There's an entire cast of real characterscharacters in this story
Resignations roil Mesa’s tourism board
- Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Sally Harrison resigned on July 10, and
- Rich Adams, a former Visit Mesa Board chair, stepped down July 14.
- The chain of events leading to the resignations began in February.
- During that month’s board meeting, a Visit Mesa staff member reported the January purchase of a corporate membership to Las Sendas Golf Club for $60,000, according to meeting minutes.
- Visit Mesa board chairman Carl Grupp told the Tribune the golf membership will be used by four sales executives to entertain meeting planners, travel agents, tour operators and others who “bring business to fill the Convention Center, fill the hotels.”
- Grupp said he was unaware of Las Sendas’ plans to go private, but he defended the corporate membership as a valid expense, saying that golf is “a sexy part of our destination. … You don’t have this kind of golf everywhere.”
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- Adams said he and many others glossed over the golf membership expenditure in February, but board member Jaye O’Donnell, Mesa’s assistant economic development director, noticed that the membership was not brought to the board for a vote according to Visit Mesa policy.
- Grupp acknowledges that he declined O’Donnell’s request for a copy of the contract with Las Sendas Golf Club. . .He said it was because at the time, the membership was on the agenda of an upcoming Fnance Committee meeting.
- The relationship between the board and Visit Mesa’s professional staff is similar to that of the one between Mesa City Council and City Manager.
- Visit Mesa is independent of the City of Mesa, but it receives the bulk of its revenue from the transient lodging tax, or “bed tax,” collected by the city.
- Visit Mesa also provides marketing services to Queen Creek and some private clients.
- For the fiscal year ending June 2022, Visit Mesa reported $5.1 million in revenue. Its CEO’s base salary in 2022 was $354,000, according to its required report to the IRS.
Visit Mesa includes a paid professional staff overseen by the unpaid board of directors. The board’s 36 members comprise a who’s who of Mesa leaders and industry players.
The board meetings are not open to the public and Visit Mesa isn’t subject to public records requests, but it must submit financial information to the IRS that is available to the public.
- “The story that was promulgated shifted from the issue Jaye raised to ‘Jaye is grinding an ax and (Mesa Economic Development Director) Bill Jabjiniak is jealous,’” Adams said.
- Another layer to the golf membership drama is that Tannis McBean, the secretary of the Visit Mesa board’s executive committee, is married to Wayne McBean, a co-owner of Las Sendas Golf Club.
- The local luminaries on the Visit Mesa board include District 6 Councilman Scott Somers, who requested a copy of the city’s contract with Visit Mesa following the resignations.
- Asked for comment on the situation, he would say only: “The resignations have raised the eyebrows of at least one other (council member).”
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- Garcia has apparently resigned from Harrison’s Chamber of Commerce board, his name disappearing from the chamber’s website sometime after late June, according to Wayback Machine, an Internet Archive tool.
- Harrison has led the 117-year-old Chamber of Commerce for a decade and has been part of its executive team even longer.
- Adams, named Mesa Man of the Year in 2019, is a member of numerous local boards, including Mesa United Way and Mesa’s Economic Development Advisory Board.
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Resignations roil Visit Mesa’s Board of Directors
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Two prominent Mesa business leaders resigned from the Visit Mesa board of directors in July, citing disagreements with the nonprofit’s professional staff over transparency concerns and a $60,000 golf club membership and an upcoming $45,000 overnight retreat at the Ritz-Carlton in Marana, outside Tucson.
Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Sally Harrison resigned on July 10, and Rich Adams, a former Visit Mesa Board chair, stepped down July 14.
Harrison has led the 117-year-old Chamber of Commerce for a decade and has been part of its executive team even longer.
Adams, named Mesa Man of the Year in 2019, is a member of numerous local boards, including Mesa United Way and Mesa’s Economic Development Advisory Board.
Adams had served on the Visit Mesa board for 15 years.
The two leaders sent their resignation letters to Visit Mesa CEO Marc Garcia and copied Mesa’s city manager, mayor and council members.
5 days ago
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