During a recent Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting, a request for direction and approval of the county organizational chart sparked a lengthy debate, primarily focusing on the potential inclusion and reporting structure of an Executive Director for Tourism (EDT). County Administrator Brian Kellenberger presented four scenarios for the new full-time position, which would oversee the county’s significant tourism operations.
The discussion highlighted differing views among commissioners regarding the EDT’s reporting lines and the scope of their responsibilities, particularly concerning the Beach Operations department. Commissioner Dan Curry advocated for the EDT to report directly to the BCC and oversee both Tourism and Beach Operations, emphasizing the need for a single accountable individual for the county’s “60 million dollar business.”
Conversely, Commissioner Danny Glidewell questioned the necessity of a new executive position, suggesting the current Tourism Director, Matt Algarin, was capable and raising concerns about the estimated $300,000-$400,000 cost and increased bureaucracy. Public comment further fueled the debate, with Suzanne Harris urging the BCC to listen to the Tourism Development Council’s desire for an executive director, while Jim Bagby emphasized organizational charts based on function rather than personality.
Ultimately, a motion for Curry’s preferred scenario was defeated in a 2-2 vote, leaving the path forward for the county’s tourism leadership unclear.
During the latest Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting, one particular agenda item drew significant attention. It was “a request for direction and approval of the county organizational chart.” Brian Kellenberger, County Administrator, has been extremely busy since the time of his appointment and formal hiring by the BCC this year. During the past month, one of the projects Kellenberger has looked at is the potential inclusion of an Executive Director for Tourism and the tricky part is – how that position would report in the County’s Organizational Chart and who will report to him/her. Currently, there are three (and only three) ‘direct reports’ to the BCC. Those three individuals include: Mr. Clay Adkinson, County Attorney, Melissa Thomason, Chief Financial Officer, and the County Administrator. All other employees in the county ultimately report to one of these three direct reports.
Kellenberger indicated that for the fiscal year ‘26 budget, he was seeking BCC direction on the organizational chart for the budgeted position of Executive Director of Tourism (EDT) and its placement within the organization. He presented a packet of possible scenarios that would outline how the new full-time employee would serve the county, meaning would he/she report to the BCC directly.
Kellenberger provided 4 scenarios. The first being that the EDT would report directly to the BCC. The second option would be to have the EDT report directly to the County Administrator – and not the BCC.
Kellenbeger said that there were two additional scenarios needing attention because formerly there was an EDT for Walton County and both the Tourism Department staff and Beach Operations staff reported to that individual. With the additional two scenarios presented, he was proposing that either the (Tourism Department only) or both Tourism and Beach Operations would report to the executive director.
Councilman Dan Curry (District 1) said, “I would like the TDC [Tourism Development Council] and everything associated with that executive position (with tourism) under that…director, which would be answering to us [the BCC]. And my reason is, I’m looking at this as a $60 million business. You don’t want to ‘piecemeal’ your departments – one department over here, another department over here. You want that person accountable for all the departments associated with that business…That’s what I would like.” Curry continued, “Another thing I am looking at, you need somebody that is ‘hands on’ day to day, every day, every minute. Because that particular business depends upon tourism [revenue] that comes down here…I think you need that one person, that is overall that to make those decisions, and to be held accountable. And us “five” [referring to the BCC] holding that person accountable.” Curry said that his selection for the new executive position would be to have that individual report directly to the BCC. His motion included having the Beach Operations department report to the EDT as well. It is important to add that this is how the structure had been in the past and continues to function without an executive director.
Chairwoman Donna Johns (District 4 ), looking to the former Director of Beach Operations, Brian Kellenberger, for his personal expertise of the organization and how it functions as a component of the Tourism Department, said, “Is that appropriate, in your opinion, that both those positions fall directly under the TDC director? Is that the best way from your experience?”
Kellenberger replied, “…there are different ways to do it. Obviously, I am going to be biased because I have been the beach operations director for quite some time…[With] the understanding that tourism and beach ops. are funded 100% by Tourist Development Tax [TDT], it would make sense that they would be under one director. We worked that way for many years, and it worked fine…When we decided to not do [sic] an executive director and just have the departments of tourism and beach ops. [working in tandem with heads of their own departments,] it worked fine. It takes an understanding between those two department directors that they share a funding source and they have to share it equitably.”
Danny Glidewell (District 2) said, “First of all, we already have this position. [Referring to the position that Matt Algarin currently holds as Tourism Director] It is called the Tourism Director. So, basically, if what you are saying is the current holder of the position isn’t doing a good job, if he is not, fire him. If he is [doing a good job,] why do we need a second person [an Executive Director?] And the Beach Operations piece is more of a ‘public works’ piece than a marketing piece. The Beach Operations in most counties is done [sic] by public works. The fact that it is funded by TDT taxes is irrelevant. It is a “function” and the function of the Beach Operations division is to provide a public works function dedicated to the beach.” Then Glidewell looked to Kellenberger and said, “Is that a fair statement?” To which Mr. Kellenberger said, “It is a very fair statement. We do a lot more than the beach.”
Commissioner Glidewell then offered his second concern, which was the cost of hiring an executive director. He added that the “position is probably going to cost us between $300,000 and $400,000. Glidewell broke down the estimated costs—salary, retirement, benefits, a car, and an aide [including compensation and benefits] — for the Council and expressed his financial concerns regarding the position as well. He suggested that the money required for the proposed executive director could be used in other ways, including “marketing or to some other function of TDC.” He added, “…let Mr. Algarin do his job. There is no point in having another layer of bureaucracy because if you are a conservative republican, you’re supposed to be cutting bureaucracy, not adding to it. And this is directly adding to the bureaucracy of this county…Unless you show me how this $400,000
expenditure is going to put at least $400,000 worth of “heads in beds. That’s the goal – to put heads in beds. Adding another person to sit in the office is not going to do that.”
Following the Commissioners initial comments on the proposed Tourism Executive Director Position, Commissioners Curry and Glidewell continued the discussion about the role and responsibilities for Beach Operations and even the Code Compliance division, which has duties at the beach. Glidewell suggested that Beach Operations may be better suited under the County Administrator or Public Works. He addressed Curry’s support for keeping Tourism and Beach Operations together and said it is not about how the two divisions are funded [both funded by TDT]. Glidewell indicated that the “better fit” is how the division functions or how it serves the county’s citizens and guests.
Commissioner Curry responded, saying that Beach Operations, being funded by TDT, must be accountable to the “funding source” or the tax dollars provided. Curry continued by saying, “…if tax dollars are designated for Beach Operations, then you need to hold Beach Operations accountable for those tax dollars. If you are going to start splitting up departments within departments – that’s a bad way to run business.”
Donna Johns brought the discussion to a close by saying that the County had a Tourism Executive Director back in 2021. She added, “Tourism is our economic engine for this county, and we need somebody [EDT] that’s really strong and really aggressive – and [one who is] getting things done…”.
Glidewell responded, “But why can’t Mr. Algarin do that right now? Are you saying that he is not doing that? Are you saying that somehow he is not doing his job? Because the only justification to put somebody over him is to say he is not doing his job.
Commissioner Johns responded, “I’m not saying he’s not doing his job, but he is not in an ‘executive’ position. He is in a ‘director’ position. And I think we need an executive director.”
Glidewell responded, “Well then, we can fix that. We’ll change his title to Executive Tourism Director.” After a spur of comments back and forth, Johns asked Commissioner Brad Drake (District 3), who currently sits as the chair on the TDC, and who remained quiet throughout the heated discussion, if he had anything he would like to add. To which he responded, “No. I’m just enjoying the show.”
The Chair then asked if anyone wanted to make a motion. Commissioner Curry reviewed his earlier preference and made the formal motion of “Scenario E” (which, by the way, was not proposed by the County Administrator.) The motion was to have the Executive Director report directly to the BCC, and following that, the Beach Operations department and Tourism department would report directly to the ETD. The Chairwoman asked for a second from Commissioners Drake and Glidewell. Neither would second the motion. Johns asked Curry if he might consider the scenario he proposed with one exception. That exception would have Beach Operations report directly to the Assistant County Administrator and not the EDT. Commissioner Curry said he could not budge on that proposed change to the motion. Johns then agreed to second the motion made by Curry. Then the floor was open to public comment.
Public Comment Sparks Additional Discussion and Encourages the BCC to Listen to the Tourism Development Council Direction
Suzanne Harris, speaking during Public Comment, said the BCC is not listening to the “bed tax collectors” or the TDC. She added, “I hope I’m not the only bed tax collector in the room, and I certainly hope some of the Board [TDC] members are here, but I think the Board [TDC] members think that y’all heard what they wanted loud and clear. They want an executive director. Okay. They didn’t say who it reported to or anything. They said they want an executive director. They said that Matt Algarin basically was doing a good job, but he was not an executive director, but he could apply for the job…” Harris continued, “… Yeah, y’all [the BCC] have just said, ‘Ignore the bed tax collectors and what they want. We’re going to sit up here and tell you, who have never run a business or owned a business, but we’re going to tell you how a business ought to run. Now, number one, we wouldn’t be paying the amount of money we are paying for the guy [consultants] to be here, from out of town, to do a five-year strategic plan – If you had an executive director. You would have saved the money [money spent on the consultant]. Because back when we had an executive director, the executive director had meetings, and had all the bed tax collectors in the room…You [bed tax collectors] had to stay for lunch, and you ate while you listened to the meeting,… it [having an executive director role] would have saved us a whole bunch of money. But y’all aren’t listening to the bed tax collectors, and we’re the ones that make the money. We need an executive director. That board [TDC] told y’all loud and clear. And now you’re sitting up here saying you don’t want an executive director, but you don’t know why you don’t want one…This is stupid. It’s just…unfathomable to me.”
Mrs. Harris directly asked Commissioner Glidewell, “What does the Director of the TDC [Tourism Department] do…what do they do?
Mr. Glidewell replied, “He manages the [tourism] department. To which Harris replied, “And what does he do? What is his goal – his goal that he accomplishes? Glidewell responded, “My opinion, to put heads in beds.”
Harris took time to give a more detailed description of the Tourism Director’s responsibilities. This included procuring the “going rates” for lodging, to determine where Walton County, with our marketing arm, is “slacking” in bringing tourists to our sandy beaches. She indicated that the director is responsible for understanding why tourism is increasing or decreasing in the county.
Jim Bagby, a rumored candidate to replace Donna Johns as District 4 Commissioner in next year’s election, also approached the BCC during public comment and introduced the idea that “for too long we have had organizational charts based on personality, not based on function. So, I agree with Commissioner Curry that the function belongs to one department…Wherever you put the executive director reporting [in the organization chart,] have one department. And it’s not because they’re all funded from the same place [as Commissioner Curry had emphasized earlier].” Bagby discussed the problems with reporting structures that get bogged down in a bureaucratic organizational chart that does not function as it should.
He said that to solve all these organizational issues, “everyone has got to get in the same room, get on the same sheet, and figure out those dollars. Y’all got a beach nourishment project you’re trying to work on. And the last thing you really need to do is have somebody over here who, I assume, is going to be working with the consultants and doing the beach nourishment project, and somebody over here whose people are running around on the beach every day, who’s got to go up three levels through a county administrator to actually affect coordination with that person. That’s just a recipe for disaster. And so I would just ask you to put them all in one department.”
And with all the discussion ending, Commissioner Glidewell called for the vote, and the motion was defeated 2-2. (Commissioner Tony Anderson was not present at the BCC meeting.) So, where does this leave the process for leading and guiding the financial muscle of the county. The Administrator came to the table with four recommendations, and with that, a fifth was proposed by Commissioner Curry. What is the process for moving forward? There was no progress made by the BCC.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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