The Civic Auditorium Complex Commission failed to provide applications of people who applied to be executive director of the Pine Bluff Convention Center in accordance with the law governing the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
The Commercial requested these documents Tuesday at a meeting of commissioners Ethel Cogshell, Gary Wilson, La’Tasha Woods, Lisa Kosmitis, Monique Benford, Tyra Johnson and Wil Jenkins. They did not provide copies of applications that they were examining. This same request was made orally to Woods on Tuesday, Sept. 26, and via email on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Woods is chairman of the commission and said the commissioners received the applications on Thursday, Sept. 28.
“I hate to put names out there,” Woods said. “I would rather give you the actual names of who we are going to hire. One young man sent in a resume that had someone else’s resume. We have to dig deeper and check these people out.”
“We gave them a short period of time to decide who it is going to be,” Woods said of her fellow commissioners. “We need to come to a decision. Everyone had a different opinion on who the best candidate is. They have to decide by Monday, October 9. We are checking people out to make sure they are who they say they are. I looked up people who put fluff on resumes. People create resumes and said they worked jobs. I need to hire someone who will hit the ground running.
“The commissioners are reviewing the applications Tuesday and are not on one accord.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Arkansas statute governing the Freedom of Information Act states that “Records must be made available immediately unless in active use or storage, in which case they must be made available within three working days of the request. Reasonable access to public records and reasonable comforts and facilities for the full exercise of the right to inspect and copy those records shall not be denied to any citizen.”
The director will manage the convention center and the advertising and promotion commission fund for promoting the city. He or she will oversee a staff of 16, supervise marketing and sales operations of the convention and visitors bureau, make sales presentations to customer groups, work with the state legislature and represent the city on regional and state boards and commissions.
“We are calling reference checks to ensure the information they are giving us is accurate,” Woods said. “We are coming up with an agreement. We want everyone to be satisfied with the person they select. Once we check them out, we will determine three finalists. We are doing our digging. We like certain ones but at the same time we have to call and check that who we like is actually true. Everyone wants to be comfortable in this process. We need to dig deeper to make sure it is authentic and not fluff.”
Convention Center Interim Executive Director Sheri Storie is not taking part in discussions on the search for a new director. She did not take part in the meeting Tuesday and has also recused herself from earlier meetings when commissioners discussed this search. Storie was appointed to the position after then-director Bob Purvis retired earlier this year.