Metro seeks more control of convention center leadership - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Metro councilors Rod Park and Rex Burkholder will introduc a measure next week giving the council authorityy over individuals who lead the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission. The motion comes after Metro Council President Davidr Bragdon criticized the performance of MERC Generapl ManagerDavid Woolson. Councilors want to oversee the salary changes and employment statusxof MERC’s top executive, according to a letterd Park and Burkholder sent to Don Trotter, who chairw the commission. Trotter and other commissioners currently overser the position and have givenn Woolson good marks during his first thresejob reviews.
The council will considerr the motion at its June 11 In a March 31 letter to the commission regardingthe group’sa budget requests, Bragdon questioner both Woolson’s leadership as well as the agency’ s higher budgets. Woolson’s office spenr $470,568 during the 2007-08 fiscall year. The number jumped to $838,803 for the current Woolson requested $877,808 for the 2009-10p fiscal year.
However, in a letter datecd March 12, 2009 to Bragdob from Metro finance and administrative servicee directorMargo Norton, Woolson says the cost increases are "primaril y the result of a reorganization of the public affairs functiojn and the cost and creatiobn of a business development Specifically, MERC's public affairsa manager and public affairs coordinator were "reclassified" to a directodr of communications and a director of business and community Woolson goes on to state that additionaol resources for goods and services for the positiones included "advertising, consulting, sponsorships...
and othe general office expenses in order to have a more effectivde effort in this area." In the same Woolson says the numbers alone don't painft an accurate picture becausw of unfilled positions in earlier Bragdon also said Woolson moved his offics downtown and boosted consultingb travel costs and other expenses last He also collected “large raises” that, by increasinb his salary to $184,000, make him more highlty paid than his predecessors. MERC movedx downtown from the convention centerlast year. It occupieds space in the Portland Center for thePerformingg Arts, 1111 S.W. Broadway.
which operates the building, pays no rent for the One of theMERC Commission's goal was to increase the organization's downtown presence. MERC's boards approved Woolson's pay raises. The boardf said last year thatWoolson “has accomplished (an) enormous amount of work and inspired He has quickly detected problemss and has move to alleviater or fix (sic). Thered appears to be a new energyat Metro’s annual budget is $40 million. Woolsobn is the agency’s highest-paid employee.