LAKEPORT— The Lakeport City Council heard a presentation on the Lake County Tourism Improvement District (LCTID), received and filed an Illegal Fireworks Police Operation Plan and appointed councilmembers to an ad hoc committee during their regularly scheduled Tuesday council meeting.
The LCTID presentation was given by Brian Fisher, Communications person for the LCTID. Fisher said in the report that in 2019 approximately $180.7 million was spent in the county due to travel related expenses. This provided around $12.8 million in state and local tax revenues for the county.
This also contributed to 1,800 jobs in Lake County Fisher said. According to the presentation, since 2013, the total travel spending for Lake County has been growing.
The largest share of the total travel spending is food service, followed by accommodations.
“The modernization in the efforts in Lake County’s communication process is an investment that will continue to pay dividends for years to come,” Fisher said.
2021 Board Members of the LCTID include Larry Galupe, Maryann Schmid, Wilda Shock, Brian Fisher, Alan Flora, Steven Griffith, Jessica Pyska, Lynne Butcher, Priya Dias, Jitu Ishwar and Vikesh Parmar.
“We have a good board of 11 folks and a good representation of the county. We have someone from the City of Lakeport, the City of Clearlake, the county and two tribal commissions,” Fisher said.
Some major accomplishments in 2020 cited by Fisher include building a new website, gaining new team members, gaining a 120 percent increase in Facebook following, a rise in media exposure, redesigning their monthly newsletter, building an asset bank and adding print ads to the list revenue.
In 2020 the LCTID received and raised around $287,426 Fisher said.
“We spent very little of it and we will need substantially more to compete with travelers. As we know our neighboring counties have been doing this for a long time and they have millions in their budget to spend,” Fisher said.
For 2021 the LCTID is looking to continue to partner with Belo Company, increase long-term and overnight visiting to the county, continue doing paid social and search engine and use of high profile billboards in San Francisco and Sacramento.
The city council also received and filed the Illegal Fireworks Police Operation Plan. The Lakeport Municipal Code requires that the Police Department present the plan to the council each year Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said.
The plan has to include identification of areas within the city where illegal fireworks were a problem in the previous year, an explanation of the deployment of fire and law enforcement to deal with those areas, a report on the personnel who will be on duty and any recommendations.
Rasmussen said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the city had a significant decrease in the numbers of people in public places, but the possession and use of illegal fireworks remained a problem.
“Last year we identified the problem areas as the parklands, the Willow Point area, all of the major shopping centers, the 16th and Hartley street area and the school campus as being problematic and areas affected by illegal fireworks,” Rasmussen said.
He added that this July 4, 2021, the Police Department will deploy all of their staff as well as mutual aids to ensure the safety of the community. The department will also conduct a public outreach campaign starting in early June regarding the dangers of illegal fireworks.
In other council business, Mayor Kenny Parlet and councilmember Michael Green were appointed to the Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL) Policy and Restructuring Ad Hoc Committee. This committee will give policy recommendations and evaluate restructuring options for Lakeport’s California Public Employees’ Retirement System, miscellaneous and safety plans.
