Council places six-month moratorium on Visitor Center placement

Gonzales City Council members are going to wait to discuss who and where the Visitors Center will be until after the end of 2025 after a vote was taken at the Thursday, June 12 meeting.

In March, former City Councilmember Ronda Miller had requested that the city move the Visitors Center from the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture, where it has been for many years, to the Riverside Center building, which has been leased by the Pilot Club for 46 years. The motion also called for the Tourism Department to come back into the city fold instead of being hosted by the Chamber, although the city would remain employer of record for all other Chamber employees through an agreement which allows them to take part in insurance benefits.

The motion passed by a 4-0 vote with Miller, then-Mayor Steve Sucher, Councilmember Lorenzo Hernandez and Councilmember Mariah Jordan approving it. Councilmember Joseph “Poochy” Kridler was absent due to illness.

The matter had been placed back on the agenda in May at Jordan’s request, as she said she wished to more time to study the issue.

Members of the Pilot Club, who are concerned they will be displaced from Riverside with four years remaining on their 50-year lease, came out en masse to see whether the council would rescind their previous vote. Board members and staff from the Chamber were also present, hoping the city would change their minds about moving the Visitors Center out of their building.

Neither group would not get the exact answer they wished to hear Thursday night.

“My recommendation tonight is that we place the visitor center in a moratorium for the remainder of 2025 and there'll be no use of the visitor center name,” Anzaldua told his fellow council members. “In January, we'll come back to it. During that time, I know we will be able to sit down and work in a unified fashion between all entities, to be able to answer all questions, to be able to give the directive and the direction of the visitor center that will benefit not only Gonzales, but all visitors to Gonzales, the entire community of Gonzales and the fiscal responsibility of it. I truly believe that this would be the best direction as we move forward.”

Anzaldua said the council needs to “take away the emotional attachment” from the equation regarding the placement of the Visitors Center and concentrate on “the business side of it.”

“What is the visitor center? Whose direction is it already under? What is the fiscal and financial responsibility of the visitor center to the community? What are the funds attached to the visitor center? What is the mission objective of the center? And those are all very strong questions that are going to take a little time to answer,” Anzaldua added.

Kridler disagreed Thursday with the idea of placing a moratorium on the Visitors Center and use of the name.

“The Chamber has been doing their job since March when this was brought up to council as a surprise and voted on,” Kridler said. “They're doing the job that they're supposed to be doing. There is an email that was supposed to be sent to the city and to us about their tax filing status, which they brought up to the standard that it's supposed to be.

“They've been working towards that. Memberships have went up the last few months. I just feel like they're doing the job and they deserve that. I don't think it should have been taken away from them.”

Anzaldua said he asked to see verification that the Chamber had corrected past issues with its 501(c)(3)  non-profit status and “it has not been presented” to him.

“I do also look at there is a financial attachment to that,” Anzaldua said. “What are the finances attached to it? What do we pay for a visitor center? How is it used? How is it reported, and what budget does it come from?

“That has not been shown. Those are business issues that we have to attend to and we have to make a decision on that. It's not an easy decision at all, but it again, I have to look at every angle of this to determine where it goes and who does what.”

Hernandez said Thursday he still supports moving the Visitors Center to Riverside Center because “we already have a plan that's to fruition as far as the landscaping and stuff, and I think it's going to be better there than to be with the Chamber.”

“I have some reservations about the Chamber running it, more or less,” Hernandez said. “I feel like the Chamber of Commerce is the chamber of commerce, not of tourism. That's where my issues are.

“What is the actual job of the Chamber? Is it to promote businesses or is it where are we here? I think we had a good plan to move it over where it could stand on its own. That's just my opinion.”

New Councilmember Harold Strom, who replaced Miller after she was recalled in May, said he would also like a little bit more time to study the issue.

“What I do know is this — there is definitely animosity in the air with regards to this, and that in no way is going to help solve what the base issue is here,” Strom said. “A little bit of time would not be a bad idea, in my opinion, and maybe with that will come some type of consensus — an agreement between all the individuals and parties and organizations involved. Sometimes, taking a little breather is not a bad idea.”

Anzaldua told his fellow councilmembers and the audience that “this is not a tug of war. This is not one against the other.”

“This is Gonzales working unified, finding unity, finding a way to work together to solve solutions.” Anzaldua said. “No more this one against that one. We're stronger than that. We're smarter than that. I know my recommendation may seem odd, but to create unity, we need time. That's the reason why I look at six months.

“That gives ample time for Chamber and the city to sit down, for the board to sit down together and find a pattern, find a path that's going to be successful for everyone, so that we find that unity we're all claiming we want. That's how Gonzales grows.”

Anzaldua, Hernandez and Strom voted in favor of the moratorium, while Kridler voted against it. Jordan was absent Thursday night.