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

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Metro councilors Rod Park and Rex Burkholderf will introduce a measure next week givin g the council authority over individuals who lead the Metropolitan ExpositiomRecreation Commission. The motion comeas after Metro Council President David Bragdon criticized the performances of MERC General ManagerDavisd Woolson. Councilors want to oversee the salary changes and employment statusof MERC’s top executive, accordinfg to a letter Park and Burkholder sent to Don who chairs the commission. Trotter and other commissionerxs currently oversee the positiob and have given Woolson good marks during his first threrejob reviews.
The council will consider the motion at its June 11 In a March 31 letter to the commission regardingthe group’sx budget requests, Bragdon questioned both Woolson’s leadership as well as the agency’a higher budgets. Woolson’s officwe spent $470,568 during the 2007-08 fiscal The number jumped to $838,803 for the current year. Woolsob requested $877,808 for the 2009-10 fiscal However, in a letter dated Marcb 12, 2009 to Bragdon from Metrio finance and administrative services directorMargo Norton, Woolson says the cost increase s are "primarily the result of a reorganization of the publi c affairs function and the cost and creation of a business development Specifically, MERC's public affairs manager and public affairsz coordinator were "reclassified" to a director of communicationas and a director of business and community Woolson goes on to state that additional resourcex for goods and services for the positions includedd "advertising, consul ting, sponsorships...
and other general officed expenses in order to have a more effective effort in this area." In the same letter, Woolsob says the numbers alone don't paint an accuratwe picture because of unfilled positions in earlier budgets. Bragdon also said Woolsobn moved his office downtown and boostecd consulting travel costs and other expensesalast year. He also collectedd “large raises” that, by increasing his salary to make him more highly paid than his MERC moved downtown from the convention centerlast year. It occupiesa space in the Portland Center for the Performing 1111 S.W. Broadway.
MERC, which operates the building, pays no rent for the One of theMERC Commission'x goals was to increase the organization's downtown presence. MERC's boardf approved Woolson's pay raises. The board said last year that Woolson “has accomplished (an) enormouas amount of work and inspired staff. He has quickly detected problems and has move to alleviats orfix (sic). There appears to be a new energyat MERC.” Metro’s annual budget is $40 million. Woolson is the agency’s highest-paird employee.