South Walton TDC Director Resigns

[Teresa]

My guess is that most business owners are not unhappy with TDC progress which has been substantial compared with years past. Especially since the oil spill disaster/recovery which was devastating but short lived due in large part to TDC work and response. There is a vocal group with great ideas and insights but many have been harsh. Not the majority of people by any means. But we hear from those who tend to speak out. I doubt you would find your typical business owner among them.

There have been mistakes, rumors of mistakes, unfortunate situations, hard times, bad PR, lack of communication, and more. We have a very vocal community which is a good thing in the end. It means people care even if their expression is sometimes loud and angry.

I have watched a rather ineffective county level govt in a rapidly growing town for many years and this is the root problem (not the TDC), imo, causing frustration for those who would like sowal to be a city with real services with professional management. Not gonna happen. Still a fabulous place to live and I'm good with it.

 

[mputnal]

I might not be a typical 30A business owner but much of my business takes me to 30A so here are my thoughts regarding Teresa's happy business owner statement. I do not think our happiness or non-happiness comes from anything that Dawn did for us. We can not blame her for the lack of infrastructure, oil spill, or local economy however to give her credit that she in "large part" helped us quickly recover from the oil spill goes a little too far for my comfort. In direct contrast with Teresa's opinion, Dawn had a tremendous opportunity to improve our infrastructure (not just the building she would be working in) but failed to have vision in these opportunities. The BP money could have been spent differently. The TDC director is not a glamorous only job and requires a person to understand the dirty below the surface parts of our community supporting tourism as well as the advertising and marketing sparkly things. We did not recover from the oil spill more quickly because of that advertising and marketing and IMO we recovered because very little oil washed up on our beaches. No amount of advertising would bring tourist to the beaches if it was covered in oil. We have a paradise because of nothing that any of us are doing except to protect what nature has given us. I think she missed that point and the large salary might have given her visions of grandeur.

I do agree with Teresa that we all make mistakes and I do not dislike DM because of the mistakes she made however it seems that she might not fully understand what she did wrong. I also agree with Teresa in that the TDC is not the cause of our infrastructure problems and that we are being let down by politics. I am hopeful because of the people in our community and many in this forum who do understand how this community works from bottom to top and is willing to help whether that be from constructive criticism or active participation.

 

[Teresa]

In other words... it's complicated.

 

[Dawn]

I might not be a typical 30A business owner but much of my business takes me to 30A so here are my thoughts regarding Teresa's happy business owner statement. I do not think our happiness or non-happiness comes from anything that Dawn did for us. We can not blame her for the lack of infrastructure, oil spill, or local economy however to give her credit that she in "large part" helped us quickly recover from the oil spill goes a little too far for my comfort. In direct contrast with Teresa's opinion, Dawn had a tremendous opportunity to improve our infrastructure (not just the building she would be working in) but failed to have vision in these opportunities. The BP money could have been spent differently. The TDC director is not a glamorous only job and requires a person to understand the dirty below the surface parts of our community supporting tourism as well as the advertising and marketing sparkly things. We did not recover from the oil spill more quickly because of that advertising and marketing and IMO we recovered because very little oil washed up on our beaches. No amount of advertising would bring tourist to the beaches if it was covered in oil. We have a paradise because of nothing that any of us are doing except to protect what nature has given us. I think she missed that point and the large salary might have given her visions of grandeur.

I do agree with Teresa that we all make mistakes and I do not dislike DM because of the mistakes she made however it seems that she might not fully understand what she did wrong. I also agree with Teresa in that the TDC is not the cause of our infrastructure problems and that we are being let down by politics. I am hopeful because of the people in our community and many in this forum who do understand how this community works from bottom to top and is willing to help whether that be from constructive criticism or active participation.

To be fair, let me repeat for the ignorant, the BP dollars came with very clear and strict guidelines on when and how the money could be spent. Like immediate TV and radio spots, etc.

You could say the money was burning a hole in the county's pocket. It had to be spent quickly with guidelines (some silly) - which is why some people had money thrown at them (aging pop stars).

You make a valid and incredibly obvious point about the oil on the beach. But we had a ridiculous number of visitors last year and looks like this year too. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. You spend money, you make money. It ain't just word of mouth. As amazingly successful as this site is at bringing visitors here (a photo is worth a thousand tourists) - we can give a little credit to the TDC spending BP dollars.

The attitude of TDC does nothing right and BP dollars are poison is getting tired.

 

[Independent Thinker]

Thats your opinion and your entitled to it, but the facts remain that the TDC has done some pretty stupid, financially wasteful things. As far as the "ridiculous number of visitors" goes, it's destroying what the vast majority of people come here for, and what a lot of people moved here for.

 

[mputnal]

Speaking on behalf of all ignorant people in South Walton however I do admit that I may be the only one, I believe there were ways around the guidelines. Also, why would you allow BP require us to follow "strict" guidlelines when if they had followed any guidelines this would not have happened? We can debate whether or not BP would have denied our request to use the money for tourism infrastructure support all day but the bottom line is that decisions where made and money was spent. All that is behind us and hopefully the new director will fight for what this community needs to support greater numbers of tourist that will surely come whether or not we have expensive logos's or songs. I think our paradise will inspire people to be creative and give something back and so I am not sure we have to spend money on some of those sparkly things. I believe we should spend money on infrastructure first however ignorant I may be on the necessity of marketing and advertising and BP restrictions.

 

[Jdarg]

To be fair, let me repeat for the ignorant, the BP dollars came with very clear and strict guidelines on when and how the money could be spent. Like immediate TV and radio spots, etc.

You could say the money was burning a hole in the county's pocket. It had to be spent quickly with guidelines (some silly) - which is why some people had money thrown at them (aging pop stars).

You make a valid and incredibly obvious point about the oil on the beach. But we had a ridiculous number of visitors last year and looks like this year too. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. You spend money, you make money. It ain't just word of mouth. As amazingly successful as this site is at bringing visitors here (a photo is worth a thousand tourists) - we can give a little credit to the TDC spending BP dollars.

The attitude of TDC does nothing right and BP dollars are poison is getting tired.

I still have yet to meet one visitor who came here because of marketing. I make it a point to ask every single one I meet. I talk to many people at work in a retail setting in Rosemary Beach, and also just out and about (I am a little chatty . Maybe it is different in the Miramar area, but on 30A, the answers are always the following:
I have been visiting here since I was a child, or similar (family tradition)
My family has a place here.
We came with friends.
Our friends told us about this place.
We live in (insert southern state) and everybody comes here.
Everyone at our kids' schools come here. (spring break specific)
We are staying in Destin or PCB and somebody told us we should drive over to 30A and take a look.

When and if somebody tells me they saw a TV ad, magazine spread, or Emeril and it persuaded them to come to South Walton, y'all will be the first to know! After I pick myself up off the floor and regain my composure, of course. If anybody has had a real live encounter with a real TDC marketed visitor- let's see some proof!