Roy Exum
When Bob Doak, the head of the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau, appears before the openly-miffed Hamilton County Commission this morning, it’s anybody’s guess who he will bring with him. It has been learned in recent days he has already hired an advisor to “coach” him on what to say, a PR man who is scrambling “in crisis mode” to control public contempt, and a “high-priced lawyer” who has actually threatened legal action against the very commissioners Bob must face.
Faith and begorrah, it could be Doak might bring a priest to administer final rites. Then again, a brace of body guards to ward off those who admit they are furious might be advisable. This "ingrate who spends more than a half-million a month of taxpayer funds" has the audacity to insult the ones who enable him? Make no mistake, this man has created what will be a very costly nightmare.
That is what leads to the belief Bob would be best suited to bring a banker. What? “Everybody in the loop will tell you ol’ Bob has just written a check that his butt can’t cash.” Oh, mercy!
Doak could hire an out-of-state Supreme Court Justice to present some double-speak legalese in an attempt to clarify his “misinformation” claim. After all, the commissioners have already been presented some cold facts each will have before them at the dais. And, believe this, the figures are in plain and unforgiving English.
Somebody said the shaky Doak may get the same “consultant” he paid to pick out the “Chinese lanterns” in the hallways of his plush offices, or the costly artwork that, upon closer study, now raises the same eyebrows. I mean, $420,000 just in office furnishings and computers alone in an 18th-floor penthouse? The entire CVB is under a microscope and some commissioners admit they are surprised at their findings.
But the odds-on favorite in the guessing game is that Doak will be accompanied by some “medicine man.” Yep, the same guy who sells the “snake oil” to make people believe it takes over $7 million in taxpayer money every year to lure tourists and book conventions.
The first medical chore will be to administer “smelling salts” after the County Commissioners absolutely kayo the CVB for lack of oversight and scant accountability. The second will be to stitch up the beleaguered leader after the commission slashes his funding down to the bone-bare budget that every other county department now must endure. Are you kidding me – 12 years since a tax increase, and this in today’s world?
Legislation was initiated in Nashville on Tuesday to have the state auditor follow every last penny of the hotel tax in Hamilton County. Up until now there has been little more than a big bucket catching rain water but with public schools in crisis, a full 40 fewer jailers than are needed, indigent shootings on the taxpayer dime, and summertime hunger in our poverty schools at a record high, any more TV commercials spouting “Come to Chattanooga” just fell off the food chain.
There was one fairly viable suggestion that the County Commission totally “suspend” payments to the CVB, forcing Doak to present a board-approved list of what is needed for his “bureau” in the same way the county addresses the needs of public works, education, corrections and other departments.
The reasoning is hardly a reprimand nor a rebuke – The raw truth is Bob Doak does not answer to the taxpayers while the County Commission is elected and required to do exactly that. Hotel/motel tax is like every other tax – it belongs to the public. Unless there is oversight and transparent accountability, how are the public’s best interests served? It cannot happen.
A total overhaul of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is long overdue. I dare say it needs to be redefined, repurposed, and regulated. I haven’t the foggiest idea how much money it takes for tourism and in talks with the county mayor and several commissioners, not one can give a definitive answer yet they all agree on one thing …
Our citizens absolutely cannot afford to spend over $7 million on tourism and conventions, more especially when it includes advisors, consultants, lawyers, crisis managers and snake oil. Period.
royexum@aol.com