Politics & Government

Healdsburg car dealerships ask city to reconsider budget cuts

Healdsburg proposes to cut money to Chamber of Commerce, trimming ability of auto dealers to maintain high profile for Healdsburg in ads, they say.

Healdsburg 's top auto dealers said proposed city budget cuts could cause a loss of $25,000 a year they need to promote Healdsburg as a destination.

"We have a shared voice that's not just our own voice," said Bruce McConnell, owner of "Over 50 percent of our ads are strictly promoting Healdsburg -- promoting the town itself."

McConnell and Tim Sanderson, of   spoke at Thursday night's Healdsburg City Council 2011-12 budget work session about the city's plan. They said they and  collectively promote the city in their ads-- in addition to  keeping themselves afloat and boosting car sales that generate city sales tax revenue.

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"If you're in Willits, and you're watching a Giants game on TV, you'll see an ad for car dealerships in Healdsburg," McConnell said. "It will say, 'Come on down to Healdsburg.'" Ads also feature photos of the Healdsburg Plaza and shops -- not just the cars, he said.

"And the city gets to keep 1 percent of the sale price of any car we sell in Healdsburg," McConnell said. "In a time like this, when we've proven that we help the city, why would you want to cut back?"

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At issue is a plan to reduce the city's annual allocation to the from $400,000 t0 $300,000. That  would reduce the amount the Chamber gives to the three Healdsburg auto dealerships from $100,000 to $75,000.

McConnell said the three dealerships, for the past few years, have collectively matched the $100,000 from the Chamber, and then used the resulting $200,000 as a promotions budget to create a powerful media and PR presence -- not only for themselves, but also for the city. 

Healdsburg City Council is expected to revisit the matter at their next public budget work session  at 6 p.m. Monday, May 23 at   Heather Ippoliti, city finance director, could not be reached for comment on Friday.

McConnell said Healdsburg is one of the only towns of its size where car dealers have been able to survive the economic downtown.  Over the last three years in Northern California, almost 60 cities have lost at least one car dealership -- and some, such as Grass Valley, have lost up to four of them, he said.

"With advertising, you can have a little voice or you can have a dominant voice," McConnell said. "We've been able to have a dominant voice.

"We want to keep up that level of awareness about our city," he added. "We think it benefits everyone."

 


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