Residents urge council to restore tourism grant levels and reconstitute TPAC; one resident raises police-stop complaint

Three members of the public spoke during the June 23 public-comment period, urging the council to improve tourism funding and civic outreach and describing personal concerns about a police traffic stop.

Tourism funding and TPAC: Michael Frederick, 1683 Delaware Court, said he is "slightly encouraged" by recent meetings but urged the council to increase grant caps for tourism events. He said event organizers previously could apply for a $3,000 cap and that reducing caps to $2,000 "decreases the amount of funds that are gonna be available" and undermines incentive to start events. Frederick said inflation has reduced spending power and that delayed reimbursements (for example, receiving funds only after an event) discourage organizers. He suggested the council hold public forums in town venues, such as Misty Mountain or Black Trumpet, to solicit feedback and make participation easier.

Laura Brown, organizer of the Ireland Coast festival (address recorded as 95713 Lansmore), said she had been told by local contacts to reach out about "TCAC dollars" and tourism funding and that organizers "hear nothing about it." City staff replied that an application for tourism grants exists and that staff recently held a feedback meeting; staff said there may be follow-up at a future council meeting.

Police-stop complaint: Larry Lehi, who said he has lived in Brookings for seven years, described a recent traffic stop and said he believes an officer was verbally abusive and later issued him a ticket. He told the council he requested police camera footage and had not yet received it, and said he has a court date on July 8. Lehi acknowledged he was wrong to drive in the incident but said he wanted the recorded footage to be reviewed. He recounted a previous accident and interactions with police and insurance but did not request specific council action other than noting the pending court hearing.

Why it matters: tourism grants and the advisory committee that helps allocate them affect downtown events and local business promotion. Public commenters pushed for clearer, more accessible application processes and in-person outreach. The police complaint raises a citizen concern about officer conduct and access to body/camera footage; the meeting transcript records the complaint but staff did not announce any immediate follow-up beyond the individual's court date.

Council response and next steps: staff informed the meeting that tourism-grant applications exist and that staff had held a feedback meeting; councilors during later remarks expressed support for reassembling TPAC or a similar advisory panel to advise on downtown improvements, tourism promotion and event parameters and requested staff return with proposals for creating such a committee.

No formal council action was taken on the public comments themselves.

Quoted from the record: - "...it doesn't seem like there's a lot of people coming forward to try and start to do so," Michael Frederick said about event organizers and tourism funding. - "We hear nothing about it," Laura Brown said of the availability of tourism (TCAC/TPAC) dollars for events. - "I asked for the police video on their camera. They haven't gotten it," Larry Lehi said about a recent stop; he said he has a court hearing on July 8.

Background: Councilors later discussed the value of tourism promotion and noted staff work on a website and recent meetings on tourism; one councilor said they "strongly favor reassembling the TPAC committee and actually expanding the duties" and asked staff to prepare suggestions and an agenda item.