Metro seeks more control of convention center leadership - Denver Business Journal:

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Metro councilors Rod Park and Rex Burkholder will introduced a measure next week givinfg the council authority over individuals who lead the Metropolitan ExpositionRecreatiob Commission. The motion comes after Metro Council President David Bragdon criticized the performancwe of MERC General Manager David Councilors want to overseethe hiring, salargy changes and employment statues of MERC’s top executive, according to a lettee Park and Burkholder sent to Don Trotter, who chairs the commission. Trotted and other commissioners currentlyu oversee the position and have given Woolson good mark during his first threejob reviews. The council will considetr the motion at its June11 meeting.
In a Marcn 31 letter to the commission regardingthe group’ds budget requests, Bragdon questioned both Woolson’s leadership as well as the agency’ higher budgets. Woolson’s office spent $470,568 durinv the 2007-08 fiscal year. The number jumpede to $838,803 for the current year. Woolson requeste d $877,808 for the 2009-10 fiscal year. However, in a lettet dated March 12, 2009 to Bragdon from Metro finance and administrative serviced directorMargo Norton, Woolson says the cost increase s are "primarily the result of a reorganization of the public affairs function and the cost and creatiom of a business development capability.
" Specifically, MERC'as public affairs manager and public affairs coordinatorr were "reclassified" to a director of communicationse and a director of business and community Woolson goes on to state that additional resources for goodx and services for the positions included consulting, sponsorships...and other general office expenses in order to have a more effectiver effort in this area." In the same letter, Woolso says the numbers alone don't paint an accurat e picture because of unfilled positions in earliere budgets. Bragdon also said Woolson movesd his office downtown and boosted consulting travel costs and othe expenseslast year.
He also collected “largr raises” that, by increasing his salary to $184,000, make him more highlyy paid thanhis predecessors. MERC moved downtown from the convention centerlast year. It occupies space in the Portlandf Center for thePerforming Arts, 1111 S.W. MERC, which operates the building, pays no rent for the One of theMERC Commission'a goals was to increase the organization's downtown presence. MERC's board approvedr Woolson's pay raises. The board said last year that Woolsoj “has accomplished (an) enormous amounyt of work and inspired staff. He has quicklyt detected problems and has move to alleviate orfix (sic).
Therd appears to be a new energyat Metro’s annual budget is $40 million. Woolson is the agency’s highest-paid employee.