A documentary about Bandera was met with both support and criticism at Nov. 14’s city council meeting, with the council agreeing to consider approving HOT funds for marketing the film.
Other happenings that evening included a budget report by Marshal De Foster and swearing in the new city administrator.
Bandera local Roy Dugosh and Dokota Wortman of Cowboy Capital Productions introduced themselves and spoke about the “The Cowboy Capital,” which has played film festivals in Chicago and Poland.
“We had always wanted to do a movie in Bandera, a documentary about Bandera, and this was it.”
Wortman added they had initially made film projects for his film school but, “this was the real deal.”
Their goal now, they explained, is to receive funding through the city’s hotel occupancy tax fund for marketing efforts.
Councilwoman Lynn Palmer said, “I can tell you $130,000 is all we have in our hotel occupancy tax. $60,000 is already set aside for the solar eclipse. So that leaves us $70,000 and we have many events coming up that we know put heads in beds for sure and so I would like personally, I don’t know how the rest of council feels, but I would like to save that money for those events.” Mayor Rebeca Gibson explained that the options didn’t have to be limited, “we still have the opportunity to produce a more specific performance agreement … we’re still here hashing out what the terms of that agreement could be.”
Dugosh spoke about how well the film has already been received in regions of Poland where the original settlers to Bandera originated.
Councilman Manny Longoria said the European impression of the movie was all he needed to know.
“When I go to O.S.T. or Hens Nest or Dough Joe, or Tj’s and I hear someone talking French, German, Polish, Czech, they tell me they’re from Bavaria and they wanted to see cowboys and if any of those folks get an ounce of that movie and they’re here to be a part of that. The least we could do is something.”
“That’s all we ask,” Dugosh responded. “We realize that y’all’s funds are tight, but any contribution would help, and it helps give it validity and then here we go moving down the line.”
Longoria then expressed he thought the movie could have the same effect in Bandera as the Alamo movie played daily for tourists in San Antonio.
Palmer said she didn’t find the film as historically significant.
“I’d like to help you too, Roy,” she said. “I would have liked to have seen more of the city of Bandera highlighted, the O.S.T., the General Store, Hyo Silver … all of those historic buildings I would have liked to see. For it to be considered historical in my view you needed to have more historical value.”
The council ultimately agreed to give the proposal more consideration at a later meeting after all members had been given a chance to view the film.
The council then heard from Marsal Nancy De Foster regarding her proposed solution for budget issues.
“Right now some of my equipment is bleeding, and we are spending a lot of money on keeping things running,” she said. “So rather than trying to get the budget to increase, I thought that we would try to pursue other avenues of revenue for the Marshal’s Office.”
Foster said the animal control facility was stretching budget.
“It is imperative that any animals that we take in and are then released — whether it be through fostering or through adoption, that they be vaccinated and they need to be fixed,” she said. “So what that means is my iddy-biddy budget is going to be gone very soon.”
De-Foster then proposed pursuing a nonporift or charitable organization to help with the areas that need fiscal assistance.
The council agreed to hear more once an official plan was presented.
At the end of the evening, new Bandera City Administrator Stan Farmer was sworn in by by Justice of the Peace Mike Towers.
