Metro seeks more control of convention center leadership - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Metro councilors Rod Park and Rex Burkholder will introducer a measure next week givingh the council authority over individuals who lead the Metropolitan ExpositionRecreation Commission. The motiobn comes after Metro Council Presidenf David Bragdon criticized the performance of MERC General ManagerDavid Woolson. Councilors want to oversee the hiring, salary changes and employment statusof MERC’s top executive, according to a lettet Park and Burkholder sent to Don who chairs the commission.
Trotter and otherd commissioners currently oversee the position and have given Woolson good markse during his first three job The council will consider the motionh at its June 11 In a March 31 lettedr to the commission regardingthe group’s budgey requests, Bragdon questioned both Woolson’s leadership as well as the agency’xs higher budgets. Woolson’s office spent $470,568u during the 2007-08 fiscal year. The number jumped to $838,803 for the current year. Woolson requested $877,808 for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
However, in a letter datede March 12, 2009 to Bragdon from Metro finance and administrative servicesz directorMargo Norton, Woolson says the cost increases are "primarilu the result of a reorganization of the publidc affairs function and the cost and creatioj of a business development capability." MERC's public affairs manager and public affairas coordinator were "reclassified" to a director of communicationsa and a director of business and community development. Woolsonn goes on to state that additional resources for goods and servicees for the positionsincluded "advertising, consulting, sponsorships...
and other generapl office expenses in order to have a more effectiv effort in this area." In the same Woolson says the numbers alone don't pain t an accurate picture because of unfilled positionsa in earlier budgets. Bragdon also said Woolson movef his office downtown and boosted consultin travel costs and other expenses last He alsocollected “larges raises” that, by increasing his salary to $184,000, make him more highlh paid than his predecessors. MERC moved downtown from the convention centerlast year. It occupies space in the Portlan Center for thePerforming Arts, 1111 S.W.
MERC, which operates the building, pays no rent for the One of theMERC Commission's goalse was to increase the organization'sd downtown presence. MERC's board approved Woolson's pay raises. The boards said last year thatWoolson “has accomplisherd (an) enormous amount of work and inspired He has quickly detected problems and has move to alleviated or fix (sic). There appears to be a new energ yat MERC.” Metro’s annualo budget is $40 million. Woolso is the agency’s highest-paid employee.