I’ve not kept up on this issue of delinquent payments to the Northfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (a department of the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce) and their request for information from the City of Northfield.
I do wonder, though, whether the delinquent payments are related to the angry reaction from local hoteliers to the City’s hiring a Hampton Inn-connected consulting firm for $9,600 which ended up saying that a Hampton Inn and conference center was warranted for Northfield. See my Jan. 2010 blog post and the attached 47 comments: On deciding to spend $9,600 for hotel market study.
Additional background:
Nfld News Dec 23: CVB request fulfilled — sort of
On the advice of city attorney Chris Hood, the city initially declined to release the data, saying it was private and couldn’t legally be distributed. But by the second council discussion, city officials realized that some of what the CVB had asked for could be made public. That information, which includes the total delinquencies of more than $11,000, is enough to help the CVB move forward, said Feldbrugge.
Nfld News letter to the editor Dec 10: Northfield hoteliers must support CVB
Nfld News editorial Dec 7: Info withholding hurts CVB, city
Nfld News Dec 3: Without city data, visitors bureau says its hands are tied
Speaking of the CVB, has this problem been solved?