During the process to approve the 2016 borough budget, the Kenai Peninsula Borough cut $40,000 in allocated funds to the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council.
Assembly members previously voted down Blaine Gilman’s proposal to eliminate the the allocation and Wayne Ogle’s proposal to reduce it by 10 percent.
Danny Seavy runs a dog mushing business in Seward during summers and testified in support of the organization’s work…
Seavy: “Every one of those RVs stops at my dog tour, they stop at Wildman’s, they stop at Moose is Loose, they stop at the art shops that are down in Homer and I think that is incredible for our whole area. I think it’s an awesome partnership, I believe we match the funds that are given, not to us, but invested through us and I think we can prove that those funds are returned many times over.”
Often a request for bid process is suggested as a way to open up the contract to other organizations but Mayor Mike Navarre said that has not been done because he is confident that KPTMC would provide the best offer.
Ultimately, assembly members voted six to three for Assembly Member Kelly Cooper’s proposal to reduce the proposed allocation from $380,000 to $340,000.
