CVB CONSIDERS CUTTING WORKERS

Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau advisory board will study the paddlewheelers' pay schedule.

A suggestion in the CVB's marketing plan calls for eliminating the pay schedule entirely and making all of the CVB paddlewheelers -- workers who act as tour guides or greeters at various city events or fill in at the CVB office on weekends -- volunteers.

But Mary Miller, CVB director, warned that cutting paddlewheelers' pay could mean cutting service.

"I want you to give serious consideration to the impact of that and whether or not that's the direction you want the paddlewheelers to go," Miller said.

Paddlewheelers' salaries amount to approximately $11,000 a year, and for that amount "we get a lot of work done," she said. "We only have a staff of four."

Wages for the paddlewheelers range from $5.25 to $7 per hour or a flat fee of $10 for workers at Missouri Jeopardy games or similar events.

Gary Bunting, chairman of the advisory board, said it should be possible to find volunteers to do the work. "We pay people $6 an hour to wave at a riverboat," Bunting said.

Finding volunteers for the work might not be easy, said Beverly Estes, a board member. "They help people and they make them feel at home," she said.

Salaries, including benefits and health insurance, total about $129,000, more than half of the CVB budget.

Eliminating the paddlewheelers' salaries would give the CVB more money for events, Bunting said.

"You're going to reduce services in order to save it," said Randy Kluge, board member.

Miller agreed. "You can spend money on more events, but if you don't have the service when they get here, then you've just done some damage," she said.

Before the CVB started paying the paddlewheelers, "we didn't do as much," Estes said. She has volunteered as a greeter, working in information booths and as a tour guide for various events.

Bunting suggested using interns or re-arranging staff schedules to eliminate the need for some of the paddlewheelers, and recruiting volunteers. "It takes time to develop those things," Kluge said. "I don't think right now's the time to cut. If we have so many volunteers we don't have to pay anybody, then it's a budget savings."

Board member Dan Drury suggested exploring options of providing volunteers passes to the city's golf course or municipal pools.

Miller said she will put together a report on the paddlewheelers' activities and salaries for the Feb. 18 meeting.

CVB members will also seek support for the proposed expansion of the city's hotel-motel-restaurant tax. Voters will decide whether to approve the issue April 7.

Bunting suggested a joint meeting with the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and the affected businesses. "I think it would be good as a form of goodwill to tell these people what's going on," he said.

Estes suggested board members volunteer to explain the proposal at any organizational meetings they might have.

Dennis "Doc" Cain suggested seeking endorsements from the chamber and the Regional Commerce and Growth Association "and those types of organizations."