BUENA PARK : City Severs Ties to Promotion Company

The city has terminated its contract with a local tourist and entertainment promotions company that for the past six years has operated the city-funded Buena Park Convention & Visitor’s Office.

Friday was Spectrum Promotions & Productions Inc.’s last day to operate the office. City Manager Kevin O’Rourke declined to comment on the reason for the city’s terminating its contract with Spectrum.

Jerry La Pointe, president of Spectrum, said the city and the company had “irreconcilable differences in business philosophy.”

La Pointe said the city manager’s office sent a letter to Spectrum, giving the company a 30-day notice as of April 7 to terminate the contract. The contract contained a 30-day cancellation clause, he said.

La Pointe said the prospect of Spectrum continuing to operate the Buena Park Convention & Visitor’s Office was “not something we felt was in the best interest of the company.”

“We’ve had good relations with the (local) tourism industry,” he said. “It was just a situation where our philosophies did not mesh.”

The city funds the office, which has an annual budget of about $353,000, of which $164,000 is paid to Spectrum. The remainder is used for office operations.

O’Rourke said Pattie Davidson, a consultant, has been hired to assume interim management responsibilities, starting Monday, while the city conducts a search for a new firm or individual to operate the office.

“My presence is to ensure that the marketing programs that have already been outlined by Spectrum and the city are executed until such time as the city has a new management firm or individual,” Davidson said.

Davidson has worked 13 years in the tourism industry, seven of which she served as director of tourism for the Long Beach Convention and Visitor’s Council. She started a consulting practice in 1990.

Buena Park assumed control of the convention and visitor’s office six years ago to promote the city’s conference facilities and tourism industry, which includes such attractions as Knott’s Berry Farm, Medieval Times and Movieland Wax Museum. The office was established in 1973 and was privately funded before the city took over its operation.

La Pointe said Spectrum employees handled advertising, promotional programs and special events, attended trade shows and met with meeting planners, travel agents, tour operators and media representatives, as well as coordinated conventions.

La Pointe said his company will remain in Buena Park and will continue to perform promotions and marketing for the Southern California entertainment and tourist industries.