Regardless of how one feels about the resignation of the Director of our Visitor's Bureau, we have to look now to the "new" Bureau and its future.
Some comments circulating about the "next move" have given me some heartburn. Apparently, the current Board is engaging a "head hunter" to find prospective candidates to present to the Board.
It seems to me the first thing the new Board should do is find an interim director for the summer season. I would recommend a "retired" political figure with requisite experience in managing the workforce, representing Dare County in public relative to tourism issues, and most importantly, digging into the organization itself--correcting wrongs if present, and leaving intact what works. With all the issues floating before the public, real or imagined, it makes no sense to bring a new permanent Director to the job if their first order of business is cleaning up a public relations nightmare.
In regards to the permanent Director, I would urge the Board to not only engage a search firm, but open up the application process for local candidates to submit their own resumes.
I am not a fan of recruiting firms as my experience with them is that they rarely perform as advertised. Even high-end firms do little in the way of pre-qualifying candidates. Most of them will simply pick up the phone and try to locate some current tourism bureau director in another city looking to move up, or even move down to a slower pace. They'll throw stuff against our "wall", hoping one of them will stick, and walk away with a hefty fee. If we are bound and determined to hire someone already in such a position, surely after all this time, some of the major players in Dare County should have an idea of folks running bureau's in other towns possessed of good reputations and results. Let's reach out to them directly, if that is the route we are going to take.
I would recommend a different course, at least at the outset....
Off the top of my head, I can name a half-dozen or more local personalities that already possess the skill set to successfully manage the Visitor's Bureau. I'm not sure how a search firm would reach out to those folks, since none of them are currently employed as "directors" of an existing bureau. But within the civic, Chamber, real estate, banking, insurance and even media circles, I firmly believe we have enough local talent to award the position to home grown candidates.
Dare County is a complicated place. We have distinct geographic communities. Our politics are rough and tumble. A tourism director will also need to grapple with development and controversies such as beach nourishment and Federal beach closures. The diversity of tourism opportunities is tremendous, ranging from golf, to charter fishing, surf fishing, ORV driving, kayaking, surfing, wind and sail sports, and nature excursions. It would take years for a newcomer to assimilate all of this, yet many locals already know the "score" and probably have good ideas on how to improve upon what we already possess. In my opinion, an outsider is far more likely to fail or struggle attempting to juggle all the various issues versus a seasoned local.
11 comments:
The first thing I would like the tourist bureau do is to request the resignation of the presnt board chairman (for obvious reasons, outside of any relationship, percieved or otherwise) due to heavy-handiness of performance(s).This is also well-known. Next,they need to pledge to pay more attention to their obligations as board members or resign themselves.
And, more important, let's get politics out of the tourist bureau. Hiring some "good-ole-boy/girl" is not the answer, regardless of experience. If this is done, it will be business as usual. Also, let's do something to get the tourist bureau out of the " $$ grant business." If they have too much money (as they do..to promote tourism) then it's time to cut the budget (big-time) and pass whatever law is necessary to either cut some of the tourism taxes OR divert the $$$ to the local towns where they can decide best how to use it, without having to bow to the bureau. I, for one, am sick of the tourist board being just another political entity in a county that is eat up with crappy politics in the first place.
Ray Midgett
Is it the economy or what? One thing for sure, "love is definitely in the air."
First, our county manager retires, next, our tourist bureau director resigns; and now the executive director of Festival Park.
Do I sense huge clouds being lifted from over Dare County? Let the sunshine in!
Back at cha
Ray Midgett :)
Ouch, Ray! On your first point, I'm OK with the current director working out her notice. Secondly, I strongly believe we need an interim Director to "set the record" straight; either these charges are true, false, or somewhere in the middle. Someone needs to clear this up, set up the proper management controls, and then bring in a new permanent director.
I agree with the "good old boy" comment, but that doesn't mean tha EVERYONE who was ever an elected official here would be bad choice as an interim director, nor does it mean that every local "player" qualified to be the permanent director would be a part of the politics-as-usual crowd. Surely not all of us are tainted!
As to grant giving, I can see both sides of the discussion.
Hey Ray read your own comments.
1. The current chair hired the director who just resigned. She was not a good old boy but in fact an outside professional with no local political ties. She is trying to do the same thing again by hiring a search firm to bring in outside (ie politically independent) applicants. Her resignation would simply open the door to people like Russ who want a local politico in charge. Ray help me understand the contradiction in your thinking here.
2. The towns get 90%+ of the grant dollars in the fact the whole idea of the grant program is to help provide public facilities to support the tourism economy like oh say public beach access but then you live in a town that doesn't support public beach access so I guess it doesn't help you except for the bike paths and sidewalks etc.
Towns don't have to bow to the OBVB they have to bow to the legislation that established the formula, one that the towns supported initially, even your town.
3. How is the OBVB a political entity? Its primary function is economic development and it has done that without much political interference. The Board has business and government leaders in a good balance. Who do you think should run it? How should they be selected? by election? or simply by fiat of smart people like you and me!
Ray Please provide a detailed plan for reorganizing the OBVB, You simply mouth slogans but have nothing positive to offer. Show us just this once that your words are something more than just an ignorant bombast.
Bob,
I cut and pasted your reply with the thought of a detailed reply; but decided it's not worth the time. If you think my opinion is not shared by many people in this county, so be it. I'll just say again that the bureau is in bad need of re-organization, as to direction, funding and purpose.
As to your phobia about the town of Sou.Shores not having beach access; you need to get educated. The town does not own any beach accesses. They are all owned by the SS Civic Assoc.(it's kinda like the clique in your Historic District) The town owns no property(ies) anywhere near any of the accesses and none is available. The town does provide limited side street parking, within the limited spaces available (as does Kitty Hawk). Requiring a town sicker to park there simply gives town citizens a chance to enjoy the beach (many can't find parking). My guess is you'll see parking meters in Nags Head before you will SS.
Ray M.
Bob: "People like Russ" aren't trying to turn the bureau over to some "politico". That's not close to what I said. But, rightly or wrongly (and I stand by my earlier post that I don't think things were that 'serious' at the Bureau, we have now had a Director resign under pressure from the media. In the public eye, this action alone will lend credence to the charges.
I am sure several folks, including yourself, could step in during the summer months, check out the "charges", make sure the dual control procedures are in place, and give a public report. If a former politician is too controversial, pick a retired banker, CPA, or attorney with respect in the community (I am NOT including myself here), and let them investigate before we hire a new person.
We should all want the new Director to hit the ground running and not being forced to respond to lingering media "concerns" deemed unresolved.
Ray,
Please stop lying and answer the questions. I never said people don't agree with you, I said you were wrong, there is a big difference. One is opinion and one is fact.
You say I am obsessed with SS Shore then you lie about it. There is NO PUBLIC ACCESS in SS. All the property owners accesses are signed to keep the public OUT!. What is it, you can't read or you just don't want to tell the truth.
You point at a 1.5 mile stretch of beach in NH without access and try to compare that to an entire town 4 miles long with no access. It doesn't work Ray. BTW What is your plan to provide access in the Historic District. Should the Visitors Bureau give the Town a grant for the $2,000,000 or so that it would take to buy the land or would that be too political?
Lets try this again. You wrote "I'll just say again that the bureau is in bad need of re-organization, as to direction, funding and purpose."Please provide a written plan for this reorganization. How should it be done Ray? Why won't you tell us? I will tell you why because you don't know and because all you ever want to do is be negative, never can a positive honest thought enter into your mind. Get your own blog and tell us, in detail, how the county should be run. Stop throwing stones and start building something with them. We would all benefit from your wisdom rather than your pitiful sarcasm.
Ciao
PS. As you said:"If you think my opinion is not shared by many people in this county, so be it."
Russ,
You put too much credence in Sandy's charges. I have a whole lot more faith in the cumulative annual audits than one source Sandy decides to squeeze. Npt sure what the interim leadership plan is but surely there is one. A blue ribbon panel could study but a better way would simply be to read the next audit and management letters. Surely the Board will be looking for separation of duties and any other internal control issues.
The real issue with Carolyn's term is that the Sentinel needed to sell papers. There was alot of smoke but very little if any fire. The real blame lies with the Board for not providing proper oversight. Trust me the Town Board knew where the manager was when he was traveling out of town on town business. for nearly 20 years the Mayor has approved all travel, good policy, easy to implement. The OBVB Board can't even manage something that simple instead they allow themselves to be driven into a frenzy by the Sentinel and lying liars like Ray Midget. The end result is that the county loses an outstanding leader and public employee for no good reason. Further we set up a controversy that will make it hard to bring in a quality person. Who wants to walk into the type of environment that drove Carolyn out, not me. I would rather listen to Steve Earle's new album Townes featuring the songs of Townes Van Zandt available at Amazon MP3 downloads for $2.99 for a limited time.
Ciao
Point well taken, Bob! I'll give the new Earle album a whirl. And yes, I agree that no one would want to the Bureau with the current circumstances, and I also agree the Board failed to use oversight before, during, and even after the media blitz. Ray does need to submit a plan, even its a bad one, just so the rest of us can see what he would do.
Ok, I've maxed my attention span for today, re-reading Bob's slam.
It will take some time to mull all this out; probably more time than I have left on this earth. However, I did come to one conclusion before numbness set in; to wit: Bob's referral to 1.5 miles of beach in NH and 4 miles in SS. It suddenly occurred to me that Bob, like a lot of politicians, really does believe that one can be "a little bit pregnant." And, as Forrest Gump said, "that's all I'm going to say about that."
Ray M.
I declare this topic CLOSED!!!
Post a Comment