This issue is not easy. SOmehow the TDC has become and automatic bad guy.
"He has eaten with us several times over the years, and I think it would be a great way to introduce Emeril's audience to our special corner of culinary talent in Walton County," said Rauschkolb.
Chef Gio Filippone of Vue on 30A agreed.
"I think it can be good for tourism because people will see our beaches and how great it is here," said Filippone. "And yes I would invite him here (into my kitchen). Why not? I think it would be fun."
However, as a newly elected county commissioner, Cindy Meadows polled the community on their feelings about the matter and received a much different response. In two days, she had 50 replies on Facebook to her inquiry, and all were against the project, she said.
"It has been 100 percent against," she said.
The comments ranged from “I think the money could most certainly have been better spent” to likening the project to “spending $75,000 on a lame song.”
Jeffrey Ellis, a former employee of Walton County Tourist Development Council, said the money could have been spent on "Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalk" signs "before someone gets killed trying to cross 30A." He said the TDC needs to realign its priorities and recapture the original local focus it had in the 1980s.
"Those yield to pedestrian signs are seen in downtown Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Navarre Beach, St Pete Beach; Tybee Island, Maine ... and the list goes on and on ... EXCEPT in South Walton where these signs are desperately needed on beach routes 30A and Scenic Gulf Drive, a.k.a. Old Highway 98," he said.
Realtor Bobby Johnson chimed in online with: "I get frustrated when I see the TDC spending more money to bring more people to an area that is losing what they are trying to bring people to (the beaches). It's pure insanity and short sighted."
Former Walton County Artist of the Year Susan Lucas posted, "I see it as another example of unclear priorities, or priorities that are not what they should be. This summer, there were more visitors than could be supported by the beach, the accesses, the roads, the trash pickup, etc. They are marketing us as this peaceful, nature-oriented place (that's good), but the reality is becoming Panama City Beach. Adjustments are needed. Too much money to spend with no oversight."
Jim Carter of Swantree Concierge urges advertising through a local company — someone who does not need huge amounts of money to get the pulse of the area to create a marketing plan ... i.e. ... “Find Your Perfect Beach.”
"We need long-term plans to make people want to keep coming for years to come instead of tourists starting to say things like ‘common, touristy, overcrowded, trashy’ ... we have to keep those words out of the mouths of the people who carry their time spent here home to their friends and neighbors. The writing is on the wall; we have to proactively turn the corner and move away from becoming the places we use as examples of ‘unsuccess,’ ” he said.
Sandestin's Kent Lillie spent more than 30 years in the TV advertising industry — many of those on the executive level. Whether the $150,000 spent by Walton County TDC for this Emeril episode is worth the money is impossible to know yet, he said.
"Emeril is a great talent and can bring a lot of attention to the area. That said, it's about the numbers and whether there is adequate return on investment in terms of audience reached, frequency of message, content of message and finally, show ownership or future broadcast rights and other uses," Lillie told The Sun. "Also, it would be important to know how much of the show will the TDC own, my guess zero, or what the future rights to the show are.
“Problem is that like most/all government agencies, there is no incentive for managers to bargain for price or value received. Since they're looking for a place to tape, let's lobby for Vue on 30A, but I hear that it's a done deal. It will be from Emeril's kitchen at his house. How will that show off or help our area?”
Meadows says she is listening and one of her first orders of business after taking office Nov. 20 will be to establish a citizen committee to hear all these ideas and get community feedback on TDC spending.
And as for the county's decision to spend the money for a TV segment with Emeril, Meadows said she does not like it.
"We have a lot of other issues to focus on. I think it's a waste of money. When I get on the commission we will look at these types of things. I don't think it will bring in more tourists. The timing couldn't be worse. We are just getting out of touch," she said.
