Dear Mr. Hughes:
As president of the board of the LaPorte County Convention and Visitors
Bureau, I feel I must clear up some misconceptions and outright untruths
that were conveyed to your group during the recent presentation made on June
9, 2013, by Lake County CVA Director Speros Batistatos. Mr. Batistatos
continues a pattern of outright hostility and threats to neighboring
convention and visitors bureaus that is completely at odds with his stated
claim of being interested in regional cooperation.
I was particularly upset to read quotes attributed to Mr. Batistatos in the
June 10 edition of the Times of Northwest Indiana in which he absurdly
claimed that “I think consolidation’s (of the various CVB’s in Porter and
LaPorte counties) done, short of a couple of jobs that need to be eliminated
and probably will.” This is the height of arrogance and hypocrisy for Mr.
Batistatos to so bluntly predict that he will take over these neighboring
bureaus and then have their directors’ jobs eliminated.
Last time I checked, the only regional organization empowered to speak for
the various bureaus on matters of regional tourism is the Northern Indiana
Tourism Development Commission (NITDC), a solid, seven-county effort that
Mr. Batistatos withdrew his membership from because he can’t control the
organization. Furthermore, he refuses to join the statewide tourism entity,
as well.
I would strongly direct your attention to a May 15, 2013 op/ed in The Times
of Northwest Indiana by LaPorte County CVB Executive Director Jack Arnett,
who wrote quite accurately that if “Speros can’t control the sandbox, he
doesn’t want to play in it. He has no interest in real regional cooperation,
but only wants to acquire or merge the LaPorte County visitor bureau into a
larger entity he can control.”
I cannot say with more vehemence just how committed LaPorte County and our
county elected officials are to maintaining our own bureau here that works
cooperatively with other bureaus. It is outrageous that Mr. Batistatos
continues to make these self-serving and confrontational statements that do
not serve the cause of regional cooperation, but only hinder that mutual
assistance. Furthermore, there is no legal authority for him to spend Lake
County CVB money outside of Lake County for anything other than promotional
booklets and I suspect many of your members would be indignant were they to
learn that CVB money meant for Lake County is being diverted from worthwhile
projects or events in Gary to Mr. Batistatos’ chosen events or functions in
other counties. I hope you will request a detailed list of his expenditures
for the past five years and then you and your board determine if Gary is
truthfully getting its “fair share” of CVB funds.
There is no hue and cry from either LaPorte or Porter counties to be
represented by the Lake County CVA. He is misleading your members to say
that a “fair amount of hotels in LaPorte County are writing a membership
check,” when all they do is purchase ad space in his booklets.
Legislators from both Porter County and LaPorte County remain heavily
committed to the bureaus in both counties. His empty threats of securing
legislation to accomplish a forced merger or takeover are meaningless and
should be dismissed for the confrontational rhetoric they represent.
I trust at the end of the day you and other recognized leaders in Lake
County will prevail upon Mr. Batistatos to lay down the rhetorical sword he
is so fond of using against his neighboring bureaus and that you will
encourage him to join a regional organization such as NITDC and really start
undertaking a genuine effort at regional cooperation rather than continuing
to utter threats of a hostile takeover.
Patricia A. Harris
President, Board of Managers
LaPorte County Convention and Visitors Bureau