The composition of the Scotts Bluff County tourism advisory committee and interaction with the county board dominated the Commissioners meeting this week.
During discussion of the Scotts Bluff Monument Superintendent’s seat on the advisory panel, tourism board at-large member Kim Johns was critical of liaison and Commissioner Charlie Knapper, criticizing him for failure to attend monthly meetings and circumventing the advisory board on several issues.
Johns told commissioners there’s a disconnect in the process as it currently stands, saying “This process worked seamlessly before, and it worked in the way that the statutes design it to. But it’s supposed to be the culmination of various tourism people, and various professionals, so you get different viewpoints.”
Knapper said the original agenda item was brought up after conversations about the composition of tourism boards in other parts of the state, and questions from the public about grant decisions.
He said when tourism advisory members have the ability to be grant beneficiaries, that’s a sticky situation.
“Right now, everyone on the board can come and ask that board for money, except for Kim. Everyone else on that board can come and ask for money. That’s not appropriate,” said Knapper. “It would be more appropriate for people who can’t ask for that money to be on that board. That would be more appropriate. So, that is why I believe the makeup of the committee should be of business people.”
The advisory panel has seven members, up to three of which can be tied to lodging by state law, but statutes are silent as to how the remainder of seats on the panel should be filled by the county board.
Scotts Bluff County Fair Manager Lanna Hubbard also addressed the issue of composition of the advisory board, noting she’s on the panel as a lodging representative, as the fairgrounds does rent out RV spaces. However, Hubbard said that means she could also legitimately be considered a business person in that respect, as could most other tourism committee members.
She said the panel doesn’t always agree on grant decisions, but the committee does follow state statutes on how grant money is spent. Hubbard said members want to see events in the community, because there are reasons people come to the county, take part in activities and use the area’s lodging and dining establishments when doing so.
Regarding his absence at committee meetings, Knapper noted with his work schedule, he had asked the advisory board to move the time of their monthly meetings.
The board ultimately took no action on the original agenda item’s subject matter. The SBNM Superintendent has an automatic seat on the advisory committee per the panel’s by-laws which has been unoccupied since the retirement of Dan Morford, and it’s not clear when Morford’s successor will be selected.
