The city council will have its turn to discuss a new take on the Columbus Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau ordinance tonight.
A special meeting of the Columbus City Council will take place tonight at 5 p.m. at the Municipal Complex. On the table will be an ordinance passed unanimously by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Monday which would reorganize the CVB Board of Directors and change several statutes in the existing ordinance.
The ordinance seeks a local and private agreement from the state Legislature in order to expand the six-member board set forth in state law to nine members. It would also require two industry-specific board appointments from both the city and the county. The city council voted against expanding the board and including industry-specific appointments in December.
The local and private agreement is unlikely to be considered by the Legislature without the unanimous approval of the county supervisors and city council.
District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders met with Mayor Robert Smith Friday to discuss the ordinance. Sanders told the supervisors Monday that Smith was confident he could get the ordinance passed.
“The mayor has somewhat assured me that he thinks pretty positively that he can get a unanimous vote of the city council,” said Sanders.
Smith called The Dispatch offices Tuesday to inquire about a paraphrased version of Sanders” statement published in Tuesday”s paper. He declined comment on the matter, stating “I”ll comment after (Wednesday”s) meeting.”
The majority of city councilmen have committed to neither supporting nor opposing the new ordinance.
With the city and county at a stalemate for the last month, several key figures believe this proposition may be one of the last available before the 2 percent restaurant tax that funds the CVB is lost.
The tax provided approximately $1.4 million in 2010 to be spent at the CVB board”s discretion.
After the board of supervisors appointed its three CVB board members Monday, Sanders stated his concern the city will complete the state-mandated six-member board and reject the county”s insistence on industry-specific appointments. Although the county will retain the right to pull the plug on the 2 percent tax.
“They could say ”Well, we”ve got a legal board down there and we can do business.” But there”s going to be a lot of ill will,” he said. “We had a unity prayer meeting thing Wednesday (Feb. 2) morning and a city councilman (Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens) gave the closing prayer and got us all to hold hands and said we need to work together in unity. So the ball is going to be in their court.”
Mickens said Tuesday he would wait until the council received more information from the mayor and board attorney before making a decision but insisted “I can assure you we”re going to solve this problem.”
The city has chosen to wait until March 1 to name its appointments to the CVB board. But the CVB has a Feb. 14 deadline to close on its new building and needs a legal board in place to conduct business. As such, the city is expected to eliminate one board member during its special called meeting.
Rep. Gary Chism, R-Columbus, is likely to introduce the local and private agreement to the Legislature. He sits on the House Local and Private Legislation Committee, which won”t meet until two to three weeks before the legislative session ends in April. He said he”ll have ample time to introduce the bill if it”s in his hands by March 1.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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