Commissioners to fill final CVB seats Monday

The Putnam County Commissioners are set to choose new appointees to the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau board on Monday evening, bringing an end to the complete reconstruction of the board they started four weeks ago.

At that Monday, April 20 meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to vacate their five appointments to the board, citing an imbalance in political parties on the board -- seven Republicans, when no more than six of any party are allowed.

Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray and the Cloverdale Town Council, each with three appointments, soon followed suit, leaving the board with no members as of the end of April.

Each appointing entity had 30 days to make new appointments, a task that Murray and the Cloverdale Town Council both fulfilled last week.

Murray reappointed Eric Wolfe and Gail Smith to the board, as well as selecting first-time appointee Michelle Faison. Wolfe's term will last through the end of 2015, while Smith and Faison will serve through 2016.

Diana LaViolette had been the city's third appointment.

Cloverdale reappointed Rick Patel to the board, while selecting Manoje Kantilal and Dianna Gorrell as new appointments. Patel will serve through 2016 and Kantilal and Gorrell are slated through the end of this year.

Of Cloverdale's previous appointees, former CVB president Dick Wells did not seek reappointment. Don Gedert, who had served as CVB vice president, was nominated by Councilman Gary Bennington, but was voted down by a 3-2 count.

The party affiliation question does not look like it will be a problem this time around, as the six appointments include two Democrats, two Republicans and two independents. No more than a simple majority of any one party -- six members in this case -- can serve on the board.

At the time of the commissioners vacating their appointments, County Attorney Jim Ensley advised them that they should avoid choosing more than three members of any one party in reappointing board members. If they stick to this, then no more than five party members will end up on the 11-member board.

The directive should lead to some changes, as the county's former appointees -- Allen Gibson, Mike Hanlon, Eric Hayman, Donna Houser and Dave Jackman -- included four Republicans and one independent.

The other problem besetting the former CVB board has already been addressed. At least two members of a CVB board must be employed as innkeepers because a large portion of the board's funding comes from the innkeeper's tax.

Faison is the general manager of the Inn at DePauw, Patel is the owner/operator of Super 8 in Cloverdale and Kantilal is the owner/operator of the Greencastle Inn and the Cloverdale Econo Lodge.

The Putnam County Commissioners meet at 6 p.m. Monday on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse. If the commissioners do not fill all of their seats, the duty of filling the remainder would fall to the CVB, which again has a quorum with six members.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau board's next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 at the CVB office, 12 W. Washington St., Greencastle.