Florida’s Tea Party convention likely will attract usual visitors to area

BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES

Once again, a group not known for its racial diversity is coming to Daytona Beach.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott delivers his first state budget during a Tea Party rally in Eustis on Feb. 7. He is expected to speak at Florida’s Tea Party convention at the Ocean Center in November. (JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/MCT)

The Tea Party of Florida is having its state convention Nov. 4-6 at the Ocean Center. According to the website, organizers of the convention have confirmed as its main speakers Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi of Florida and Ralph Reed, a Republican consultant. All are Republicans.

The announcement comes as tourist and city officials welcome members of the International Shriners to Daytona Beach this week to convince them to hold their national convention in the area in 2017.

Why Tea Party?

As reported in the Daytona Times, the Shriners are a group segregated by choice. Blacks have their own Shriners organization and there’s the predominantly White Shriners International headquartered in Tampa. Both say they do not discriminate if others races or ethnic groups want to join provided they get through the selection process, which requires a vote by its members.

Why is Daytona Beach mainly attracting the Tea Party, which is not known for its diversity when it comes to minorities? This question was posed by the Times to Volusia County Government spokesman Dave Byron.

"They are defined as a right-wing organization. It’s not fair to drag us into this debate. They had a strategic reason (for choosing us to host their convention). We don’t know," said Byron.

Party study

In an article in the New York Times last month, David E. Campbell, an associate professor of political science at Notre Dame, and Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, conducted a study and reported members of the Tea Party "are overwhelmingly White, but even compared to other White Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and Blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do."

Campbell and Putnam also wrote last month the Tea Party’s supporters were "highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born...And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek ‘deeply religious’ elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates."

Campbell and Putnam are the authors of "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us."

‘Target audience’

When asked why Daytona Beach attracts groups that are predominantly White, some not known for their diversity such as the Shriners, Byron said "That’s not our brand, but target audience."

Byron elaborated, saying organizations such as the Shriners and the Tea Party are among the targeted audience because they will spend money when they come to the area.

Why these types of organizations choose Daytona Beach and why many Black organizations seem to shun coming to the area are questions that may be answered soon after Volusia County council members listen to presentations from three firms this week, one of which will be hired to conduct an independent analysis of countywide tourism and convention marketing efforts by Volusia County’s advertising authorities and the Ocean Center.

Firms evaluated

The county received seven responses to a request for statement of qualifications for the tourism and marketing study. An evaluation committee evaluated all proposals and shortlisted three firms for presentations and selection by the county council.

The committee consisted of Byron, Pat Northey, county council vice chair; George Recktenwald, public works director; Don Poor, Ocean Center director; and Rick Karl, aviation and economic development director, The firms are CH Johnson Consulting, Inc., Chicago; Crossroads Consulting, Tampa; and Strategic Advisory Group, Duluth, Ga.

The county council will hear presentations from the three firms and rank in preferred order.

"The county council will select one of the three. Then a contract will be negotiated, the price then to be determined. The study is expected to take several months," said Byron.

No Black budget

In a recent Daytona Times article, Publisher Charles W. Cherry II noted that he had unsuccessfully been trying to bring the national convention of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the national trade organization of African-American newspapers, to Florida.

"Volusia needs to step up its game and get into the 21st century. Diversity isn’t a buzzword – it’s a fact of life in a country that will be a majority non-White nation in 20 years," said Cherry, who added that he was shocked to learn from Times articles that of the Halifax Area Advertising Authority’s $6 million ad budget, no dollars specifically targeted non-Whites, especially African-Americans. He calls that "marketing malpractice."

"Most convention and tourist bureaus we’ve spoken to have someone on staff who focuses on ‘niche’ or ‘multicultural’ markets: African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, gays, Europeans, etc.," Cherry explained.

 "And if they (Daytona) are not willing to do that, it’s time for Black tourists and conventioneers to consider going somewhere else where their dollars are more welcomed," concluded Cherry who now lives in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area.

Thousands expected

Byron, when asked by the Times what kinds of groups or entertainment is welcome at the Ocean Center and to the area, stated: "We are supposed to represent the general desires and tastes of the community.’’

Byron said one reason the Tea Party is having its convention in Daytona Beach is because the Ocean Center hosted an event for them last year.

"We look forward for what will be a good-sized event, an event that should have several thousand (attendees)," said Byron.

"We are simply renting a building. It has nothing to do with their politics. We didn’t reach out to them, they approached us," he continued. "I don’t know if they are Republican."

‘Economic point of view’

According to the schedule posted on the Tea Party’s website, most of the speakers for the three-day event are Republicans.

 "We don’t look at that. We have booked other political parties," said Byron noting that the firm that will be hired to do the local study will "analyze (if we) are we spending appropriately the number of dollars’’ to effectively market the area.

He also noted that the firm will see if there is "effective marketing’’ to the African-American and Hispanic communities.

Byron said the county wants people to visit the area who are going to spend money.

"We come from an economic point of view. Once you select a target audience, select the best tools," he continued, elaborating on the best magazines and media outlets to use to bring a diverse money spending crowd to the area.

"The study is not to make anyone look bad. It’s an independent view to see how effective we are. They will determine if our market is diverse enough," explained Byron.

Don’t expect hip-hop

Daytona Beach is also not known for having concerts featuring well-known Black and alternative acts.

"We will take any concert that wants to play. We don’t go out and recruit rock ’n’ roll, hip-hop. It’s all about where performers can make the most money. We seat 9,000, Orlando seats 18,000. We also compete with the University of Central Florida. We don’t have a lot of influence," continued Byron.