TRUMBULL COUNTY Officials to rethink merger of bureaus

The Trumbull convention bureau will soon be defunct.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Months after first rejecting the idea, Trumbull County commissioners say they are willing to reconsider combining convention and visitors bureaus with Mahoning County.
The idea, proposed again by Mahoning Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock last week, will be among several options to be considered, Trumbull County administrator Tony Carson said.
Officials also are getting ready to solicit proposals from private companies such as public relations firms and nonprofit agencies to take over the job of tourism promotion, held for decades by the Trumbull County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau also plans to submit a proposal to remain in business, officials say.
"Right now, our convention bureau is up in turmoil and everything has to be looked at," said Trumbull Commissioner Joseph J. Angelo Jr. "I think we have to find a better way than what we have currently."
Looking at savings
Sherlock said that creating a combined convention and visitors bureau for both counties would save money by reducing duplication. Tourists don't notice the county line, she said.
"In people's minds, both from outside and inside the area, the area is considered the Mahoning Valley," she said.
Members of both the Trumbull and Mahoning County convention bureaus cheered last August when Trumbull commissioners nixed the idea of a merger.
Since then, much has changed. In October, Mahoning commissioners voted to stop funding the current Mahoning County convention bureau and appoint a new one. More recently, Trumbull commissioners gave notice that the contract with its convention bureau would be terminated at the end of the year.
A plan for a strategic alliance between the two lame-duck convention and visitors bureaus was proposed by Billie Jo Zimmerman, interim Mahoning bureau director.
About the proposal
In a letter to Trumbull commissioners and the Trumbull convention bureau earlier this month, she proposed the bureaus could continue having separate boards and offices, but share a single executive director.
"I think it is just a step to keep them afloat a little longer," said Jeff Maurer, who sits on the new Mahoning County visitors board, which enjoys the support of county commissioners.
He said he would like to see a merger that would create a single convention board for both counties, that would run a single staff from a single office.
The merger is needed to give Mahoning officials more control, Maurer said.
"Two percent of our bed tax goes to an airport in Trumbull County, and we have no say in what goes on in Trumbull County," he said.
Richard Alberini, Trumbull County convention bureau chairman, remains dead-set against a merger.
"You have to concentrate on your own area," he said.