MARIETTA - Holly Bass, chief operating officer of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, will be taking on additional responsibilities as chief executive of the Cobb Convention and Visitors Bureau.

That is just one shift happening in the county's commerce, development and tourism worlds. Cobb County commissioners voted last week to merge the economic development office with the nonprofit Chamber.

Bass will split her time between the Chamber and the convention bureau, Chamber CEO Don Beaver said. The convention bureau's staff of eight has been without a leader since October, when CEO Joyce Calandra was fired after she publicly opposed the bureau's restructuring.

"We saw a vacancy there, and we knew we could help," Beaver said. "We don't have a timeline. We're commited as long as we're needed."

But not everyone is comfortable with the new arrangement. The convention bureau is under the domain of the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, and that board of directors approved Bass's appointment 5-1 last week.

The opposing vote was cast by Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin, who sits on the EHA board because of his elected office. He dissented, he said, because taxpayer-funded groups like the EHA and the convention bureau are subject to Open Government laws and should stay that way.

The Chamber is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, and thus is not subject to "sunshine" laws.

"If I were in the Chamber, I'd like a million dollars," Tumlin said. "But you can't have two masters."

Beaver, however, said that the convention bureau's board will still be in charge of that group's budget.

"We will still answer to their board. We will not operate or participate in a vacuum. We both need each other," Beaver said.

Convention bureau

The CVB was formed in 1987 as an arm of the Chamber to promote tourism. In the early 1990s, it stepped out from under the Chamber, creating an independent board funded by the county's hotel/motel tax collections.

The Authority funds 85 percent of the Bureau's $1.1 million budget through county hotel/motel tax collections. The remaining 15 percent comes from general membership fees from its about 250 members.

Olens, who led the county for the last eight years, said he sees two issues with the convention bureau.

"One, they don't have a sufficient budget. But two, no one's going to give them money until they demonstrate how they use those extra dollars. What's the metrics? What's the gain from those dollars?" Olens asked. "If we give you $100,000 for this program, what is your intent for how many more folks you'll have in the beds? So I really do think there needs to be a serious discussion on how we improve our CVB. It's not nearly where it needs to be."

"I never got the impression there was a clear vision for where they're supposed to go," Olens said.

Economic development

On March 23, meanwhile, the county commissioners unanimously approved a plan to merge the county's economic development department with the Chamber of Commerce, though exact details - such as the fate of the four county employees who staff the development office - are yet to be worked out.

The Chamber handled the county's economic development efforts until about 1989. Sam Olens, who until this week was the county chairman, said other metro-area governments such as Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb, run their economic development operations out of their chambers.

Now, confusion often results because there's not a single point of contact, Olens said.

Commissioner Tim Lee said, "It just seems to be a good time to evaluate where we are, where we'd like to be, and what's the best way to get there."

Commissioner Bob Ott said the proposal is by no means definite and must come back before the commission for another vote to work out the specifics of the plan.

"The role of economic development when it comes to incentives and bringing industry in here has always rested with the chairman. That part of it is not changing," Ott said, though the county might save some money by eliminating jobs.

The county's economic development department has a fiscal year 2010 budget of $338,891.