Putnam Visitors Bureau shuts down

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print

CARMEL – The Putnam County Visitors Bureau is out of business.

The startling revelation was made by County Attorney Jennifer Bumgarner when members of the legislature’s Personnel Committee discussed the possible creation of a tourism position in county government.

The bureau, a private agency contracted with the county, is run by an independent board that receives funding for its goal of promoting tourism.

In May when the county first placed ads in local newspapers seeking a new director of tourism, then-Director Bruce Conklin was unaware of the development.

Conklin, who came on board two years ago, lived in Putnam Valley before relocating to the mid-west and then returning to his roots.

Despite requests to appear before the lawmakers for periodic updates regarding activities as previous directors had provided, Conklin had refused to comply.

Bumgarner told the lawmakers recently she and Legislators Amy Sayegh and Neil Sullivan attended a tourism board meeting in “order to voice the county’s concerns to the entire board while resolving the issues of regular reporting in the hope of creating a more amenable climate.” he board was not inclined to make any changes believing that their director was doing “a fantastic job by addressing all of the issues that they felt were necessary.”

The county officials were told that Conklin reported to their board and “they made the decisions and that was the way they would continue moving forward.”

Kevin Callahan, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Visitors Bureau, issued a lengthy statement signed by the Board of Directors without specific names mentioned outlining the history of the current bureau since 2016 when “after a scandal within the bureau, at the directive of the state attorney general, a new board was formed, bylaws revised and a new executive director was hired.”

The statement went onto say that “guidelines were established for the future operation of the bureau in accordance with New York State regulations. The board was committed to following the letter of the law as it pertains to Tourism matching funds, guidelines and multiple meetings.”

The statement indicated that the county’s travel guide underwent a complete redesign with 30,000 copies being produced.

According to the board’s statement: “When the Visitors Bureau contract was received in early 2019, there were objections to several items and resolution could not be reached with the county. The county continued to fund the bureau and it operated despite the lack of a signed contract.”

The board’s statement charged, “We were caught off guard to find a job posting for the executive director’s position in the local newspapers since no notice had been given to the bureau and a reasonable conclusion was drawn that the county was likely moving forward and bringing the functions of the bureau in-house. In anticipation of this change and in deference to the director we took action to dissolve the 501c6.”

This year the Visitors Bureau operated on matching I Love New York funds in addition to $147,000 of funding that was paid out in monthly installments by the county.




Popular Stories