The two Manitowoc mayoral candidates have given their takes on the ongoing saga with the Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau.
Incumbent Justin Nickels was the first to issue a statement, where he explained how the City of Manitowoc, along with the City of Two Rivers, ended up cutting ties with the tourism organization.
Nickels noted that the three entities had entered into an agreement to promote the lakeshore area together in 1993.
He stated, “In those early years, the tourism and visitor center were treated much more like a city department, which is why the city built the visitor center, as an example.”
The most recently signed agreement was set to expire at the end of 2021, and the three entities opened up negotiations early in the year.
The City of Manitowoc was asking for a change in leadership within the MAVCB, and the group seemed to be on board with that idea.
However, Nickels noted, “The severance offer made to that individual to leave was a 12-month salary severance package,” which he called “irresponsible.”
He also cited the MAVCB’s “lack of online presence” specifically noting the failure to update the name of the former Baymont Inn and Suites to its new name of The Inn on Maritime Bay.
The three groups could not come to an agreement, so the contract was terminated, and the cities created their own tourism entities.
As for the lawsuit, Nickels claimed the city didn’t lose, citing the fact that they were “not required to pay back anything to the MAVCB for the years we did not have a contract” and that they “did not have to pay any of MAVCB’s legal fees (which happens if you lose).” He explained that the ruling states that the city “is only required to contract with the MAVCB if we choose to contract with an outside tourism entity.”
His challenger, Jason Prigge, disagreed with that statement, saying “Manitowoc lost the lawsuit. The court made it clear: the City must contract with the MAVCB. That’s the law.”
He went on to call the entire situation a reflection on the “poor leadership” of Nickels, saying “The real issue is that the City didn’t push for compromise—they could’ve agreed to new leadership at MAVCB and still followed the law. Instead, they chose to disengage.”
Prigge admits that the MAVCB wasn’t perfect in the situation either, but reiterated that he believes that the city broke the law when they created Visit Manitowoc.
Prigge also responded to a section of Nickels’ post which highlighted a proposal Prigge’s Coolest Coast made to the MAVCB to purchase the organization for $400,000.
Prigge explained, “The intent was to strengthen our local tourism efforts, not for personal gain. Manitowoc needs a fresh, strategic approach to tourism, and I offered ideas to enhance our city’s ability to market itself more effectively.”
He then fired back, saying Nickels put a “hit shot on my business” in his post.
Nickels said, “The city did talk with Vagabond to create the website (for Visit Manitowoc), but it was determined they didn’t have the full capabilities of doing that from scratch and couldn’t offer major key components.”
Prigge elaborated, saying “Vagabond Creative Studio received no Requests for Proposal (RFP) regarding website/branding for Visit Manitowoc. As a matter of fact, there was only one exchange with the city via email long before they had even established scope of work…Vagabond Creative Studio is fully capable, the city just never asked any local businesses for proposals.”
Prigge summed up his thoughts, saying, “Leadership isn’t about holding power—it’s about making progress.”
Nickels ended his post with, “No one can deny that our local economy is stronger today than it was 10 years ago. We will do the same with tourism.”
The full statements, which covered a wide range of angles, can be found on their respective Facebook pages.
