Conflicts of interest at the BID?

There's been a mini scandal brewing around the BID, which disturbs me, because I like everyone at the BID.

The BID (Business Improvement Committee) is considering giving IGT Media Holdings, their entire marketing operating budget in the amount of $234,800. That is 100% of the marketing money. In return, the BID would receive a multi-media ad campaign which would include the BID and individual merchants receiving advertising in various publications chosen by IGT.

I question giving 100% of the budget to one company. IGT operates by offering coupons and discounts with their IGT discount card. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Coral Gables BID use IGT for this and apparently this is how it came to the Grove BID's attention.

The scandal going around town is that the president of IGT, Ric Roth, sat at a BID meeting a couple of weeks ago and he lied to everyone.

On Thursday, August 27, at a very crowded BID meeting, for Special Events and Marketing, Ric was asked if Marshall Steingold, the chairman of the BID's Special Events and Marketing Committee (who was sitting at the head of the table), had any association with IGT. Ric looked at everyone in the room, the BID board members and the people sitting in the audience (I was one) and said, "No, we are just friends. We have been friends for 20 years and have worked on and off during that time, but I am sole owner of IGT." He said there was no conflict of interest.

Ric's answer was evasive, while Ric may be sole owner, Marshall is a Vice President in the IGT organization and continues to sell the IGT concept to businesses in the Grove.

According to an email sent by Robert A. Whelan, manager of PMAT Acquisition, who is one of the big guys at CocoWalk, who pays more than most into the BID: "Marshall has sold this Prime-Card program to CocoWalk for at least four years from 2006-2009 and just 2 months ago (subsequent to the formation of the BID) tried again for 2010."

I like Marshall, but this is very questionable. And to make matters worse, Marshall proves the point on his Linked In social network page shown above. The actual page is here.

Now, a few facts are that Dave Collins, BID executive director, met Ric Roth and liked the work he did for the Gables and the DDA and he asked Ric to come and speak to the BID board, despite Marshall's relationship with Ric. So Dave brought Ric in, not Marshall.

Marshall agreed to have Ric speak, but always expected to have an RFP (Request for Proposals) before anyone was handed the account and he would of course recuse himself from any votes. Marshall works on commission for IGT, and the BID would not be his account, he would not make any money on the BID account. Marshall is scheduled to clear everything up at the next BID board meeting on September 17, and people should respect that and hold all judgement until they hear what he has to say at that time.

I think the problem was that there is a conflict of interest and no matter how great Ric Roth is in the eyes of the BID, he should not be considered for the BID account. Too many people are suspicious at this point. Ric should have been forthcoming at the last meeting. Once evasive, always evasive. The BID needs an honest person working with them.

I think the BID is new and there are no "how to" books to consult. Mistakes will be made. While some mistakes are stupid, I don't believe the guys at the BID are dishonest. I do think they need to loosen the purse strings a bit and not make people beg for money, but that's another issue.

Ric Roth should never have been considered to handle any account of any size, knowing his connection with Marshall Steingold. Marshall was put in a very uncomfortable position for no reason. There are hundreds of marketing firms out there. Surely the BID can come up with a few other marketing companies who can present fair proposals.