What is Destination Worcester?
Mayor seeks clarification on group's accountability
City officials and business leaders agree that the recent creation of Destination Worcester to sell the city to convention and event organizers and visitors is long overdue.
What they can't seem to settle on is what type of entity the new organization is and, at least in one official's mind, whether it will be sufficiently accountable to the public that funds it.
Mayor Konstantina Lukes filed a request at last week's City Council meeting asking City Manager Michael O'Brien just what Destination Worcester's legal status is. She also wants to know who the organization is accountable to regarding its expenditure of $1.5 million in largely public funds over the next three years. Her request was referred to O'Brien's office for review.
"The organization of this entity is unclear to me and I want to get it clarified prior to the budget discussions," Lukes said.
Chamber connection
Lukes isn't alone in her confusion. Since O'Brien officially announced the creation of Destination Worcester on March 8, WBJ has also been trying to clarify what it is. Those serving on a 13-member board of directors, headed by O'Brien and "formed over time" since January, weren't even sure.
City Councilor and Destination Worcester board member Dennis Irish, for example, said the board first began meeting on January 24, but it really wasn't a board then. It was, he said, "a de-facto organization of individuals," more of an "advisory body" gathered together at O'Brien's request. The body put together bylaws, came up with a contract for Destination Worcester to be housed and have services at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and set criteria and began advertising for an executive director.
Worcester attorney and board member Brian Buckley initially said the board was "a committee under the chamber." But chamber President Richard Kennedy, also on the Destination Worcester board, initially said it was "not an entity of the chamber," but was contracting support services and renting space there. Buckley, to whom O'Brien's office referred questions on Destination Worcester's status, later said it was a public/private program "the chamber has agreed to house." And board member Sandra Dunn, general manager of the DCU Center, said the chamber is "only providing support services" for Destination Worcester, which is an independent agency.
Finally, O'Brien's office issued a "fact sheet" saying that Destination Worcester is a "program" of the chamber, though it will be governed by the Destination Worcester Advisory Board (previously called a board of directors). Its staff will be employed by the chamber. While the program will be run by the advisory board, O'Brien indicated that the city and the chamber will be able to get as much information as they need to manage the program and the funding funneled through the chamber to the program.
So, Kennedy later noted, Destination Worcester is a program of the chamber "but it's being run by an independent board" that is not a chamber board.
Public v. private
Some of the confusion could stem from some twists in Destination Worcester's original formation path. At first, Dunn said, it was going to be an entity under the Central Massachusetts Convention and Visitor's Bureau, whose city-specific marketing efforts it is actually replacing. But CMCVB President Donna McCabe says it would have just involved a "pass through" of funds and, after some discussion, that structure was nixed.
Buckley said the city did consider filing with the state to make Destination Worcester a 501(c) (3), a nonprofit incorporated with the Secretary of State's office, but decided against that.
Since the advisory board is an agency of the chamber and not the city, O'Brien and board members contend, it is not subject to the Open Meeting Law, the state law that requires public bodies to post their meetings and make them open to the public. At the request of WBJ, the Worcester County District Attorney's Office researched the status of the Destination Worcester board and concluded it is not subject to the Open Meeting Law because it is not a governing body, according to Timothy Connolly, communications director.
Model of formation
Destination Worcester is not the only public/private hybrid the city has initiated to address economic issues. The Worcester UniverCity Partnership was formed in 2005, gets $35,000 in city funding each year and operates out of the offices of the Worcester Business Development Corp. At the request of the City Council, it files regular reports on its efforts, said Assistant City Manager Julie Jacobson, who chairs the partnership's board.
Lukes says the city has tried a number of models in its effort to market itself and she wants to make sure she understands this one before the council tackles the "emotional issue" of allocating marketing funds.
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