Geary County Commissioner Keith Ascher has issued a statement addressing the concern raised last week on the potential conflict of interest in a 2-1 County vote to give notice to withdraw from the Chamber of Commerce Master Agreement and the potential impact on the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Chamber CEO Dennis Beson expressed concern noting the Chamber provides a layer of insulation between Commissioner Charles Stimatze and CVB Director Michele Stimatze. He noted if this CVB were pulled apart from the Chamber there would be a direct connection between the two, and it would bring the CVB one step closer to being a direct report between husband and wife.

Stimatze and Ascher were the commissioners who voted to issue the notice of withdrawal. Ascher stated, “Well at this point in time we have no quote, unquote, no conflict of interest. Let’s make it clear that Charles Stimatze was elected by the voters last November and his wife Michele Stimatze, was hired by the Chamber and CEO just a couple of months ago. So if and when the time comes that the CVB would come back under the umbrella of the County we’ve been informed by our county counselor that there are means of handling that and it shouldn’t be a problem.”

The County oversees the transient guest tax revenue that funds Convention and Visitor’s Bureau operations, even though the CVB is also under a consolidated Chamber of Commerce umbrella.

The notice for the County to withdraw from the Chamber Master Agreement was issued before a July 1 deadline, but would not be effective until the end of the year. That does leave time for discussion and negotiation on the issue.