After initially failing to sign off on a list of tourism-promoting organizations in Chehalis that will receive money from the area’s lodging taxes in 2024, the Chehalis City Council passed recommendations by the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) for 2024 on Monday, voting 4-1.
Previous controversy over the recommendations from the volunteer advisory committee came from Councilor Kate McDougall’s belief that the Lewis County Historical Museum was deserving of its requested $45,000, rather than the committee’s recommended $20,000. McDougall again was the lone dissenting vote on Monday.
Mayor Tony Ketchum, who is the treasurer of the Lewis County Historical Museum board, has abstained from voting on the proposals, which he did again on Monday.
During last month’s meeting, some LTAC members in attendance questioned why McDougall, another Lewis County Historical Museum board member, didn’t also recuse herself from voting on the recommendations, too. Ketchum defended her decision.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years. We’ve all sat on these boards, and there’s never been a question at all about this, and there still shouldn’t be a question today,” Ketchum said.
Councilor Daryl Lund agreed with Ketchum.
Councilor Jerry Lord, who chairs the LTAC, said the museum’s proposal lacked innovation and focused more on operation than promoting tourism.
“It has nothing to do with tourists. It has nothing to do with bringing people to town. It has to do with making sure they can stay open,” Lord said. “That’s not an LTAC function. That’s a board museum function.”
Over the past year, the Lewis County Historical Museum set up a display in this year’s Southwest Washington Fair, participated in ChehalisFest by hosting the blueberry pancake breakfast and hosted the Author’s Afternoon event, the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party and the Bigfoot: Real or Hoax event.
McDougall said she wasn’t trying to show favoritism, adding that she volunteers for many of the other organizations who applied for LTAC funding aside from the Lewis County Historical Museum.
Other councilors who still voted also sit on boards that requested LTAC funding.
Councilor Kevin Carns said it is ultimately up to the public to decide if potential conflicts of interest did exist, but in his eyes, the only applicable conflict in this case would be if someone was directly involved with an organization’s finances, as Ketchum is.
“If we were to recuse everybody from every committee that we appoint a city council member to, I would be the only one up here voting because I’m not on any of the boards,” Carns said.
LTAC funding proposals can be resubmitted in January as the committee will convene again as there is a surplus of remaining 2024 LTAC funds, which total $84,397.
“I accept the recommendations. The fact that they want to keep it open for the museum at a later date, that’s why I voted for it,” Councilor Bob Spahr said.
The LTAC funding requests and the amounts granted by the committee are as follows:
• The Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce requested $45,050 and received $15,000
• The Washington Association of Culture and Arts requested $75,000 and received $0
• The Economic Alliance of Lewis County requested $20,000 and received $20,000
• The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad and Museum requested $50,000 and received $50,000
• The Lewis County Historical Museum requested $45,000 and received $20,000
• The Veterans Memorial Museum requested $45,000 and received $45,000
• Experience Chehalis requested $55,700 and received $55,700
As for the Washington Association of Culture and Arts, the newly formed organization’s proposal didn’t fully satisfy all LTAC requirements, Lord said. The organization has been informed and was encouraged to resubmit its proposal in January.
“The chamber of commerce, they asked for 45, we gave them 15, that’s mostly based on we’re the only ones giving money to that, and most of the items they were asking for weren’t for marketing,” said Lord during last month’s meeting.
A total of $10,000 of the chamber’s original $45,050 request was allocated to marketing in its original proposal.
For more information about the LTAC, visit https://www.ci.chehalis.wa.us/bc/lodging-tax-advisory-committee.
