Valdez Tourism Task Force Meeting - March 4, 2026: Structure & Interim Funding Decisions
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Valdez Tourism Task Force Meeting – March 4, 2026
The Valdez Tourism Task Force met on March 4, 2026, to review survey results, discuss the future management structure of the tourism marketing organization, and consider an interim marketing funding request. After discussion, the task force postponed a vote on the recommended management structure to the next meeting to allow for further research on member participation in board appointments, and approved a $100,000 interim marketing funding request contingent upon an agreement with the VCVB for release of assets.
Discussion Items
- Review of Task Force Feedback Survey Results: The task force reviewed an internal survey sent to members. Key areas of alignment included 100% agreement on a diverse industry board, a strong desire for oversight (over 50% supported council appointment of board members, ex-officio positions, and strong bylaws), and a need for board training, regular financial reporting, and accessible financials. On membership structure, the survey showed a split (57% vs 42%) on whether there should be enrolled members in the new DMO. Members discussed the complexity of membership levels (e.g., gold, silver) and expressed desire for a simplified, equitable membership model with separate advertising purchases.
- Management Structure Options: The task force focused on two leading models: a standalone nonprofit (501c6) and a quasi-governmental corporation similar to the museum model. Some members expressed frustration with past cycles of nonprofit failure and questioned whether city oversight in the quasi model would be sufficient. Others favored the quasi model for its built-in oversight (council-appointed board, open meetings act compliance, ability to use city benefits for employees, and advisory role from city staff on budget). Members also discussed the possibility of blending models by having some board seats elected by members and some appointed by council. The task force agreed to postpone a decision to the next meeting to explore how to incorporate strong member influence on board appointments within the quasi-governmental structure.
Key Outcomes
- Postponed Vote on Management Structure: A motion to approve a recommendation to city council for the management structure was made, then a motion to postpone to the next regular meeting (to occur in two weeks) was passed unanimously. The task force will use the time to research options for member participation in board appointments (e.g., member-elected seats, a slate of candidates put forward by membership, or an advisory role), with support from city staff.
- Approval of Interim Marketing Funding: A motion was made for $100,000 in interim marketing funding. During discussion, the city manager raised concern about using funds to pay past debts of the current VCVB without a release of assets agreement. An amendment was approved to make the funding contingent upon an agreement with the VCVB for release of assets. The amended motion passed unanimously. The funding covers past debts (e.g., Simple View website, brochure printing - $132,000 listed but total request is $100,000, with past debts and forward expenses), current advertising commitments, website SEO/editing work, and recurring costs for Simple View. Members noted that additional obligations (rent, utilities, fuel bills) may arise as the VCB shuts down.
- Next Steps: The task force will prepare a survey to send to all Valdez businesses to gather input on immediate tourism needs (e.g., physical visitor center) and priorities. The survey draft will be reviewed at the next meeting before release. Martha and city staff will work on the asset release agreement with the current VCB board. The task force will continue discussions on interim operational gaps (including the information center) at future meetings.
Meeting Transcript
Other than Joe and Bill. Bob, why did I say Bill? Bob. I do know who our task force members are, really. So Joe and Bob, everyone else is present. And we can move on to our first item, which is discussion item. And working through kind of how to walk out of here with hopefully some recommendations today if we're comfortable. Leaning on a lease for guidance on the meeting. Kind of the thought was to do a discussion item first with kind of looking through survey results, kind of seeing where our alignment is, and that way when we go into the first action item, we can have recommendation, hopefully, that we are all comfortable with to go forward. So that's kind of the goal of the first discussion item is to look through those, and they were sent to everyone. Did everyone have a chance to kind of look through them? Elise, do we need to go through them in general, or can I pick out highlights and discuss them that way? Is that okay? Okay. Kind of my my thought by having us do a survey is it kind of starts immediately identifying where we have alignment and where we don't have alignment. Um, and we can focus on those areas to hopefully drive us to consensus was my thought, if that's okay with the group. Um the places that I saw that we had really clear agreement when it comes to a board that's diverse at the industry, 100%. We're all there. Um, and so that's something we can easily include in our whatever our final recommendation is. That's a structure that we can really um definitely hang on to and want to move forward. Um the other um when we started moving from, and I I think that the comments we all made on boards, some of the things that um I think as we start setting up bylaws, these are really important. We can share them with Sherry, um, who I'm sure will help us on the things. The the comments I saw that were super important are things like non-participation, um you know what can where can a board fail? It's on the non-participation side, not getting people to commit, um, not having you know good backing from staff to support the board. And so I think we can take all those types of comments and make sure that whatever format we move forward as we write the organization documents, we take all of our comments and try to loop them into those so that we have a strong body that can avoid the pitfalls that we're all afraid that might come up. So are there any comments as far as strength or weakness of a board that you guys want to pull out more than others or I was surprised how inline we all were. There wasn't like a lot of skew off of the main. I saw diversity was a big thing in here and accountability were common threads. So I thought it was actually we were all more aligned than I thought. Yeah, I think even our diversions aren't that far off. So yeah. Um, and so that I think is is we're super aligned on that. The other next thing we went to was oversight um and trying to create something that has oh yes, Magdalene. I have a question. So when I read this um agenda, uh statement, summary statement. It says that the um the survey was sent to the members, members of this task force. Ah, okay. Yes, members of the. This is it was an internal task force email. So um, and the next one was really looking at oversight. Um, and we were very aligned on that that we would like to whatever we make a recommendation forward that we would have some more oversight that we could work with. Um to not to not allow us to get to where we are today, I guess would be my my narrative. Um and so in that um the parts I was gonna pull out that I that I saw and then have everyone add to it is more than 50 percent of us on all of the results were thinking that it would be good to have some oversight on board appointment from council, um, having ex-officios as well, or an equation thereof, as well as really strong bylaws that guide the organization. So um other things that came up was um you know having financials that are more accessible to city members and as well as um having someone support us in those processes. Um what other things we would need to be able to have more oversight. Um, some of the comments were relative to board training, um, so that those that are appointed have real clear guidance on where what their roles are and what they should be doing, um, have access to regular financials and monthly reporting. All of again, I think as we write organizational documents, we can pull lots of that into it. Um did you guys have anything more specific on oversight you want to add? I think being aligned on those two things are it's just a large leap forward, right? Um and then this I I we threw in there just some basic conversations on membership, and this is where we start to see, and I think this is where there's a more open conversation needed.
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