A top convention and tourism
official abruptly resigned from the Downtown Long Beach Associates' board of directors this week.
Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau chief Steve Goodling said today that he resigned from his advisory position of nine years on the DLBA Board of Directors Monday because of concerns with "internal issues" at the nonprofit organization, which operates on behalf of more than 1,700 business and commercial property owners downtown.
DLBA President and CEO Kraig Kojian said tonight that he met with and "personally apologized to" Steve, adding that he assumes "full responsibility regarding any communication that comes out of this office."
Goodling resigned three days after an e-mail delivered to him last Friday referred to responsibilities that the Retail Vision Steering Committee "felt the CVB needed to personally accept," including support for a downtown visitors study, new lighting, public safety efforts, the Shop Local, marketing and branding campaigns. The lbpost.com writes that Goodling's resignation is one of several issues that business owners are having with the DLBA.
Kojian and Goodling would not go into the specific issues that led to the resignation, but vowed to move forward from the experience.
"We discussed the issues at hand and, recognizing the internal nature of these matters, our organization will address them accordingly," Kojian said. "On a move-forward basis, Steve and I have agreed to continue working together on programs and services that are mutually appropriate for our organizations for the benefit of the community, including the upcoming Long Beach Bicycle Festival, the expansion of the existing storefront activation program and ongoing capital improvement projects in the Downtown."
Goodling said the CVB will continue to bring conventions to Long Beach and market the city to tourists.
"We will continue to work with our membership, which are over 400 businesses in the city, a lot of them downtown," he said. "We are very much invested here. I mean, the lighting project was a project that we took on, along the Redevelopment Agency, the DLBA and others, which is reaping us benefits with additional conventions."
"Going forward, we'll be working with the DLBA on projects as and when the need arises," Goodling said. "But there are other issues and concerns that are within the DLBA and the DLBA will need to address that."
Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau chief Steve Goodling said today that he resigned from his advisory position of nine years on the DLBA Board of Directors Monday because of concerns with "internal issues" at the nonprofit organization, which operates on behalf of more than 1,700 business and commercial property owners downtown.
DLBA President and CEO Kraig Kojian said tonight that he met with and "personally apologized to" Steve, adding that he assumes "full responsibility regarding any communication that comes out of this office."
Goodling resigned three days after an e-mail delivered to him last Friday referred to responsibilities that the Retail Vision Steering Committee "felt the CVB needed to personally accept," including support for a downtown visitors study, new lighting, public safety efforts, the Shop Local, marketing and branding campaigns. The lbpost.com writes that Goodling's resignation is one of several issues that business owners are having with the DLBA.
Kojian and Goodling would not go into the specific issues that led to the resignation, but vowed to move forward from the experience.
"We discussed the issues at hand and, recognizing the internal nature of these matters, our organization will address them accordingly," Kojian said. "On a move-forward basis, Steve and I have agreed to continue working together on programs and services that are mutually appropriate for our organizations for the benefit of the community, including the upcoming Long Beach Bicycle Festival, the expansion of the existing storefront activation program and ongoing capital improvement projects in the Downtown."
Goodling said the CVB will continue to bring conventions to Long Beach and market the city to tourists.
"We will continue to work with our membership, which are over 400 businesses in the city, a lot of them downtown," he said. "We are very much invested here. I mean, the lighting project was a project that we took on, along the Redevelopment Agency, the DLBA and others, which is reaping us benefits with additional conventions."
"Going forward, we'll be working with the DLBA on projects as and when the need arises," Goodling said. "But there are other issues and concerns that are within the DLBA and the DLBA will need to address that."
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
politics. A newcomer to the Press-
Kris Hanson reports on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
covering environmental issues, economic triumphs and
pitfalls and trade trends of America’s largest port.
He also writes a weekly column “On The Waterfront”,
appearing Tuesdays, and also produces an occassional video
and column titled “On The Job,” which follows the hard-working
men and women who keep Southern California’s economy humming.
Karen Robes Meeks came to work for the Press-
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