Bye Bye CCTB

City council voted 6-1 last night, with Councilwoman McDaniel the lone opponent, to not renew its contract with the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau, effectively defunding the organization, as the $275,000 provided by the city though its hotel/motel tax was far and away the CCTB's largest source of financial support.

Up in the air is what happens to the CCTB's facilities and website.  Councilwoman Jane Adams said she would like the city to take over maintenance of the website but Moore argued that the state owns it:

Councilwoman Jane Adams said she wanted to see the city retain ownership of the bureau’s website. Moore dismissed that notion after the vote, saying the state funds the portal.
“I will dismantle and destroy that website before I give it to anybody,” Moore said.

Interesting phrasing Moore uses there, given that in the sentence before, she states the state owns the website.  I guess you can't serve as executive director of something for some 20 years without developing a feeling of ownership.  Still, it was only after the city council starting putting pressure on the CCTB and Moore about how funds were spent that the Bureau's website got any attention and it still looks a work in progress.

Update:  From what I have heard, there had been active request from constituents to council members about defunding the CCTB and outsourcing tourism activities, causing them, with the exception of McDaniel, to readily approve the cancellation of the contract.

Update:  Apparently not gone yet, according to the Southern.