OTAB Nightlife Talk Gets Big Crowd

But it took the board, which makes recommendations to the City Council on how to spend the more than $7 million the city collects annually in lodgers taxes, an hour to plough through other business, and attendance and energy waned by the time a public hearing kicked off two hours later.

R.J. Laino, a scheduled speaker, outlined a 7-point plan for improving local nightlife which included ideas such as the task force, educating service industry workers on how to make entertainment recommendations and creating transportation options to facilitate nighttime activities, including shuttle service.

“You can’t just market nightlife, there has to be one. Part of the reason nightlife is sinking is that we’re sticking with that first shift (of older tourists) and they just don’t go out and spend as much money,” Laino said.

If Santa Fe doesn’t provide the younger demographic with the events they want, “they will tell the rest of the world through Facebook this is not the place to be,” he said.

Shannon Murphy, another scheduled speaker, advocated for more support for the city’s music scene.

A survey conducted some time back by MIX Santa Fe indicates that younger Santa Feans are dissatisfied with nightlife and local music options, she said. The After Hours Alliance has been organized to tackle the problem.

But obstacles include a lack of music venues, a lack of nighttime public transportation and Santa Fe’s relatively small population, Murphy noted. “You can’t have an ambitious music scene without tourism in a town this size,” she said.

Murphy and Laino emphasized that if locals find nightlife in Santa Fe lacking, tourists do, too.

OTAB board members tried to broaden somewhat the scope of the task force, which will also look at general entertainment in addition to nightlife.

One of the largest crowds ever at an OTAB meeting?