Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that Virginia Benoist did not work on the election campaign of Mayor Darry Grennell, who said Benoist “did not work” on his campaign, although she planned his inauguration activities.

NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez is set to interview candidates for the next tourism director next week, but exactly which governing entity will hire the director and to whom that director will report is unclear.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen met earlier this week to discuss the duties of the director, to whom the director will report and other related tourism matters.

With no clear resolution during last week’s meeting, the board is set to decide at its Tuesday meeting on how best to move forward with hiring a director.

The director position was left vacant after former director Kevin Kirby was terminated in April following ongoing personnel issues at the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau. The board of aldermen also asked for the resignations of the members of the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission.

Since then, the city has been re-evaluating the management of its tourism operations and has sought to rebuild its leadership.

The board recently appointed CPC commissioners, and the main remaining piece is to get a director in place.

At last week’s meeting, Mayor Darryl Grennell proposed the CPC hire the director if the director is to be directly responsible to the commission.

“The decision and final selection should come from the CPC by way of a majority for who they think is best and that person be directly responsible to the CPC,” Grennell said.

While the general consensus among aldermen was that the CPC should be involved with the interviews, the aldermen made no clear decision as to whether the aldermen or the CPC would conduct the vote to hire the director.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith said she would prefer the director being directly responsible to the CPC, because the board of aldermen has to oversee “an entire city,” with the commission reporting to the board of aldermen.

“On a day-to-day basis, it seems more oversight would be down there,” she said. “I can’t get in the middle of what you’re doing. … I’m not supposed to. I’m the legislative branch.

“The city and that commission has to work together. I don’t think that there would be any decision we wouldn’t all make together.”

An obstacle in establishing a clear chain of command for the city’s tourism leadership has been the fact that historically the director has served dual roles as CVB director and director of the city’s Office of Tourism Management. The director has reported to both the CPC and board of aldermen.

Grennell said that in the past, confusion arose about to whom the director reported.

“I’m just trying to keep history from repeating itself,” he said.

Kirby was hired under former Mayor Butch Brown by a search committee of local tourism leaders and professionals.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said she did not meet the former director until a welcome reception was hosted after he was hired. Arceneaux-Mathis expressed interest in being more involved in the process this time.

Arceneaux-Mathis said after the meeting that she would like to see a director hired with the consensus of both the board of aldermen and CPC.

“I think when we all come together, we will be in consensus about who to (hire),” Arceneaux-Mathis said.

Because of the dual role, the director oversees funding that comes from multiple sources, including money that is under the purview of the city and other funds under the authority of the CVB.

Ward 6 Alderman Dan Dillard said the city needed to be careful to have in place safeguards so that city money is not expended by a CVB director without oversight.

CPC Chair Lance Harris, director of the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, said the commission is in agreement that the director should report directly to the CPC.

“Myself and the other commissioners, we think that this new CVB director should in fact answer to the commission … and would like to do the work that the legislation enables us (to do),” he said.

Tricentennial and Interim Tourism Director Jennifer Ogden Combs said regardless of how the CVB is structured, its operations will only be successful if all entities involved keep an open line of regular communication.

“It is crucial that there be communication and collaboration and cooperation between this board, the CPC board and that director,” she said.

The director is in an odd position because of the dual roles, Combs said, but part of managing that is communicating will all parties involved.

Also at the meeting, Grennell presented the board of a proposed organizational chart of the structure of the CPC and CVB staff.

When asked by Dillard, Grennell said he did not prepare the chart, but Virginia Benoist prepared the document. Benoist was a member of the CPC when the city asked for resignations of the commission.

The chart includes the CPC overseeing the CVB director, and the director overseeing three deputy directors.

The deputy directors included a deputy overseeing film operations, one overseeing tourism attractions, including cultural tourism, special events, festivals and more, and a deputy overseeing facilities and tourism promotions, including the convention center, visitor center, auditorium and community center.

Under the structure, the CPC would be the entity to decide whether to contract for the management of the convention and community centers as well as the auditorium.

The city currently contracts with New Orleans Hotel Consultants for the management of the convention and community centers, and ChristLife Church currently leases and manages the auditorium.

New Orleans Hotel Consultants President Warren Reuther addressed the board at the meeting, expressing interest in continuing to manage the convention center and noting “what we have been able to build” in Natchez for the tourism industry.

Reuther, who said he has served in various tourism leadership roles in New Orleans, said when he first began business in Natchez, former Mayor Phillip West and others came to New Orleans to see his operations.

Reuther extended an invitation to the aldermen, saying he would be happy to introduce city officials to tourism leaders in New Orleans so they could see how the industry operates there.

Ward 2 Alderman Billie Joe Frazier said he thinks the board should take Reuther up on his offer to visit New Orleans.

Since the agreement with New Orleans Hotel Consultants is set to expire early next year, the aldermen decided to revisit the matter later.

With turnover in staff and the director’s seat at the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city has struggled in recent years with stability in the city’s tourism operations.

Going forward, Arceneaux-Mathis said she would first like to see the director establish good, working relationships with staff at the CVB.

“When we started this process, we interviewed the staff about what they wanted to see in a director,” she said. “That person has to deal with the staff and strengthening the staff and working with everybody so everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing, and that way you begin to have a good working relationship with the staff, and we can move forward from there.”