I like where Port Coquitlam is headed when it comes to selling advertising and corporate sponsorships to help fund recreation programs, but there are a couple of flaws in their plan.

First, however, kudos to PoCo Council for not being so precious about their facilities and being willing to explore new revenue streams other than taxation. That’s a rare step forward for municipalities in B.C. Here’s a report from the Tri-City News:

The city of Port Coquitlam is considering selling advertising and corporate sponsorships to help increase revenue but don’t expect to see any major civic facilities given new corporate names any time soon, if at all.

Parks and large recreation complexes will likely be off limits, according to Mayor Greg Moore, who noted that many facilities are named after people who contributed to the community.

But he said the city is interested in increasing revenues through, for example, naming a field at Gates Park —  itself named for a late longtime city councillor, Mike Gates, who was a local lacrosse star in his youth — or selling advertisements along the boards of the hockey rink at the Port Coquitlam rec complex.

“We know that property tax is under a lot of strain,” he said. “We have to look at other sources of revenue.”

Why not consider naming rights to big facilities? They should at least be on the table if the price (and brand) is right.

But here’s PoCo’s big flaw:

Moore said he foresees a situation where all advertising possibilities controlled by the city — from bus stop ads to banners that hang from the Shaughnessy Street underpass — are brought under one roof.

The city is hiring a dedicated salesperson and formulating a policy about what can be sold and to whom it can be sold.

While it is impossible to predict how much money the city would make from selling ads and corporate sponsorships, Moore said doing so could bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional funds annually.

Why bring this in-house? Why put another body on staff, with an expense account, a pension, benefits and likely an assistant?

Sales is tough. You either have the ability to sell – or you don’t. There’s a reason why so many private sector sales forces operate on commission: it’s motivation. Sell or starve. That same impetus won’t be on a City staffer.

There are great companies out there that specialize in this sort of thing. Contract one of them, with tough performance measures and fees based solely on commission, and save yourself the payroll addition.