5 candidates under consideration to become Brevard County tourism director

Brevard County Manager Frank Abbate plans to interview five candidates for a high-profile position as Space Coast Office of Tourism executive director.

All are Florida-based and have extensive tourism experience.

The five are:

• Edward Caum, Collier County deputy director for tourism and sports marketing in Naples. He is the former tourism manager/public communications specialist at the Pasco County Officie of Tourism Development in New Port Richey.

• Peter Cranis, former head of marketing for the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye and former vice president of global consumer and convention marketing for Visit Orlando.

• Alfredo Gonzalez, founder and chief executive officer of AG Hospitality Group in Ormond Beach, and former vice president of international sales and market development for Visit Florida.

• Gary Pearce Jr., a consultant for tourism-related businesses and former director of operations/deputy director of Experience Kissimmee.

• Susan Phillips, director of tourism promotion and strategic alliances for the St. Johns County Visitors and Convention Bureau in St. Augustine. She is the former director of marketing at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber/Convention and Visitors Bureau in South Carolina.

More:Brevard Tourist Development Council overhaul brings five new members to nine-person board

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Whoever is selected would succeed Eric Garvey, who left his county position July 31. Garvey moved to a private-sector job as chief operating officer of the Baugher Hotel Group, a hospitality and real estate development firm founded and operated by Bob Baugher of Cocoa Beach. 

Garvey's county salary was $128,546-a-year, and he was the highest-paid county department head.

Since then, Office of Tourism Deputy Director Bonnie King has been serving as the agency's interim executive director. King did not apply for Garvey's job on a permanent basis, because she is scheduled to retire on June 30. She has been with the Office of Tourism since 1987.

The Office of Tourism oversees one of the key drivers of the Brevard County economy. Tourism is a $2.1 billion-a-year industry in Brevard County that is responsible for more than 26,000 jobs. Hotels, restaurants, retail stores and attractions all benefit.

The county's tourism operations are funded by a 5 percent Tourist Development Tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals. That tax raised a record $15.58 million in the budget year that ended Sept. 30, and is projected to raise more than $16 million in the current budget year.

Abbate said who he hires as the new tourism director is "a very important decision" for the community and the tourism industry.

An executive search firm recommended that the county bring in the five candidates for interviews, after whittling down the list of 15 initial applicants for the position.

Abbate said, after he conducts private, individual interviews with the five on Monday and Tuesday, he will recommend two or three finalists. Assistant County Manager for Community Services Jim Liesenfelt will assist Abbate in the interview process, as the Office of Tourism is one of the departments Liesenfelt directly oversees.

The two or three finalists will be asked to come back on Jan. 24 to meet more informally with members of the Brevard County Commission, the advisory Brevard County Tourist Development Council and others interested in tourism. 

Abbate said he would accept input from people who meet with the finalists. He then will forward his choice for the position to the County Commission for confirmation.

During a brief discussion of the process at Tuesday's County Commission meeting, Commissioner John Tobia emphasized to Abbate that, ultimately, "this is completely, solely your decision" as to who Abbate wants to hire as a county department head.

The job solicitation from executive search firm SearchWide Global sought a candidate who, at minimum, had:

• A bachelor's degree in marketing, public relations, advertising or a closely field.

• Six years of "progressively responsible experience" in advertising, marketing or tourism development in a medium to large organization, including three years in "a responsible supervisory capacity." 

It listed "ideal characteristics" as including being a strong communicator, politically astute, outgoing, creative, a leader, a consensus-builder, innovative, open-minded, confident, a collaborator, a visionary and having strong interpersonal skills.

The job announcement listed top priorities of the new tourism director in the first year in the job as including:

• Becoming familiar with and fully immersing into the community.

• Building relationships with the staff, political stakeholders and key stakeholders in the community.

• Getting up to speed on the current strategic plan and keeping the momentum going.  

69 to address state legislators

Sixty-nine people have signed up to speak at Tuesday's Brevard County legislative delegation meeting in Palm Bay.

The annual meeting gives local residents a chance to make a two-minute presentation to the six state legislators who represent parts of Brevard County.

They are Sens. Debbie Mayfield and Tom Wright, as well as Reps. Thad Altman, Randy Fine, Rene Plasencia and Tyler Sirois. Fine is the chair of the delegation, all of whom are Republicans.

More:Fine switches Brevard state legislative delegation meeting to evening to attract public

More:Lagoon, roads, public transit top Brevard County's state legislative priorities for 2019

The delegation meeting will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Palm Bay City Council Chambers, 120 Malabar Road.

After some preliminary business, the delegation will discuss five local bills from 5:15 to 6:05 p.m.

Here is the rest of the schedule:

• 6:05 to 6:35 p.m.: Presentations by representatives of 13 government entities (two minutes each).

• 6:35 to 8:35 p.m.: Community presentations (two minutes each), broken down by topics — environmental and natural resources (14 speakers), education (four speakers), economic development (six speakers), health and human services (15 speakers), arts and cultural (five speakers), and political (12 speakers).

• 8:35 to 8:50 p.m.: Public comment (one minute each) for people not on the agenda  to speak.

• 8:50 to 9 p.m.: Final delegation business.

Port avoids shutdown impacts

The partial federal government shutdown has had its impacts on the Space Coast, particularly in space-related sectors.

But among the major local economic entities that have avoided any impact is Port Canaveral.

More:The government shutdown is hitting Brevard where it hurts: The space industry

More:Port Canaveral commissioners OK cruise terminal, parking garage contracts to Ivey's

The port says cruise and cargo operations have been unaffected by the shutdown.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection staff continues to process cruise passengers and crew arriving at the port. 

For example, Port Canaveral data indicates that more than 127,000 passengers on 31 ships were processed in the first 20 days of the government shutdown. Port Canaveral is the world’s second-busiest cruise port, behind the Port of Miami.

Separately, the port says the operations of the Canaveral Locks by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been uninterrupted by the shutdown, as the federal funding for that agency was approved in September.

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

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