Tax board recommends 'plan of attack'

The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board on Wednesday recommended a new visitors guide, print ads or billboards, creating merchandise featuring its new logo and new directional signs in town be part of a “plan of attack” for tourism efforts using leftover funds from events canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Board members also gave a green light to City Manager Mark Martinez to pursue a short-term tourism marketing contract with the Alamogordo-based Leighton Moon firm, which designed the city’s new logo.

The board formed a short list of prioritized spending during a work session Wednesday before the regular meeting. In previous meetings, city Finance Director Rachelle Arias estimated the board had about $40,000 extra to spend because the pandemic canceled all events last year.

“We in a very unique position where money is unclaimed and unused,” Chairman Larry Smith said.

He said he called for the work session to prioritize spending because of “bad decisions in the past.”

All board members indicated strong preference for a new visitors guide to help direct tourists to museums, restaurants, gas stations and other attractions in town. That guide would be designed by Leighton Moon.

Citing the need for better and more directional signs from Interstate 40, U.S. 54, Highway 209 and Highway 104, Smith said he wanted to push for “one-time” projects that would create long-term benefit for the city because “the money won’t always be there.”

Smith said the “signing is terrible” that directs travelers to Route 66 attractions. He said “banners would make a huge difference,” but Martinez doubted they could install them on light poles in town because Xcel owns the poles and has expressed reluctance in hanging banners on them.

Smith also emphasized the importance of being prepared for Route 66’s centennial in 2026 and that other towns were readying for it.

“If we sleep through it, we’ll be passed by,” he said.

Board members Mike Castelli and Lila Doughty agreed new signs were needed off I-40 and First Street. Castelli also acknowledged a new and improved visitors guide could accomplish many of the same things as signs in the interim.

Regarding merchandise with the city’s new logo, Smith said there would be an initial investment of buying T-shirts, pint glasses, keychains and other merchandise. The income from sales of those items would cover that upfront expense and possibly pay part of the salary of a social-media manager proposed by Martinez.

Board member Al Patel suggested his 66 Outlaw Apparel company and ArteFormz Custom Artwork and Design in Tucumcari could become the suppliers for much of the merchandise with the new logo.

Patel wanted high priority to print ads in publications such as ROUTE Magazine and New Mexico Route 66 Magazine, plus securing more billboards on the I-40 corridor.

Smith acknowledged it’s “a buyer’s market” from billboard companies “desperate to lease” during the recession.

“We do want to hit billboards hard this year because there will be lots of Americans taking road trips this year,” Smith said. “There are deals to be had.”

Regarding the hiring of Leighton Moon as the city’s tourism marketer, Martinez said he was prepared to offer at this week’s city commission meeting at least $15,000 to the firm for work through the rest of the fiscal year that ends June 30. Money would come from the lodgers tax executive board.

“I want to hit the ground running (on tourism) before it gets too late in the season,” Martinez said.

Martinez also said he preferred hiring a resident part time to manage the city’s social media accounts, though he didn’t discount the possibility Leighton Moon also could work with the manager.

In other business:

• Martinez said he would contact the organizers of Tucumcari Rawhide Days, New Mexico Music Showcase and Rockin’ Route 66 festivals and advise them to spend money “at their own risk” this year because of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

Bednorz acknowledged Rawhide Days, which typically occurs in early May, was “probably dead” in 2021 because of the pandemic. Martinez said he would contact Brian Whitcomb, organizer of Rockin’ Route 66, and advise him to hold off on promotional spending at least for a few months because of that.

• Tucumcari MainStreet Executive Director Connie Loveland said she’d driven Route 66 from Tucumcari to Seligman, Arizona, to distribute Tucumcari Talking Tour rack cards and inform businesses along the historic highway of the city’s new tourism branding effort.

Loveland said she was surprised a majority of business owners along Route 66 knew of Tucumcari’s new brand and were receptive to it.

• Martinez said he would instruct city maintenance crews to apply linseed oil to the faded wooden part of the Tucumcari welcome signs on Route 66 and Highway 209. He said replacing those wooden signs would cost a total of $10,000. City commission liaison Todd Duplantis said the city ought to investigate covering the wooden part with the city’s new logo in vinyl for far less money.