by DAVID HAMILTON

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Natchez aldermen decided Monday to defer negotiations with the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission regarding a proposed management agreement between the two parties until today.

NCPC Chairman Lance Harris approached the board of aldermen at Monday’s special call meeting requesting approval of the commission’s “second amended management agreement,” which the group has spent the past several months developing.

The agreement, if agreed upon, would replace a prior agreement that expired in 2012.

Though most of the board expressed willingness to work out the terms of the agreement in the near future, Ward 3 alderwoman Sarah Smith was the lone board member who appeared willing to approve the management agreement at Monday’s meeting.

The proposed agreement would allow the city to be fully reimbursed by the NCPC on a “dollar-to-dollar basis,” for payment of all NCPC employees plus any other expenses incurred by the city on behalf of the NCPC, city attorney Bob Latham said.

As for the NCPC, the proposed agreement would give the commission power to “hire, fire, set and adjust compensation, and manage” all employees that do the work of the commission.

“We’re taking the point that if we’re providing all the funds for those employees as a direct reimbursement, then we need to have that direct oversight over those employees,” Harris said.

The aldermen essentially decided to defer any decision on the agreement Monday night after carrying a motion from Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis.

Arceneaux-Mathis inquired about whether a dollar-to-dollar payment scheme was more beneficial than a variable payment system, previously part of the management agreement between the parties. A variable payment would be based on the overall tax revenue collected by the commission.

Arceneaux-Mathis then made a motion to make a determination what dollar amounts for each method would look like. The motion carried by a 5-1 majority, with Ward 3 Alderwoman Sarah Smith opposing.

Smith lamented the decision, which essentially deferred the contract talks to a later date.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell also expressed desire to move forward and said he agreed with Harris that oversight should be granted to the commission.

“This board needs to put its trust in the (NCPC) …” Grennell said.

Arceneaux-Mathis said her caution stemmed from last year’s “debacle,” when the board of aldermen asked the entire commission to resign amidst ongoing personnel issues within the tourism department.

Ward 2 Alderman Billie Joe Frazier provided similar reasoning for his hesitance, also noting this process is a new experience for the first-term alderman.

“This is a new game for me, and I am in the learning process,” Frazier said.

“Before I got elected, the last situation we had with the past management agreement … it just was a debacle and it made the City of Natchez really, really look bad … We’re trying to agree line by line and do what’s right.

“We, as city officials, we’re going to have to take our time in doing the right thing.”

Smith, however, said she believes this agreement as proposed would resolve some of the issues that caused a crisis in years past.

“This is what’s interesting, is that I think this agreement arises from some of the issues that have happened in the past, and this is clearing up some of the lack of specifics of who someone answers to,” Smith said.

Harris reaffirmed Smith’s point.

“I agree with alderwoman Arceneaux-Mathis and alderman Frazier that this is a business, and I think (we have) a joint concern that (we) don’t want to get to the debacle that we had last year,” Harris said. “I believe that this management agreement that we’ve put forth will go a long way towards rectifying that situation.”

Arceneaux-Mathis also questioned a clause of the proposed agreement that would give the commission hiring and firing power over any employees who do the work of the commission.

Harris and Smith both noted, however, that the NCPC is legislatively empowered by the state to carry out the functions stated within the agreement.

“These are not things they are dreaming up,” Smith said.

Ward 6 alderman Dan Dillard said he needed more clarification on what distinguishes this agreement from the one prior. Dillard said the way the NCPC presented the proposed agreement did not make clear what changes have been made.

“Legal documents usually line these things out and I can see what was either added or what was subtracted from these proposed amendments,” Dillard said.

Former legislator and city attorney Walter Brown also presented his objection to the proposed agreement. Brown specifically noted a clause — as did Arceneaux-Mathis — which would “require authorization of the Commission” for the city to “enter into contracts or subcontracts” for carrying out functions authorized by legislation including the management of the Natchez Convention Center, City Auditorium and City of Natchez Community Center.

Brown has also represented New Orleans hotelier and Natchez property owner Warren Reuther. Currently, Reuther’s company is contracted to manage the Natchez Convention Center. Brown said he was addressing the matter as a private citizen, not as a legal representative of Reuther or his company.

Brown pleaded that provision be revised to simply say the city must consult with the NCPC on these matters, rather than grant them “veto” power.

Following Brown’s testimony, Natchez businesswoman and former NCPC commissioner René Adams made an impassioned plea to the board to expedite the process. Adams reasoned that further delaying this agreement could be detrimental to downtown businesses, which rely heavily on tourism.

“All of us gift shops are talking about closing,” Adams said. “I know three that are going to give it until the end of the year, and then they’re out of here.

“We are struggling.”

After Grennell said the talks would be continued after the board suggests revisions, Harris stressed that the NCPC has a Sept. 1 deadline to submit its budget to the city.

“Time is elapsing from us in a very quick manner, and we’d like to have this (done) as soon as possible,” Harris said.