We Are One Community: Mount Pleasant Must Stay In Real Racine

 

A Better Mt. Pleasant started this petition to Mount Pleasant Tourism Commission and 

In January 2021, the Mount Pleasant Tourism Commission ended its contract with Real Racine (formerly the Racine County Convention and Visitor's Bureau). Real Racine functions as the primary tourism marketing organization for all of Racine County, and Mount Pleasant has been a partner municipality since 1983. Mount Pleasant's action to sever the Village relationship with Real Racine will result in a loss of more than sixty percent of Real Racine's operating budget.

It is the agenda of the Village and the Tourism Commission's to use those funds - which are generated through hotel/motel room taxes paid in Mount Pleasant - to build a Village convention center. This plan has not been subjected to an economic impact or feasibility study to determine if building a convention center in Mount Pleasant will be an economically feasible endeavor. Further, the Mount Pleasant Tourism Commission has acted with no public input, oversight, or village wide referenda.

The result of Mount Pleasant's decision to move forward is both selfish and irresponsible. It will virtually destroy Real Racine's marketing and tourism efforts which benefit all of Racine County.

We the undersigned:

Are members of the greater Racine community. We support Real Racine, and their professional tourism and marketing efforts which have served our entire community for decades. We believe we are stronger and more efficient when we work together.

We condemn the actions of the Mount Pleasant Tourism Commission, and demand that Mount Pleasant act immediately to support Real Racine, by renewing the Village Tourism contact immediately.

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/mount-pleasant-tourism-commission-we-are-one-community-mount-pleasant-must-stay-in-real-racine

Real Racine suing Mount Pleasant for alleged illegal spending of hotel tax revenue

From The Journal Times.com:

• Adam Rogan

MOUNT PLEASANT — Real Racine, Racine County’s visitor’s bureau, is accusing the Village of Mount Pleasant of illegally spending the hotel room taxes it has collected this year.

Under state law, municipalities are allowed to collect a tax of up to 8% on hotel room rentals. Of that revenue, at least 70% must be spent on “tourism promotion and tourism development,” with the rest being able to be added to a city’s/town’s/village’s general fund.

At the end of 2020, the Village of Mount Pleasant ended its contract with Real Racine — in

Witynski

which it paid 75% of its room taxes to the visitor’s bureau — but has continued collecting room taxes.

Curt Witynski — an attorney who leads the League of Wisconsin Municipalities’ lobbying efforts — says that there is “an ambiguity that exists” in the law, citing numerous amendments since the law was created in 1983, the same year Real Racine was founded.

The lawsuit primarily seeks to have Mount Pleasant pay 75% of the room taxes it has collected since Jan. 1, 2021, to Real Racine. It also seeks to have the Village of Mount Pleasant, via its Tourism Commission, re-enter into a contract with Real Racine.

Real Racine President/CEO Dave Blank said he wasn’t excited about filing the lawsuit — “I have much better things to do with my time than this” — and didn’t want to file a lawsuit but felt compelled to do so when emails and other communications to Mount Pleasant went unanswered.

Village officials declined to comment for this report, citing the pending legal action.

Blank

Tourism Commission vs. ‘tourism entity’

As much as $1 million is reportedly brought in annually through that room tax in Mount Pleasant.

Blank and Real Racine’s lawsuit assert that it is illegal for such a commission to do the work of a traditional “tourism entity,” such as Real Racine, which is required by law to spend at minimum 51% of its revenue “on tourism promotion and tourism development.”

Each Racine County municipality that collects room taxes pays into Real Racine differently, depending on individual contracts. Yorkville pays 90%; Caledonia 85%; Sturtevant pays 75%, as Mount Pleasant used to.

“I don’t care how they use the other 25%,” Blank said.

Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/real-racine-suing-mount-pleasant-for-alleged-illegal-spending-of-hotel-tax-revenue/article_74f82eb1-bc7c-55e5-a8af-a6ba9ef03527.html

Racine to make masks available to the public as ordinance goes into effect Monday

From Fox6Now:

Getty Images

RACINE — The City of Racine’s face coverings ordinance goes into effect on Monday, July 27. Everyone above the age of 4 will be expected to wear masks while they are outside of their home at indoor public spaces, in outdoor spaces when social distancing cannot be maintained, when using any form of public transportation, and when they are with people from outside of their household or family unit.

To help ensure that the public has access to masks, both the Racine Police Department and the Racine Fire Department will have masks available for pickup by residents beginning on Monday.

The Racine Police Department will have masks available on Monday, July 27 at five Racine Community Oriented Policing Houses (COP houses) from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Officers and volunteers will meet residents and neighbors to provide community members and their family with masks. Masks are available while supplies last.

The City’s COP Houses are located at:

• 1750 Mead Street
• 1522 West Sixth Street
• 1140 Geneva Street
• 1900 16th Street
• 2437 Anthony Lane

The Racine Fire Department will also make masks available every weekday, Monday through Friday, for the near future while supplies last from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at each of the City’s fire stations.

They are located here:

• 810 8th Street
• 2430 Northwestern Avenue
• 1107 Lombard Avenue
• 3829 Washington Avenue
• 2430 Blaine Avenue
• 2101 16th Street

For residents looking to purchase masks, the City has identified the following businesses which sell face coverings: Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Hometown Pharmacy, Lakeview Pharmacy, Save-A-Lot, Pick ’n Save, Piggly Wiggly, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Ross Dress for Less, Target, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx, Menards, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Lee’s True Value, Kortendick Ace Hardware, and Douglas Hardware & Rental.

Additionally, the Downtown Racine Corporation has identified these local businesses that sell masks: Northern Light Gallery, Cosmic Corner, Twin Dragon Games, RG Natural Babies, Lornacopia, Dimples Fine Imports, Racine Zoo Store, Uncorkt, Lakeview Pharmacy, Plush, Lighthouse Gallery and Gifts, SheaBrojaes Natural Expressions, and Root City 262.

Real Racine has created an interactive map showing the location of local businesses in Racine County who sell masks and face coverings. CLICK HERE to search that map.

Additional information about the face coverings ordinance can be found here.

From: https://fox6now.com/2020/07/27/racine-to-make-masks-available-to-the-public-as-ordinance-goes-into-effect-monday/

Real Racine inviting Illinois to come to county in ads; city wary of outsiders coming in

From The Journal Times.com:

• Adam Rogan

RACINE — Shana Salter and her family took a “little vacation” to Racine this week. They live in Chicago and have been feeling cooped up for the last two months. They had no connection to Racine before, but found a place to stay for a few days and escape the confines of Illinois, where stay-at-home rules have been stricter.

“We wanted somewhere to go,” Salter said while she and her son waited for food inside Downtown Racine’s The Maple Table restaurant, 520 Main St., on Tuesday. “It’s nice to get back to normal.”

Visitors like Salter are exactly the type of people Real Racine, the county’s travel-promoting convention and visitors bureau, is looking to attract. In mid-May, it started advertising again. This came after a weekslong hiatus caused by the nation’s severely depressed travel industry and a massive revenue loss caused by area hotels collecting next to nothing in room taxes since March.

An online advertising campaign targeting married women in northern Illinois — Salter’s exact demographic, and a demographic that controls a large proportion of America’s spending power — invites people to Racine with the phrase “We’re ready when you’re ready.” An ad also ran in the most recent issues of Midwest Living and AAA Living magazines advertising North Beach as “wildly popular among residents and visitors alike.”

This advertisement, promoting Racine's North Beach, ran in recent issues of Midwest Living and AAA Living magazines.

Advertisement provided by Real Racine

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Dave Blank, the president and CEO of Real Racine, said that he thinks the Midwest population is currently split into three groups when it comes to their feelings regarding travel:

• One-third of the population is ready to travel again,
• One-third who might be ready to travel soon but not yet,
• And one-third who probably will not travel until 2021 at the earliest.

Real Racine’s ads right now are targeted at those first two groups. They can get people like the Salters to visit now — and thus also spend money at hotels or vacation rentals (such as via Airbnb.com or VRBO.com) and at shops and restaurants — or the ad could plant the seed for future trips for people in the second group.

“We’re trying to attract them here,” Blank said. Regarding people traveling from big cities like the Salters, Blank said: “Some people there (in Chicago) are probably done with looking at concrete and gray and want to escape.”

Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/real-racine-inviting-illinois-to-come-to-county-in-ads-city-wary-of-outsiders-coming/article_6f877499-ddd6-5969-9d6f-7c1a32534248.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

"The Big Chill is THIS weekend!"

From Racine County Eye:

By Paul Holley in Community · January 10, 2016 · No comments

"The Big Chill, Racine’s Ice and Snow Festival, is THIS weekend (Friday through Sunday, Jan. 15-17).

"Join us at Monument Square as Downtown Racine hosts the Annual Wisconsin State Snow Sculpting Championship. Big thrills are back at the AGA Nation’s Downtown Rail Jam competition, sponsored by Real Racine.

"More than 30,000 cubic feet of snow will be compacted into 6-by-6-by-10-foot snow blocks. See how the 10 mammoth competition blocks (approximately 5,000 lbs. each) are packed by visiting Monument Square starting on Wednesday. The snow sculpting competition gets under way at 2 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to conclude at noon Sunday. The winning team takes home a cash prize and will represent Wisconsin in the 2017 U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition. Visitors are invited to cast their votes for the People’s Choice award.

"Be sure to catch the action at AGA Nation’s Downtown Rail Jam. A 2 1/2-story portable ramp will be placed on Fifth Street, just north of Monument Square, where snowboarders and skiers will have the opportunity to ride the park all weekend. A small sledding hill will be created nearby for youngsters to enjoy.

(Photo by Riley Seeback)

"Friday features open riding for all along with demonstrations by professional snowboarders at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, there is more open riding for all ski levels capped by the snowboard and ski competition ($10 per entrant) starting at 4 p.m. The top prize is $500. Sunday’s best trick competition starts at 12 noon.

"The Big Chill is presented by the Downtown Racine Corp. Major sponsors include SC Johnson and CNH Industrial. The event, originally scheduled for Jan. 8-10, was postponed because of unseasonably warm temperatures. Fro details, visit www.racinedowntown.com"

Read more: http://racinecountyeye.com/big-chill-weekend/

"Skeleton Skamper 5k Coming Soon"

From Racine County Eye:

By Paul Holley in Community, Events · October 14, 2015 · No comments 

"The bright orange posters are up for the Real Racine Skeleton Skamper 5k coming Saturday, Oct. 24 to the Mount Pleasant Civic Campus, 8811 Campus Drive.

"Check the posters for a money-saving discount good (valid for online registration through Tuesday, Oct. 20).

"Skeleton Skamper, a costumed 5k, starts at 8:30 a.m. Awards will be presented to the top male and female finishers in 13 ages/ability categories.

"Stick around for the post-run festival starting at 9:45 a.m. It includes a free kids trick-or-treat walk, a DJ, face painting, pumpkin decorating and a costume contest with nearly $500 in cash and prizes.

"Details and registration at www.skeletonskamper5k.com"

Read more: http://racinecountyeye.com/skeleton-skamper-5k-coming-soon/