Tour of Missouri

Last night, as the House Budget Committee was debating drastic cuts to public education, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder made his first public request for support of the 2010 Tour of Missouri (TOM). 

Kinder and his spokesman directed folks to a new page on the TOM website, "Ten Ways To Support The Tour of Missouri." Beyond the standard requests to join an email list and sign on to a not-yet-functional petition, Tour organizers are also seeking donations, asking Missouri residents to "contact your local representatives" and calling for supporters to "write/call/email/or send smoke signals to the local media." 

Kinder and Tour staff have not yet specified how much public money they are seeking for the 2010 race.

Yesterday afternoon, Deputy Lt. Governor Jerry Dowell used his Tour of Missouri email account notify potential supporters of an upcoming fundraiser for HD21 House Candidate John Cauthorn on behalf Majority Floor Leader Steven Tilley and the House Republican Campaign Committee.

Kinder's office has confirmed to The News-Leader that Dowell sent the campaign email from his state computer. 

A copy of the illegal email is below the fold.

The complete Tour of Missouri economic impact study still hasn't been formally released by the Lt. Governor's Office or Tour of Missouri, Inc., despite promises that it would be completed and released to the public in late October or early November.

The public can submit their own Sunshine request to obtain the study, or read it online here -- but there's been no press release, celebratory tweet or even quiet addition to the LG or TOM websites.

Maybe Peter Kinder's Twitter account has been suspended? 

The crowd on High Street inside the final circuit route in Jefferson City, about 4-5 blocks from the finish line.

Last week, we published the economic impact study for the 2009 Tour of Missouri, released almost two months behind schedule in response to a Sunshine request.  The report is still not posted on the Lt. Governor's official website, or on TourofMissouri.com, but you can read it all here.

The crowd and associated spending totals for Stage 4, which finished in Jefferson City, are generating a bit of chatter. The official Tour report states that 71,000 people watched the race in and around Jefferson City, spending $5,410,128 in the area. 

For comparative purposes, a gathering of 71,000 would be:

• 80% larger than the entire population of Jefferson City
• Bigger than any crowd at home Mizzou footbal game since 1978.  The seating capacity at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium was lowered to 68,349 in 1995.
• Almost twice the average attendance for Cardinals' home game.  Busch Stadium's capacity is 46,861.
• More than 3.5 times the average attendance of Royals' home games.  Kauffman Stadium's capacity is 39,000.
• 40% larger than the estimated attendance for the day-long "Salute to America" festival that packs downtown Jefferson City on July 4.

Over at Roger Kramer Cycling, a cycling blog by the design editor at the Belleville News-Democrat, there's more skepticism of the official crowd and economic impact estimates released by Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's office last week.  Kramer writes that skeptics of the crowd numbers "may be onto something":

For example, the study says 26,250 people attended the finish of Stage 2 in Cape Girardeau. At the time, the Southeast Missouri newspaper reported a crowd of just 5,000 for the Stage 2 finish.

Cape Girardeau business also reported significantly less economic activity than we see in the official Tour impact study. A spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with local Tour organizers, estimated that the race brought more than $314,000 dollars raced into the city.  The official study, however, shows $2,000,223 in total spend for Cape Girardeau -- more than six times what local businesses reported.

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's office has released the economic impact study for the 2009 Tour of Missouri in response to a Sunshine request made last week. The study was originally slated to be released in late October or early November, and Kinder's office did not explain what caused the delay.

The full report is not available on the Lt. Governor's website or the Tour of Missouri website at this time, but can be read in full here.

I may write more about the report in the days to come, but for now will just highlight this chart with the estimated attendance and spend by stage.

Click here to view a larger version of this chart.

As someone watched the race in Jefferson City, I'll confess I'm a little skeptical of the 71,000 spectator total and $5.4 million in associated activity.

Per my notes from a previous conversation with analyst with the company that completed the study, these spending estimates are just for spectators, and do not include money spent by the riders, their teams, vendors, VIP tents, etc.

In October, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder's office expected the full economic impact study for the Tour of Missouri to be released by late October/early November. 

Kinder presented topline data about the Tour on October 1, but the full report – with city by city spectator estimates, etc. – is not available on the official office or Tour websites.  (The 2008 report is online here.)

As far as I can tell, the only things released to date are a 1-page press release and a very simple spreadsheet with topline data. 

The Lieutenant Governor's office has not responded to multiple requests for clarification. 

Yesterday morning, before and perhaps during the non-hostage event, the Missouri Tourism Commission voted to approve $1.6 million in budget cuts for the coming year. 

The cuts in spending, as recommended by the body's budget subcommittee, included funds for the 2010 Tour of Missouri.

Minutes from the meeting are not yet available, but it’s my understanding that the decision to remove Tour funding was supported by both Republican and Democratic members of the Commission.

Cape Girardeau was the site of the Tour of Missouri’s Stage 2 finish this year, where local reports are mixed about the economic activity brought in by the event.  In a new report from KFVS, Chuck Martin with the local Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that the race brought $314,000 into the city -- $52,000 in overnight lodging, and $262,000 on meals, shopping and gas. 

Cape Girardeau was host to one of seven stage finishes, where locals reported $52,000 in associated lodging. This local estimates represent just 0.42% of the total lodging spend estimated by Tour of Missouri, Inc., which put the total lodging spend by spectators at $12.3M for the week. By the same token, the local $314,000 estimate is just 0.82% of Tour of Missouri, Inc.’s estimate for overall spectator spending. One would expect larger crowds when the race went through Kansas City and St. Louis, but these very small percentages of the overall estimate suggest (to me, anyway) that the statewide numbers are overstated.

In addition, Martin said, race organizers had unrealistic expectation with regards to spectators, and KFVS reports that downtown businesses didn’t receive the influx of customers they were promised.

You know about the room service, booze, steak, seafood and other nice meals personally enjoyed by Tour of Missouri organizers with taxpayer-subsidized accounts.  But did you also know that taxpayers also helped buy Nordstrom dresses and shoes for the imported Podium Ladies? 

Newly obtained documents from a Sunshine request submitted a few weeks ago show that taxpayer-funded accounts were used to pick up a $222 tab at Nordstrom.com.  Publicly-supported accounts were also also used to purchase two new pairs of shoes for the Ladies for $180. 

T.J. Greney reports in The Columbia Daily Tribune that Columbia will bid to host a Tour of Missouri stage next year, but is openly questioning the local economic impact of bringing the race to town.

City again will bid for stage in Tour of Missouri
Economic gain is questionable.

Columbia will bid to host a stage of the Tour of Missouri next year. However, the city remains lukewarm about the economic impact of the event, and whether the 600-mile bike race will be held at all remains up in the air...

[Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lorah] Steiner said several thousand people amassed downtown to watch the riders cross the finish line [in 2007], but the event was not a major winner for the area's economy. "For the most part, it cost us, and it didn’t generate a lot of room nights," she said, referring to overnight hotel stays.

Last month, the Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder's office touted a study from IFM Sports about the estimated spending by Tour of Missouri spectators during this year's race. According to their analysis, spectators spent more than $38 million on food, lodging, gas, souvenirs, etc. as part of their viewing of the race. The LG's office wasn't able to explain how these estimates were produced, but I was able to talk with one of the analysts at IFM Sports.

Per my conversation IFM, the Tour impact estimates weren't created by a review of sales or lodging tax receipts, but by:

1. Asking a sample of spectators about what their spending related to the race
2. Using that data to create a profile of the typical party of spectators for locals (people who watched the race less than 50 miles from their house), non-local Missourians, and non-Missourians
3. Multiplying that average spending estimate by the estimated number of spectators (provided by law enforcement officials) according to a projected breakdown of the three subgroups of spectators (locals, non-locals, non-Missourians)

A review of Tour of Missouri expense reports and receipts shows that race organizers regularly paid for liquor and expensive meals with taxpayer-subsidized Tour funds. 

A number of these questionable expenses were highlighted in an independent accountants' report released earlier this month, which when combined with other documents obtained via a separate Sunshine request, show that organizers not only ran up monstrous bills for VIPs in the days surrounding the race, but also treated themselves year-round with Tour funds at restaurants and bars in Jefferson City, Columbia and other cities in Missouri.

Here's a sampling of the meal and alcohol charges you helped pay for:

• $371 at the Doubletree restaurant in Jefferson City (March '09, ~7pm) for Crown Royal, wine, mahi mahi, more
• $33 for two at Addison's in Columbia (February '08, ~7pm)
• $211 for 3 people to eat one meal at Union Station in St. Louis
• $186 at Applebee's one evening in Jefferson City (~10pm) for vodka, gin, beer, steak and more
• $172 at 12 West Bar & Grill in Farmington (March '09, ~8:30pm) for surf & turf, rib eye, lots of wine
• $80 at Prison Brews in Jeff City (August '08, ~8pm) for food and beer
• $50+ at El Jimador in Jefferson City (January '08, ~8:45 pm)
• $112 for two people to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Springfield (May, ~8pm)

As noted earlier this week, an independent accounting agency recently completed a review of records for Tour of Missouri, Inc., the corporation created by Lt. Governor Peter Kinder to manage the state-subsidized Tour of Missouri. The report criticized TOM, Inc. for its lack of "policies and procedures for handling its finances."  Payments were made to vendors without sufficient documentation, payments exceeded the contracted amounts, and there were no clear policies about what constituted "allowable expense reimbursements."

Beyond basic accounting irregularities, the accountants' report also alludes to a number of eyebrow-raising expenses for the 2008 Tour.  Public documents provided by the Office of Administration and Department of Economic Development show massive food and drink bills, room service charges and more. For instance, race organizers and managers spent $19,999 at St. Louis' J. Buck's Restaurant on food and liquor one evening at the race's "wrap party"; $17,533 for food and alcohol at the Hyatt Crown Center two days before the 2008 race started; and, for a more private audience, a $94 room service cheese and wine platter for two.

Details below the break.

An independent analysis made public yesterday found "irregularities that raise some questions" about the management at the Tour of Missouri, Inc.  From the Associated Press:

The nonprofit group [Tour of Missouri, Inc.] running the Tour of Missouri needs to improve its financial management of the $3.3 million bicycle race, according to an accountants' review released Monday.

The report said the Tour of Missouri Inc. lacks written policies and procedures for handling its finances. It also said the nonprofit group failed to provide monthly profit-and-loss statements for several months last year and had no documentation on whether prior written approval was given for the travel expenses of the race's management firm.

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