Local restaurateur Bernard Buckhalter has resigned his position on the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors.
The CVB board accepted Buckhalter’s resignation Monday after board president Dewitt Hicks read it to members during the board’s monthly meeting. It is effective immediately.
Buckhalter has been in managerial roles at several area Wendy’s franchises for more than 20 years. He had served on the CVB board since June 2011 after he was appointed by Columbus councilmen.
Buckhalter said he was pleased with some policy changes that took place while he was a member, including the implementation of by-laws and the adoption of a sliding scale for grants the CVB gives local festivals. The latter gives festivals 25 percent reductions each year beginning in 2016 to events CVB has funded in the past, opening up more funding to provide to new festivals.
Buckhalter cited personal and health reasons for his departure.
“I enjoyed my time there,” Buckhalter said. “We made some changes and some progress while I was there, so I’m pleased with that.”
His term ends in July. The city’s council meeting agenda for Tuesday, which lists the vacancy, states that councilmen can vote to appoint a new member on Jan. 6. Until then, the city will accept applications from area restaurant owners or employees who live in the Columbus city limits.
The CVB Board of Directors has nine member seats. Four of them are appointed by the city council. Two of those are at-large seats, while one requires an owner on the home on the Columbus Historic Tour of Homes during Pilgrimage. The fourth is for a city resident in the restaurant industry. The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors also appoints four members, two of which are at-large. That board also appoints a business representative and a hotel industry representative. Mayor Robert Smith and county board president Harry Sanders jointly appoint the ninth member.
Buckhalter is the third board member to step down this year. Leon Ellis, one of the county’s at-large appointees, chose not to re-apply earlier this year. He was replaced by Lester King in February. Shortly thereafter, the county’s business representative, Bart Wise, stepped aside. County board members replaced him with Brock Reynolds.
Last month, Smith and Sanders agreed on Thomas “Tango” Moore to fill their appointed seat, which had been vacant for more than a year.
CVB Executive Director Nancy Carpenter said she appreciated Buckhalter’s support of both her personally and the CVB’s mission of promoting tourism in Columbus.
“He made very positive contributions,” Carpenter said. “We’ll certainly miss him and wish him only the best.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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