It's always dangerous to base an opinion regarding a destination news story on one source; nuance is everything.
But, the story coming out of Putnam County NY over the past few weeks is almost too weird not to believe it. I mean, you simply can't make some of this stuff up.
The Putnam County Legislature has been pressuring its CVB for more accountability over the past year. The CVB has, for whatever reason resisted. Frustrated, the County placed an ad for a new Executive Director in May, even though the CVB is an independent agency.
At some point, the CVB Board and its CEO decided to close up shop, shut down the website, close the office and returned State grant funds. And, sometime around July 1, they actually did it. Now, County Legislators are facing the rest of the summer season with no destination website and no Plan B.
Destination Marketing Organizations have often had to tread carefully with their funding partners for fear of retribution in the form of canceling a contract, regardless of the pain that shuttering a DMO would have on local businesses.
Now, government will have to weigh whether messing with a DMO could result in the same pain visited upon their constituents if the organization says, "screw it," and closes up shop.
Crazy...
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