Sunnyside advisory panel backs $100,000 marketing request, elects Sierra Foster vice chair

Sunnyside City Manager Mike Gonzales asked the Local Tourism Advisory Committee on Jan. 13 to recommend that city council allocate $100,000 from LTAC funds for a city-run marketing program focused on events, food tourism and a new website. The committee voted to forward the recommendation to the council and, during the same meeting, elected Sierra Foster as the committee’s vice chair.

Gonzales, who presented a draft plan to the committee and to the council the previous day, said the funding would support “video and content creation” and other digital marketing that the city has not had capacity to produce. “We’re looking for a request of a hundred thousand dollars to help market events and . . . various tourism activities around Sunnyside,” he said. Gonzales said the work would include website development, digital advertising, public relations outreach and contracted video production.

The committee’s recommendation would not itself spend the money; it sends the LTAC recommendation to Sunnyside City Council for formal action. Gonzales told the committee he envisions the city or a contracted agency running a consolidated marketing program and that Jackie (staff) could serve as a single point of…