The Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission is close to being back at full capacity.
Coltan Scrivner, organizer of one of Eureka Springs’ most popular annual events, was selected to fill the vacant seat during the commission’s monthly meeting held Wednesday, July 23, at The Auditorium.
Scrivner’s selection has now gone to the mayor’s office, and a likely vote by city council at its next meeting scheduled for Aug. 11 after it was not on the agenda for the July 28 council meeting.
“Welcome, Mr. Scrivner,” said Steve Holifield, CAPC chair, after the 5-0 vote at the July 23 commission meeting. “This now will go to the mayor, so technically this is just us nominating a commissioner, and then it goes to the mayor’s office and he can or can not put it forward to the city council. It’s up to him. He has that discretion as far as I know. And then it goes to city council for a vote …” Scrivner was selected over Brian Knapp and former commissioner Bradley Tate-Greene, who held the seat until resigning in late February.
“As a member of the CAPC, I would bring to the table a mix of community- rooted entrepreneurship, creative experience and formal training in data analysis,” Scrivner told commissioners prior to the vote at the July 23 meeting.
Scrivner has owned the 1883 Peabody House Bed and Breakfast since 2023, according to his resume submitted to commissioners, and will be opening The Boodega, a “mystery-themed convenience store” downtown “in the next couple of weeks.” “I also organize the Eureka Springs Zombie Crawl and the Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival, which are two of the largest cultural events in town,” Scrivner told commissioners. “So, in addition to supporting tourism and promoting the unique nature of Eureka Springs, these experiences give me insight into Eureka Springs tourism from a couple of different angles — from the lodging perspective, from an event organizer perspective and now from a retail perspective.”
Scrivner also credited his educational background as something that would be a benefit as a member of the CAPC.
“I have a PhD from the University of Chicago, and professional experience as a researcher at one of the largest tech companies in the world,” he said. “This has given me the analytical skills necessary to make data-driven and informed decisions about very complex problems. In particular, my work as a user experience researcher has taught me how to incorporate the concerns of individuals and communities into sort of practical, effective solutions.”
Scrivner submitted his CAPC application in early July after Damon Henke, who was selected by commissioners to fill the vacant seat in a 4-1 vote on June 25, withdrew his application days later. Henke cited his role as chair of the board of directors of the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce as a conflict of interest with a role on the CAPC.
“Good evening, I spoke with Mike Maloney and several key Eureka Springs stakeholders today regarding my potential appointment to the CAPC,” Henke wrote in the July 1 email to members of the CAPC obtained by the Times-Echo. “During those conversations, we confirmed a conflict of interest. As Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, I will be involved in several direct interactions with the CAPC Director and Commission. For example, the CAPC is preparing to vote on a postage contract for the Visitor Guide. Also, the Chamber is developing a Visitor Services Contract that involves relocating the official Welcome Center.
“The more we discussed the evolving relationship between the CAPC and the Chamber, the clearer the conflict became. As a result, I have decided to withdraw my application. The CAPC is now accepting additional applications and will submit a new candidate to the City Council. Thank you for your support.”
Henke was originally picked over Tate-Greene and Knapp, earning votes from commissioners Robert Schmid, Heather Wilson, Shira Fouste and Holifield. Kolin Paulk was the lone commissioner to vote against Henke, with David Avanzino absent.
The applications from Tate-Greene and Knapp remained active in the new search with Scrivner and Ken Jones, owner of McGarity’s Restaurant and Irish Pub, submitting applications in the days after Henke’s withdrawal.
Jones later withdrew his application, leaving three candidates.
Tate-Greene, who cited controversies with the city’s hospital commission, along with a career change, for his resignation in February, also spoke during the July 23 meeting, explaining why returning to his former seat would benefit the commission.
“Serving previously as a commissioner was a true honor, and stepping away only deepened my appreciation for the vital work that this body does in shaping the vibrancy and the visibility of our community,” Tate-Greene told commissioners during public comments. “… I know I can contribute from day one. I know I can fight from day one. I know that I fought from day one previously, serving with the challenges that we had.
“… I also am a person of integrity, a person of great character, which is why I stepped away. The job that I accepted, as my explanation to all of you, was a requirement of six months, an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m job as a director for a large corporation in which the position was done away with after the second month, and I was asked to go to a different city and work, of which I did, and I did not enjoy that, because I was away from my home.”
If he had not resigned from the commission, his frequent absences would have put the CAPC in a challenging position, Tate-Greene said.
“… Missing three meetings, according to the bylaws, can result in a disciplinary action of removal,” he said. “So, my integrity and my character proved that I did not want to jeopardize that, and also to put challenges in front of you in upholding the standards for our commission, as well as a standard set across the board with the government and other commissions.
“I did not want to put that challenge in front of you to have to face the fact that if you allowed me to stay, then somebody would throw it in your face and say: ‘Oh, well, he missed three meetings and they don’t uphold their laws,’ or two meetings or however many it was. …” Before the vote to select Scrivner over Tate-Greene and Knapp, Wilson made a motion to go into executive session, saying she felt the commission needed to thoroughly discuss the candidates before making a decision.
“…There was some feedback from the community that I received with the last vote,” Wilson said of the vote to select Henke. “I was out of the country, and I came home to several messages, emails, instant messages, etc. Typically, I’m going to say when adding an individual to a team or a body of people, if you will, there’s opportunity for thoughtful discussion and input. And in this case, we did not do that.
“We didn’t hear from Mike, who I think it’s important to hear from as executive director of CAPC, who works closely with this commission. So, the lack of due diligence, it was a setback for us. I think we need to acknowledge that it cost people their time. And I think it’s a fair and important point that we consider and we own up to. So, I would like to ensure that we handle this appointment responsibly with the due diligence that our tax collectors and the community deserve.”
Wilson made a motion to go into executive session after she said she was advised by a city attorney that such a session was appropriate to discuss candidates.
Approximately a half-hour later, commissioners reconvened and voted to resume the regular meeting before Schmid made a motion to select Scrivner.
Avanzino seconded the motion before the 5-0 vote with Fouste absent.
OTHER CAPC BUSINESS
In his monthly report, finance director Ty Reed told commissioners that the CAPC had $1.6 million in assets and cash at the end of June.
“For June, collections were $182,000 with a budget of $197,000,” Reed said. “Year-todate, actual collections were $824,000 with a budget of $876,000.”
Net income for June was minus $34,000 with a budget of $20,000, Reed said.
“Year-to-date, net income is negative-$ 385,000 with a budget of $359,000,” he said. “We had equity infusions to bring the net income to zero.”
Commissioners again questioned what they called an ever-growing list of delinquent businesses that have failed to file required monthly CAPC paperwork or submit tax collections.
Some commissioners questioned businesses that have been closed “for some time,” or others that have been on the list for many months.
“We’re following a process,” Reed said, later adding, “if you’d like to talk specifics, you can come by the office. I’m not going to talk about them here.”
Maloney echoed Reed, telling commissioners, that appropriate steps are being taken.
“This past month, I did have a little bit of an opportunity to make a personal visit to one of the ones that was most severely past due,” Maloney said. “And, we issued a very stern letter of demand. One of those businesses does have an ABC alcohol permit, and they have until the 31st of this month, which is a few days from now, to go ahead and complete. They did come in earlier last week, made a substantial payment against their debt, but they still have got filings that need to go on.
“When I show up with a packet, with a demand, then that’s one step that we take very aggressively. So please understand … that we’re doing our job. It’s just taking some time to get these people to catch up with us. We take this very seriously. And Ty and I, believe it or not, spend a lot of time going over this, trying to make sure that we are doing the job that the commission has set forth for us to do.”
In his monthly tourism report, Maloney said plans are to ask for “at least” $19,000 in a state grant for second New Year’s Eve bash downtown after the first one was such a success.
“That’s all I can say about New Year’s Eve at this point, other than we’ve started the preparations for it,” Maloney said. “We’ve had a meeting, kind of ad hoc, if you will, about what we want to do, what we wanna see. And, you know, we’re getting prepared for what could be an even a bigger event than in 2024. We are really kind of excited about it.
“The same thing with Christmas. Our organization is integrally involved with basically all things Christmas. There’s a regular meeting that happens in the mayor’s office at least once a month. It may be starting next month. And, you know, the CAPC, a team of five, needs to be a team of about 50 during that time period because we do so much for Christmas, and we’re planning again to do the same thing.”
Maloney reported that the CAPC recently received initial data from AirDNA, a company recently approved to help provide information regarding the shortterm rentals in the city.
AirDNA’s first report showed 486 available listings in June with an average daily rate of $179 and 47 percent occupancy rate.
“…And $1.1 million in revenue for June,” Maloney said.
The lone funding request was from Scrivner and came moments after he was voted on to join the commission.
A $5,000 request for the Eureka Springs Zombie Crawl was approved, but not before the commission voted to increase the budget for marketing support by $100,000 for the remainder of the year after it was noticed the line item had only $4,900 remaining.
