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Council presses staff for scoring transparency and post‑event validation for HOT awards
Summary
Council members asked staff to provide last‑year and current scoring breakdowns, explain how 'heads and beds' points are calculated, and describe concrete post‑event validation methods before approving HOT grants.
Several council members raised procedural concerns about the HOT awards process and asked for more transparency around scoring and verification of claimed tourism impacts.
Staff described a 100‑point scoring rubric and how tourism impact is calculated—tourism impact is worth 30 points with "5 points per 10 hotel nights generated"—but council members said applicants and the public should be able to see score sheets and the post‑event checks that validate hotel nights. A council member said self‑reporting is useful but that the city should validate a target portion of claims.
"So we score it just based off the application...and then every project has to submit a post event or post project report as well, and that's how the reimbursement is authorized," a staff member said. Council directed staff to provide sample score sheets, the prior year’s scores, and a proposed method for verifying hotel nights and financial claims when the awards return for final action.
