The Storey Teller News and commentary on what’s really going on in Storey County.
Episode 21 – Sheriff Jerry and Friends talks with VC Merchants and The Teller
In Episode 21 of The Storey Teller Podcast, we visit once again The Sheriff Jerry and Friends radio show. This week Sheriff Jerry and The Storey Teller are joined by Alexia Sober and Lee Nashold to talk C Street. Alexia and Lee are two merchants who earn their living on C Street as merchants. There has been a lot of talk on C Street about the relationship between the Virginia City Tourism Commission (VCTC) and the merchants.
Booze, Ice Cream, And Lollipops
If you listen to Commissioner Marshall McBride, co-owner of the Bucket of Blood, The VCTC does a stellar job. However, many of the merchants on C Street think otherwise. Deny Dotson, Director of Tourism in Storey County, has a singular vision of promoting events. While successful, the events benefit the merchants only on select weekends. For the rest of the time, merchants are left to fend for themselves.
For merchants like Commissioner McBride who sell booze, the sun is always shining. But for merchants who don’t sell booze, the pickings are a bit slimmer. And to make matters more tenuous, many of the events Dotson promotes are booze-centric. The Bar Crawls (or puke sprawls as some merchants call them) attract the kind of un-family friendly crowd that isn’t really there to enjoy the town. Rather, many of these folks are drunks who, according to merchants, make jackasses of themselves while putting public safety at risk.
Conflict of Interest Charges
All of this has created a schism that has Deny Dotson has done little to assuage. In fact, many merchants will agree that Doston has added to their ire by his attitude with them and his conflict of interest with RAD Strategies. Rad Strategies, owned by Doston’s wife Ronelle, holds a no-bid contract to promote the VCTC. Deny Dotson is an employee of RAD Strategies, who also holds a contract to promote Storey County.
The Storey Teller has learned from multiple sources that Deny Dotson is under investigation from District Attorney Anne Langer. We will be reporting on this investigation as we learn more details.
No bid contracts. Conflicts of interest. Hiring a director with no experience in tourism or being a director. And there are problems…imagine that! My only surprise is that there might be an actual investigation by SC.