Tourism grant delayed in Lafourche

A Lafourche Parish councilman blocked a vote proposing the dedication of $500,000 in tourism-related grant funding to the marketing firm that has handled the parish’s Dig In campaign, the second time the action has been delayed since late February.

Jerry Jones, Dist. 1, said he pulled the measure from the agenda because the administration did not present a report that he felt was promised in response to two charter-fishing guides raising issues at an earlier meeting concerning The W.L. Gaiennie Company’s handling of Dig In.

“I want to make sure that everybody gets proper advertisement and gets a piece of this pie,” said Jones, who was the resolution’s sponsor on behalf of the administration. “We’re fixing to spend a half a million dollars in commercials.”

This was after Lafourche Parish Government special projects coordinator and Dig In liaison Julie Barrilleaux presented a 10-minute video with testimonials from stakeholders in parish tourism – including one of the charter fishing guides who had spoken out at that first meeting – touting the benefits of the campaign. Charles Gaiennie, the firm’s owner, was also in attendance to answer questions.

“Quite frankly, I don’t understand it,” Parish President Charlotte Randolph said after the meeting, “but it’s not the first time.”

Randolph said the grant’s receipt comes with a deadline to spend the funds, and that by delaying the vote, Jones risks costing the parish marketing money.

“We only have eight months left to spend the money,” she said, adding that no report had been requested of her administration. “It would seem that if this was a high priority, then certainly someone would have made an effort to request that.”

Multiple sources said on the condition of anonymity that a contingent of the council is considering handing over the grant funds to Nicholls State University’s marketing department.

The Gaiennie Company already has the parish contract to administer $2.1 million in BP tourism money funneled through the state’s Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

Regardless of who receives the new money, the way it must be spent is non-negotiable per the initial grant application, Randolph said. The grant was approved by the Gulf Tourism and Seafood Promotional Fund, a $57 million pool crafted to promote those industries in Gulf Coast areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010.

The resolution in question included $500,000 in approved expenditures, the maximum amount awardable to an individual entity over the course of a year.

The approved project’s scope includes printing a 15-page “Destinations Guide”; the development of commercial websites for Laurel Valley Plantation, Center for Traditional Boat Building, the Bayou Playhouse, the Cut Off Youth Center and the Larose Civic Center; and 12 weeks of television commercials in nine markets spanning from Dallas to Monroe to Pensacola, Fla.

The destinations guide would cost $62,500, the package of websites would approach $17,500; and the TV commercials would run at a combined $420,000.

Entities are allowed to apply for $500,000 by October of each year, and Lafourche Parish intends on requesting an additional lump sum by that deadline. But the parish would have to spend the allotted funds in order to qualify for the additional money.

The contract with Gaiennie was first proposed at the council’s Feb. 26 meeting and was then pulled from consideration at Randolph’s request. Prior to her decision, two charter fishermen criticized the Dig In efforts, calling them incomprehensive and limited in scope. She said she wanted time to investigate their claims.

Capt. Kip Plaisance, owner of Tidewater Charters, was the first charter-fishing guide to address the council in session regarding Dig In. He said the website provided to him – a service provided to more than 25 guides, total – is difficult to operate and that the marketing firm has been slow to respond to issues.

“He had a minor problem with his website and it was fixed while he sat there and from there he was OK to go,” Barrilleaux told the council. “I’m not really sure if he understood that he needed to come back in front of the council and give a progress report.”

On Monday, Plaisance told the Tri-Parish Times that he wasn’t satisfied and that he’d prefer the pending contract go to another party.

“Everything else in this parish goes out to bid,” he said. “(Gaiennie) had his chance. Give someone else a chance. … They’re missing the boat.”

Plaisance has also taken issue with the $450 fee he said The Gaiennie Company has said it will charge for the web-hosting service, done through DreamHost. The fishing guide said DreamHost conducts business with individuals for roughly $119 a year and that he doesn’t feel he’s being provided with the $300-plus difference in prices. The fee was waived in 2012.

And although Barrilleaux and Gaiennie have said they consult with charter-fishing guides regarding the marketing strategy, Plaisance said he has had no input. No matter who gets the contract, he’d like to see an advisory committee of guides formed so that the sharing of ideas can be documented, he said.

Capt. Bobby Gros, of Bobby Lynn’s Marina and Fishing Charters, has criticized and praised the Dig In program in successive meetings.

“We have to think a lot bigger,” Gros said at the initial meeting, adding that the firm should be focused more on optimizing search engine results and landing spokespeople who are known and respected in the worldwide fishing realm and that the website is too complicated to manage.

At last week’s meeting, Gros was amenable to the Dig In promoters, urging Jones to allow a vote on the the contract and saying that problems with the campaign have been overcome. To delay the contract would risk “flushing the season down the toilet,” Gros said.