The opiate crisis in Geauga County apparently has had a residual effect on the budget of Destination Geauga, formerly the Geauga Tourism Council, whose board of directors voted last week to terminate the contract of its first executive director, Lynda Nemeth, after 10 years.
“Wednesday morning (May 17), members of the board came to the office and let me know that my contract wouldn’t be renewed,” Nemeth said May 21. “It was pretty unsettling.”
Nemeth said she had no warning about the board’s action, which was announced formally in a May 18 letter from Board President Tina Mooney to members.
“After careful consideration, the Destination Geauga Board of Trustees has decided not to renew Lynda Nemeth’s contract effective immediately,” the letter read, in part.
Mooney told the Maple Leaf budget cuts forced the board to eliminate Nemeth’s position.
“The county used to grant us $35,000 a year to run tourism and Century Village,” Mooney said. “But last year, the county commissioners told us that they were fighting a heroin epidemic and they had no funds. They dropped their contribution by $20,000.”
The department has been functioning on a $75,000 annual budget, with $35,000 contributed by the county and the rest raised from a bed tax collected from Punderson Manor House, the Red Maple Inn and a few other bed-and-breakfasts located in Geauga County. The remainder of their revenue comes from the dues of 200 members and fundraisers.
Because Geauga County has virtually no hotels, Destination Geauga receives very little revenue from the state bed tax.
“Lake County’s tourism board has a budget of $800,000 a year; with the cut from the county, this year we will have a $55,000 budget,” Mooney explained. “Ninety-nine percent of the population does not understand that.
“We understand that the county has things that they can’t do anything about, such as purchasing Narcan. Somebody pays for that,” Mooney concluded.
Narcan is the medication first responders administer to people who suffer from an overdose of narcotics. Most law enforcement and fire department personnel carry doses of Narcan in their vehicles.
Mooney said the decision to non-renew Nemeth’s contract was five months in the making.
“Our budget was tighter, our part-time office worker got another job and the relationship between the board and Lynda was disintegrating,” she said. “There’s legally not a lot I can say.”
Mooney praised Nemeth for working hard to develop the tourism office in Middlefield, which she said will remain open for limited hours, staffed with volunteers.
“She has done a lot,” Mooney said. “She is an intelligent woman and very good at what she does, but we have no executive director as of now.”
Nemeth said she recently completed working at the Geauga County Maple Festival and supervising the popular annual Spring Drive-it-Yourself Tour.
“It’s been a little crazy lately and a little hard to stop what I’ve been doing for 10 years,” she said. “This change will be unsettling at first, but it’s all good.”
During her tenure, Nemeth has travelled around the state, attending trade shows to promote Geauga tourism, working with charter bus companies to arrange day tours and organizing events such as the Drive-it-Yourself tours.
“We have put Geauga up there with major tourism players throughout the state,” she said. “And our guest book at the office has signatures from every state and over 40 different countries. There are visitors from Russia, Greece, Israel, Italy and many other countries who found us. They’re coming to little Geauga County and enjoying their visit.”
She said she has worked to increase membership in Destination Geauga and has developed a phone app that helps visitors.
“It’s been a great 10 years,” Nemeth said. “I will miss working with all the members.”
She said she plans to take a little time off before she decides on the next chapter in her life, but she may find her next project sooner than she plans, due to her network-building during her years with tourism.
“After I got the news, I put something on Facebook saying that I was going to take some time off and find the right thing for me, but I’ve already heard from some people who may have some new opportunities,” she said.
In the interim, she plans to continue working on other projects close to her heart, including the Geauga Red Key Network, Consumer Connection and the Girl Scouts.
“I want to be positive. It’s all good,” she said. “I wish them well.”
