Problems surface between county, tourism association

Comments raise concerns about future funding

Frustration between the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners and the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association came to the forefront last week, with a September 5 letter from the TA accusing Commissioner Paula Swenson and others of trying to strip the TA of its funding.

At a work session Tuesday, September 9, the commissioners heard comments from TA executive director Pamela Loughman and board member Jim MacDonald about the letter and about their collective concern that “based on the comments made at the most recent facilitation at some level there is an investigation into the operations and actions of the tourism association,” MacDonald said. “At some level, the TA has trepidation as to the process as we have participated thus far with Managing for Results.”
Managing for Results is a tool that county manager Matthew Birnie used first with the county administration and then with individual departments to identify goals and then take steps to meet those goals.
Although the metric being used to measure achievement at the TA is different from the traditional Managing for Results blueprint, according to Birnie, the county asked Marv Weidner a Managing for Results consultant, to facilitate a discussion between the county and the TA.
“Based on recent comments provided by Commissioners Swenson and Marv Weidner/Managing for Results, GCBTA perceives there to be consideration of a significant shift from funding a unified marketing approach to a more fractionalized use of LMD funds,” the letter says.
The local marketing district, or LMD, manages the 4 percent pillow tax that was passed by voters in 2002 and reauthorized in 2009. That tax garners more than $1 million to the local marketing effort annually.
The LMD is essentially the county commissioners. Several former TA board members have publicly raised concerns with the commissioners using LMD dollars for a facilitation process rather than marketing. And they have questioned the commissioners about why they think they should be involved in discussions between the TA and the local chambers of commerce.
“One thing that caught my attention when I read this letter is, a lot of this is nebulous at this point. There’s no suggestion before the Board of County Commissioners,” Commissioner Jonathan Houck said. “I got the sense that the die had already been cast and what happens in any process is you ask questions and those often beg other questions, and we’re in that process right now.”  
The commissioners are waiting to get a recommendation from their consultant about how to move forward. They lacked the time and information necessary to hold a discussion on the subject at the work session. Time was scheduled for a joint work session on October 28.