Thursday, September 26, 2013
 
sponsored by

Frustrations come to a head between city and tourism bureau

Send a link to a friend 

[September 26, 2013]  On Tuesday, the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County had their monthly meeting at 4:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Holiday Inn Express. Later, the Lincoln City Council would meet at 7 p.m. downtown. That evening and through correspondence on Wednesday morning, both entities expressed concerns for how to continue to move forward with tourism.

The Logan County Board established the tourism bureau more than 25 years ago and oversaw funding.

The city will soon take over the major funding source, hotel-motel tax from Lincoln businesses, come Dec 1.

The tourism perspective

On Tuesday, the 90-minute-long tourism bureau meeting was plagued with problems, indecision and frustration as board members struggled with the uncertainty of knowing what will happen to tourism funding come Dec. 1.

Adding to the frustration, as expressed by one bureau board member, was that for the second month in a row, no city representative was present for the meeting.

Ron Keller voiced his frustration in the situation, saying: "I find this extremely disconcerting and frustrating that the city has failed two months to have anyone present at our board meeting, when it was told to us that one of the problems that the tourism bureau was having is a lack of communication. Where is the lack of communication now? It certainly isn't coming from us."

The city perspective

After the tourism meeting, the Lincoln City Council met in City Hall for its committee of the whole. Alderman Tom O'Donohue asked before the council meeting for an opportunity immediately following the meeting to speak to local media about the situation.

O'Donohue wanted to clarify what was going on with his absence as the city liaison to the tourism meetings. He told media members that the reason he was not attending tourism board meetings is that the tourism board president and vice president, Charlie Ott and Gail Sasse, had delivered a message to Mayor Keith Snyder that the city representative was no longer welcome at the meetings.

O'Donohue said that in spite of this situation, he is still trying to interact with the board from a distance. Knowing there was a meeting on Tuesday, he had contacted a board member and asked for an account of the meeting, and that is when he learned that there had been several frustrating moments for the tourism board.

On Wednesday, the mayor also commented on this. Snyder wrote: "We gave the Tourism Board the space they said they wanted to run their operations. Now we're being chastised for non-involvement. There are 67 days before the city assumes the hotel/motel tax. We're ready, if the Tourism Board is, to fill the appropriate role they want for us in these next 67 days. But it's patently unfair for them to tell us to back off one month, and then to rip us for not being involved the next."

The tourism perspective

One of the first issues for the tourism board on Tuesday evening was whether or not they should vote to give funding to some local projects.

Phyllis Beccue was at the meeting, representing Christmas on Vinegar Hill and the Mount Pulaski Courthouse Foundation. She was asking for $600 to help pay for advertising for the Vinegar Hill event in early December. In addition, she was asking for whatever amount the bureau felt was appropriate for a "Christmas at the Courthouse" fundraiser that will also be in December.

Ron Leesman was there to speak on behalf of LinPro Square Dance Club. The club will be hosting a square dance convention in 2015 at the Lincoln Park District. Asked about the date, Leesman confirmed that the convention would be in 2015, but the club has to meet certain criteria now so as to hold the convention, and securing the funding they need from the tourism bureau is a part of that.

Ott told Beccue and Leesman that because the city is taking over the hotel-motel tax from the county Dec. 1, the bureau could not obligate funding for any of the requests at this time.

Later in the evening, it was David Doolin who commented that he was of the understanding that the city was going to fully fund the bureau for the first year.

But others on the board weren't so sure it would go that way.

The city perspective

O'Donohue spoke about this also after the council meeting, saying that indeed, the city had said they would let the bureau manage their funds and run their organization in the way they saw fit for the first year. He said the council had voted that it would be 2014 before they decided to take action if needed to redistribute the funds.

However, he added to that, saying that because the bureau is not trying to work with the city in any fashion, he is having doubts about that decision. He told the media that he personally believes there is a need for a tourism bureau; he doesn't want to see it go away. But he said he has an obligation to report to the council and make a recommendation to them that is in the best interest of the people of Lincoln.

He commented on the one-year time frame, saying: "As far as I know, that hasn't changed, but their unwillingness to have us participate in the process at this point is a concern. And, it is not my decision; the full council will make the decision on that.

"The fact of the matter," O'Donohue said, "is the city is taking over the hotel-motel tax Dec. 1. Tourism has never been a city issue, but now it is, and it should have been years ago."

He also noted: "If I'm going to charge the citizens of Lincoln a utility tax, I'm going to say, 'Hey, what other sources of income can I come up with?' and tourism is a major source of income that is not being exploited to the extent that it could be."

The tourism perspective

Another issue that came up at the tourism bureau meeting was the installation of board members. At the August meeting the bureau had approved adding David Doolin and Smitesh Patel to the tourism board.

Doolin has been active with the bureau for quite some time, working with them on website designs as well as promotion of tourism in Logan County.

Patel is the owner of Super 8 motel in Lincoln. He has an interest in serving on the tourism board and meets the city criteria, which says the bureau should have representatives from the hotel-motel industry on their board.

In the past, the bureau has made their selections, then presented those candidates to the Logan County Board for approval. Once approved, the candidates were then added to the roll as voting members of the tourism board.

[to top of second column]

However, Tuesday night it was reported that the city had told the county they didn't want them to approve any new members between now and December. When the city takes over in December, the city council will then approve board members.

The city perspective

O'Donohue said the city had asked the county not to make any new appointments, but he put emphasis on the word "asked," saying it had not been a demand to the county, only a request.

The tourism perspective

Another frustration expressed by the bureau was the inaction on the part of the city in resuming the search for a new executive director for tourism.

Currently, Leslie Hoefle is acting as the interim director, but she had obligated herself to that position only until Nov. 1.

Tuesday night, it was mentioned by Hoefle that she had specified she would stay until November and had expected that by now she would be working with a new director, helping that person transition into the position.

At the August meeting of the bureau, it had been stated that there was to be a meeting with representatives from the city regarding how to proceed with a phase two search. But on Tuesday night, the tourism liaison from the Logan County Board, Andy Anderson, said there had not been a meeting. So, he had nothing to report to the board regarding a new search.

During this part of the conversation, Ott expressed that he believed the reason a new search has not been started is that the city already knows who they are going to hire for the position and they are just waiting for the takeover.

The city perspective

In a correspondence with Snyder on Wednesday, he also addressed this matter: "Any suggestion that the City is sitting back doing nothing because we already know who we want in the position is flat out false. We have no candidate waiting in the wings. Absolutely none. If we did, and if we would have been manipulating the search process as the Tourism Board seems to suggest we did, why wouldn't that person already have the job?"

The tourism perspective

Another point that came out was that the bureau was not pleased with how the interviews had been conducted in the first round of the search.

The bureau had done a search and interviewed several candidates earlier this summer. In the end, they came up with no one they felt was well-equipped to fill the position.

Anderson, who served on the search and interview committees, reported in July that three interviews had been conducted. Each candidate was required to meet with three separate panels of interviewers. Each panel represented a different sector of the community and included representatives from the city, the tourism bureau, the Lincoln/Logan Chamber of Commerce, Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership, Main Street Lincoln and business representatives from around the community.

Tuesday night, Hoefle said she was not pleased with the way the interviews were conducted, and Ott agreed.

Hoefle said she objected to the candidates having to meet with different people at different times. Her reason was how candidate answers to various questions had been interpreted by the individual panels. She told the board she believed that two people could hear the same comment at the same time and interpret it differently, but because the group was separated during the interviews, only a few heard the objectionable comments, so those comments were objectionable only in the opinion of a few and not the whole.

Ott also expressed frustration that in the process of candidates going from panel to panel, he and Snyder were the last ones to speak with the candidates instead of the first.

The city perspective

On Wednesday, Snyder offered the city side of the coin on this issue: "If the Tourism Board members were upset with the search process, it's not clear to me why they didn't suggest changes in the midst of the process or offer an entirely different process for us to follow. Neither Alderman O'Donohue nor I were chairmen of the Search Committee; we were merely members. We would have participated in any process that was suggested as long as it resulted in what the City, and I, hope the Tourism Board, wants: getting the best person in place to lead tourism efforts for Lincoln and Logan County. We suggested the process that was used, no one objected, and that was the process that was followed. We were as disappointed as anyone that the process didn't result in the hiring of that best person. To me, the process works if you find the right person, but it also works if it keeps you from hiring the wrong person for the organization."

Finally both sides agree on one thing

In the end, there was one point made by each side that was based on common ground. Both Keller and O'Donohue realize there is a strong lack of communication between the city and the bureau.

Because the two sides are not talking to each other, they are hoping for a "go-between" in the news media.

Keller commented during the evening: "We need answers, and again we have not been instructed. The city of Lincoln has expectations (of tourism). What about our expectations (of the city)? It isn't fair." He later added, "If we can't find the answers to the questions, then I invite the press to begin asking the questions that we can't seem to get the answers (to) from the city."

And three hours later O'Donohue made a comparable statement, saying: "They may have animosity toward us, but we do not have any animosity toward them. I'd like to give them the year, but if they don't want us at the meetings, what is my recommendation going to be come Dec. 1? Maybe you guys (the media) can act as kind of a bridge between the two organizations."

[By NILA SMITH]

< Top Stories index

Back to top