Your Five Minutes are Up

City creates top-secret downtown positionBack in May 2018, the city commissioners voted to skim off 10 percent of the overall bed tax (general fund money), including transient rental tax, to form a Marketing and Programing Fund for the downtown area. At the time, the City Manager failed to describe the details of how the fund was going to operate, nor was there a budget presented as to how the money was going to be spent. The 10 percent totals approximately $140,000 generated every year depending upon hotel/motel receipts.The city created a position called the Business District Marketing Manager paying $55,993 a year coming from the City Manager's budget, which comes from the general fund. The salary is not included in the $140,000 Programing and Marketing Fund leaving a total of about $200,000 coming out of general fund every year to support the program.Purpose of the position: To create and implement management of the programming for the business district, fulfill goals of building community and support local businesses in downtown Sandusky, and to coordinate with business district stakeholders and merchants to improve the business climate downtown.Position answers to the following people: City Manager and under the direction of Business District Advisory Council (key city staff, downtown stakeholders, Main Street Board, and regional partners).Job duties: Serve as liaison between merchants, city and other stakeholders, updates and develops policies and programs for the revitalization of downtown, management of the Mylander Market Pavilion, develop a business plan for opening and overseeing the programs and events as well as marketing the pavilion for outside rental, etc.Several downtown business owners are involved with giving ideas and suggestions for expending the bed tax. It appears the city has maneuvered around the legalities of the open meeting laws by the commissioners not formally forming a committee, thus, keeping the public away from the meetings and not keeping any agendas or minutes. I am not sure if the so-called gathering of ideas and suggestions from the group passes the legal smell test of the open meeting laws, since the group is comprised of other people besides city staff.It is a prime example of how spending is kept from the public. A lot of the spending is below the Charter limit of $10,000 without it going to the commission for approval. Through the budget process, the commissioners are doing blanket coverage spending without seeing a full detailed breakdown of the city budget. I imagine that camouflaging the budget expenses would be easy to do so the commissioners would not know about various hidden expenses. No one would have a clue as to what was going on in the budget unless the City Manager pointed it out to the commissioners about what was really going on in the budget.In my opinion, It comes down to Main Street soaking the taxpayers for a Director and a $140,000 budget to go along with all the activities, events, and marketing that the businesses people would like to see promoted for downtown while the whole program is under the full control of the city. The taxpayers should be appalled by the city's open checkbook for downtown while other projects sit on a waiting list.