Commissioners claim conflict of interest in TDA board appointment
When a routine appointment to the Jackson County Tourism Development Authority came up last week, commissioners decided to table the issue claiming there was a conflict of interest.
At its Dec. 3 regular meeting, the commission was set to vote on filling a vacancy on the TDA board that would fulfill the role of representing North Jackson Hospitality and Tourism. The TDA board is made up of nine members serving staggered one, two and three-year terms.
Sylva’s Economic Development Director Bernadette Peters had been recommended to fill the North Jackson slot on the board and received a letter of support from TDA Executive Director Nick Breedlove.
“This appointment will fill a key board vacancy and ensure strong leadership for our organization,” said Breedlove. “We greatly appreciate your consideration of Bernadette Peters for this appointment to our Board of Directors. Her extensive experience and dedication to economic development make her an outstanding candidate to support our mission.”
The letter of recommendation noted that Peters has more than 35 years of experience in marketing, business development and entrepreneurship. As economic development director for the Town of Sylva, she has worked closely with new businesses, property owners and developers to support growth and revitalization efforts.
“Bernadette also manages the nationally accredited Main Street Sylva Association program, helping property owners in historic downtown Sylva rehabilitate buildings and activate unused spaces,” the letter read. “Her leadership has contributed over $600,000 in private investment and $230,000 in public investment in the past year. Through the program, volunteers logged 676 hours to organize town events, promotions, and improvements.”
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However, when the question of appointment came before the board, commissioners tabled the item.
“I’d like to make a motion to table that,” said Commissioners John Smith. “The only applicant we have is the TDA person of the town and I think that’s a conflict of interest.”
While the Town of Sylva does not have its own TDA, Peters does work as the economic development director for the town and leads the Main Street Sylva Association.
In October, the County Commission approved a request from the TDA to expand career categories permitted to make up the JCTDA board.
Because several hotels in the county have consolidated under the same ownership, there has been difficulty getting enough members to fill the board of directors.
Previously, board members had to be hoteliers of establishments with 10 or more rooms, with some representing the northern and some representing the southern portions of the county.
However, with the change approved by commissioners, board membership is now open to hospitality and tourism workers more generally.
“This would create what’s called a hospitality and tourism category and our first preference would be on hoteliers, but if we can’t get a hotelier in that role, our second preference would be moving down for broader representation and those key people in the industry that understand hospitality and tourism,” Breedlove told commissioners when requesting the change.
Peters was recommended for the TDA board in this new category to represent North Jackson in hospitality and tourism.
The October shift isn’t the first time the TDA board has had to make changes to its organization due to lack of available membership. In 2017 the JCTDA board shrunk from 15 members to nine following a unanimous vote by Jackson County Commissioners.
“We simply are streamlining and making the TDA more compatible with other counties in North Carolina, and we think this will benefit the TDA and ultimately the county,” TDA board chairman Robert Jumper told commissioners at the time.
The TDA had been discussing reducing its board size since 2014, not that long after its 2012 formation. The ordinance setting up the TDA outlined the specific business sectors and regions of the county that each member must come from and finding people willing to fill all those positions had proven difficult.
Of the 30 counties surveyed in a study by the TDA in 2017, Jackson’s board was the largest.
“It does make it a challenge for recruitment,” Breedlove said at the time.
Now, with commissioners tabling the JCTDA appointment, the board will continue with a vacancy at least until the next commissioners meeting, the soonest point they could decide to vote on the appointment.
Part of the JCTDA board’s job includes overseeing the Tourism Capital Project Fund, which provides money for capital projects in the county. Since the JCTDA began the grant process, it has awarded funding to the Town of Sylva in the amount of $367,757 for Bridge Park improvements, which were completed this spring, as well as $745,000 to Jackson County to extend the Tuckasegee River Greenway in Cullowhee.
