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Tourism director's salary up for debate among Brevard officials, advisory board

Dave Berman
Florida Today
Eric Garvey is the new chief operating officer of the Baugher Hotel Group.

Members of the advisory Brevard County Tourist Development Council have some advice for county management: pay the head of the tourism agency more.

The county is beginning a search for a new executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism to replace Eric Garvey, who resigned his $128,546-a-year job to take a position in the private sector.

Garvey was the highest-paid department head in Brevard County government. 

He had weighed several private-sector job offers before taking a position as chief operating officer of the Baugher Hotel Group, a hospitality and real estate development firm founded and operated by Bob Baugher.

More:Former Space Coast tourism chief named chief operating officer of local hospitality company

More:Departing Brevard tourism chief Garvey 'took us to the next level,' official says

More:Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Garvey resigns, effective July 31

It was Baugher — who also is a member of the Tourist Development Council — who brought up the Office of Tourism salary at a recent Tourist Development County meeting.

Baugher contends that the new tourism chief should get paid just as much or even more than Garvey's ending county salary, so that the person's salary is comparable to a similar position in the private sector.

Baugher said tourism "is an important economic generator, and our leadership is extremely important."

He said the county lost Garvey partly because of the salary level, adding: "Why do we want to lose another guy?" by paying Garvey's successor a similar salary or less.

Baugher said, with the county's 5 percent Tourist Development Tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals generating $15 million a year, it needs to pay its tourism director appropriately.

He said the county shouldn't "quibble over $10,000, $15,000 or $25,000, because we want to get good leadership."

Last year, a special tourism panel recommended that Brevard County increase the salaries of most of the Space Coast Office of Tourism staff, saying they are underpaid compared with their peers in other parts of the state.

The three-person Director Compensation and Job Performance Committee detailed its salary findings to the Tourist Development Council, which voted to forward the committee's recommendations to the county manager's office for consideration.

The committee's study noted that Garvey's salary was significantly less than the average salary of $154,792 for his counterparts in Florida. 

At its Aug. 29 meeting, the Tourist Development Council voted unanimously to recommend that Garvey's successor be paid a salary that is "competitive with the marketplace," but did not specify a figure.

Assistant Brevard County Manager for Community Services Jim Liesenfelt said no determination has been made for what the next tourism director would be paid.

A committee that includes Liesenfelt, Brevard County Manager Frank Abbate and two Tourist Development Council members will meet next week to discuss hiring a search firm to help the county find a new tourism director.

Until a new tourism chief is named, Office of Tourism Deputy Director Bonnie King is serving as the agency's interim executive director.

Garvey's new employer, the Baugher Hotel Group, owns and operates three hotels with a total of 409 rooms — the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral, Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Cocoa Beach and Cocoa Beach Suites hotel. It also owns and operates the Cocoa Beach Surf Co. retail business, as well as Park Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach Express transportation companies, which focus largely on offering transportation to Port Canaveral.

Baugher also is a partner in the 151-room Springhill Suites by Marriott hotel being developed in Cape Canaveral that is scheduled to open in 2020; and has a number of real estate holdings in the Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral area.

Garvey served 3½ years as executive director of the Office of Tourism.

The tourism director's salary is funded by the Tourist Development Tax, as is the rest of the agency's budget. 

Andrew Napolitano will be the keynote speaker at Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida's the 10th annual Constitution Day Dinner on Sept. 23.

Fox analyst is keynote speaker

Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano will be the keynote speaker at Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida's 10th-annual Constitution Day Dinner.

The event will be Sept. 23 at the Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place, 200 Rialto Place, Melbourne.

Napolitano is a constitutional scholar, author and public speaker. He served as a New Jersey Superior Court judge from 1987 to 1995.

Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida Chairman Bob White said his organization is "incredibly proud to have Judge Andrew Napolitano as our keynote speaker for this year’s Constitution Day Dinner. Judge Napolitano is known as one of the foremost authorities on the Constitution. We’re delighted to be able to bring him to Melbourne, so that the people of Brevard County and Central Florida will have this opportunity to meet him and hear from him in person."

White expects Napolitano to speak on the Constitution, and tie it to what's going on in the national political scene.

"He's very outspoken," White said. "We don't expect him to pull any punches."

White said the purpose of the dinner is "to honor the Constitution, our founders, the men and women of our armed forces, and our first responders." 

Tickets are available for both the dinner and for a VIP champagne reception which takes place before the dinner. The dinner price is $95 per person, and the champagne reception costs an additional $125.

The champagne reception begins at 5:30 p.m. The dinner begins at 7 p.m.. There is a social hour prior to the dinner that begins at 6 p.m.. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the reception and the social hour.

For additional information or to reserve tickets and pay online, go to  www.constitutiondaydinner.org.   

Cocoa candidate forum

The Cocoa Village Neighborhood Coalition, with the support of the League of
Women Voters of the Space Coast, is hosting a forum for candidates for city office in Cocoa.

The event will take place from 6 to 7:45 p.m. Oct. 2 at Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library, 308 Forrest Ave., Cocoa.

Candidates for Cocoa mayor, District 1 councilor and District 4 councilor will introduce
themselves, and answer questions posed by a moderator on topics suggested by
the public.

• The candidates for mayor are Larry Sinclair, Clarence Whipple Jr. and Jake Williams 
Jr. Incumbent Mayor Henry Parrish ran in a Republican primary for District 51 Florida House, but lost. This mayoral election is to fill out the final two years of Parrish's four-year term. 

• The candidates for District 1 councils are Alex Goins and Laura Jae Houston. Whipple is the current District 1 councilor, but could not run for the seat this year because of the city's term limits rules.

• The candidates for District 4 councilor are incumbent Jeri Blanco and Lorraine Koss.

The salary for Cocoa mayor is $6,600 a year and the salary for Cocoa council members are $6,000 a year.

Residents can submit questions and topics of interest in advance of the forum to: CocoaCandidateForum@gmail.com.

The Cocoa Village Neighborhood Coalition is a nonpartisan group of
residents who foster growth and improvement of Cocoa Village and the city at large
by sharing information and encouraging community awareness and involvement.

Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY. 

His Political Spin column runs Sundays in FLORIDA TODAY. 

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649

or dberman@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @bydaveberman

Facebook: /dave.berman.54

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