A Columbus restaurateur wants to know why he wasn’t considered for a recent appointment made by the Columbus City Council.
Glen Baldwin, owner of the Cattleman’s Fish and Steak House and Pit and Cone restaurants, is scheduled to appear before the council during its regular meeting Tuesday. Baldwin was one of two people who applied for an appointment on the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau. The position was filled by Starkville restaurant worker Bernard Buckhalter, who was nominated for re-appointment in a motion made by Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem.
“I’m not contesting the fact that I didn’t get the appointment. I want to ask Karriem why I wasn’t even considered for the post,” Baldwin said. “I want to know why I wasn’t even brought up for a vote.”
Buckhalter is the city’s restaurant appointee, who will serve a one-year term. The guidelines for CVB appointments are outlined in its by-laws. Under Section 1, the city’s appointees are described as follows: “One restaurant member for an initial term of one year. This member and the successors shall be appointed by the city council after being selected from the names submitted by any owner or employee of a restaurant. One member who shall be the owner of a home on the Columbus Historic Tour of Homes during Columbus’s Annual Pilgrimage, for an initial term of two years. This member and the successors shall be appointed by the city council after being selected from names submitted by such applicants. Two at-large members appointed by the council for an initial term of three years.”
The law does not state the appointee has to work in Columbus.
Baldwin said that he pays the city a “considerable” amount in a two-percent mandated restaurant tax that is used to fund the CVB.
“Why was a man that pays plenty in the two-percent sales tax each year not even put up for a vote?” Baldwin asked.
If he were appointed, Baldwin said he would have been a voice for small business owners.
“Look at what’s happened with the recent closing of Station 7 and Bartahatchee Outback,” said Baldwin. “Our small family-owned restaurants are starting to fade away. I would also supported things the CVB does that fills our hotels and restaurants.”
But due to the contentious nature of the CVB, Baldwin said the appointment snub may end up being a blessing in a disguise.
“That board is a mess,” he said. “I’m not certain I want to be a part of something where everyone can’t get along, but maybe I could have made a difference — we’ll never know. I just want to know why I wasn’t even put up for a vote. I do a lot of things for this community, from providing meals and Thanksgiving to those who need them and helping Mayor (Robert) Smith with his Unity Picnic. It just blew me away that I wasn’t put up for a vote.”
The City Council will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Municipal Complex.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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