Out of commission for nearly a year, Solvang’s Tourism Advisory Committee is undergoing a reboot, and currently recruiting new members.
The group’s resurfacing also comes with rebranding, as it’s now called the
Solvang posted the notice on its website in early February and will be accepting applications for TMAC appointment through Feb. 16. The last iteration of the board was disbanded by the Solvang City Council in April 2023.
City Manager Randy Murphy told the Sun that the steps to reform the committee began falling into place after the city added new staffers to its marketing efforts, including Candice Libera, who took on the role of marketing and events coordinator in January, after holding an interim marketing position for about a year.
One of the reasons the City Council unanimously decided to halt the former committee from holding future meetings in April was due to the departure of the city’s former marketing agency, The Abbi Agency, according to Councilmember Robert Clarke.
“We don’t have a marketing agency, we don’t have a marketing manager, and I think we should stop and disband the TAC [Tourism Advisory Committee] and start this whole thing from scratch,” Clarke said during the council’s April 10, 2023, meeting. “I think there’s enough qualified people in this town to get together, that care enough about this town to really make the TAC something a step, two steps, three steps above where it has been. I want to wipe the entire slate clean.”
Murphy expects to appoint the five members of the new committee before the end of February, with input from Libera and other staff members.
One of the biggest differences between the former committee and the upcoming relaunch is that the TMAC won’t be a Brown Act committee, Murphy said.
“The committee had a value. It was just kind of cumbersome the way it was organized,” Murphy said. “The decision was made to bring something back. … It’s not going to be a Brown Act committee, so it’s not subjected to all the rules associated with holding a [Brown Act] meeting.”
While future meetings of the TMAC won’t be required to adhere to the public noticing protocols of a Brown Act committee, a public notice was posted on Solvang’s website on Feb. 5 to encourage the city’s residents and business owners to apply for membership before the Feb. 16 deadline.
Murphy plans to remind the public about TMAC recruitment at the Solvang City Council’s Feb. 12 meeting. While TAC membership was solely open to residents of Solvang, non-residents who own businesses within the city of Solvang are welcome to apply to join the TMAC.
The city plans to appoint one community member and one member each to represent the four following industries: hotel, wine, restaurant, and retail.
“The TRC [Tourist Related Commercial District] and what that comprises of—our hotels and businesses—definitely have a key play in our tourism and marketing. It greatly affects them,” Libera told the Sun. “We want to take their expertise and their opinions into consideration when we make these decisions.”
