In a short ceremony on April 23, 2010 Governor Janet Brewer signed SB 1070, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, also commonly referred to as the Arizona Immigration law. There was little explanation and no apologies to those who might be affected adversely.  Just a ham-fisted “take it or leave it” approach. Those of us who make a living from conventions and tourism were left on our own to explain to our customers what all this meant.

I asked several colleagues and clients to read the law before they made any drastic decisions about continuing business in Arizona.  They said they didn’t need to because the national media and the White House had already explained it to them and that there was no way they would risk coming to Arizona.  The choice had been made for them.

I don’t think anyone knows for sure just how bad this law is going to be for the local economy.  One way or the other all of our livelihoods are affected by conventions and tourists – and they won’t be coming here as they had before.

Phoenix was one of the final three cities for the 2012 Republican National Convention.  Winning would have meant some $200 million in economic stimulus flowing into the state from visitors and convention organizers.  I think we lost in a fair fight, but I am sure ultimately SB 1070 was the tipping point driving the RNC Site Selection Committee to choose Tampa, Florida over Phoenix.

This has been a textbook case of bad public relations.  It could have been handled so much better.  We will all be living with this bad communications plan for some time to come. I can only hope that businesses and tourists will continue to spend their money in Arizona, knowing that a boycott of the state is not the right way to fix this legislative debacle. I’m confident if we all work together, we can arrive at a solution that will fix this problem and restore the state’s reputation to what it once was – a great place to visit and live.

Sincerely,

Gordon James