • No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a discussion aimed at building consensus and establishing next steps.

Meeting Transcript

I'll call it to order. Um welcome, glad to have you here. I understand that everybody except for uh Matthew, who probably will be here, and uh Jesse is here. Is that correct, David? And you're representing your board. I hope that the uh segregation that happened naturally here is not an indication of our inability to coordinate. As I understand it, folks. Oh, does everybody know everybody? You ever know everybody? Okay, just for the sake of Letty, who's keeping notes. Can we start right here with Karen to go around this way? Karen Mayo. Sure. Hi, Karen Mayo. I am the vice president of sales services and strategic alliances for the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Group. My name is David Shields. Uh chair of the CVB and I represent the National Museum of the Pacific War. Amanda Kieran, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relation. Susan Johnson on the CVB board, Texas Heritage. AK Welch, also on CVB board, exec committee, and um some other least. Uh Chris Pernew, uh board and executive board, uh Aerosol Vineyards and Yano Estacato. Kid Patterson, co-owner looking like Texas and Board Labor. You need to let me know. Tony Carol Hoover, Todd Edson, Emily Birchner, Garrett Bonn, Letty Bosek, Clinton Bailey, and Bobby Watson. Thank you all. I know all of you have at least one business, done several. Yeah. As I understand that the reason for this meeting was to, it's long overdue. And that is for us to have a good open conversation about the relationship between the city's interests and what we're in control of and what you're in control of and what you do to maximize the impact of our convention visitors bureau. It felt good that this would be the right time since we're in a leadership transition, and to lay maybe a new foundation. May I encourage you, please. Do not leave this meeting with any questions that you did not ask. Do not leave this meeting with any perceived misunderstandings. I'm not sure what was said, was that meant, whatever. That's what this is about. Drill down to absolute knowledge of what you need to know.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com