Visitors bureau looks for new publisher

Theresa Moreau

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The Huntington Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau

has begun its search for a new publisher for its annual visitors guide

now that the contract with Coatings Resource Corp. has been terminated.

The request for a proposal for a new publisher should be ready by

Friday, said John Gilbert, the visitors bureau’s chairman and senior vice

president, as well as general manager of the Waterfront Hilton Beach

Resort.

“We want to be very specific and make sure the product we get is going

to be a good product,” Gilbert said. “We want to make sure all the Ts are

crossed and all the I’s are dotted.”

Diane Baker, the bureau’s executive director, said the agency hopes to

start interviewing potential publishers within the next few weeks. The

bureau is aiming to hire one in time to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for

next year’s visitors guide.

On Sept. 6, after following the advice of the City Council and City

Atty. Gail Hutton, the bureau’s board of directors voted to terminate the

publishing contract because of a potential conflict of interest involving

Mayor Dave Garofalo, who published the guide for several years and may

have profited from the contract.

Garofalo is under investigation by the Orange County district

attorney’s office, the grand jury and the state’s Fair Political

Practices Commission for alleged conflicts of interest involving

advertisers not only in the visitors guide, but also the Local News and

the Chamber of Commerce Business Directory.

The bureau is funded 100% by the city, which granted the nonprofit

group $270,000 for its 2000-01 budget.

Garofalo, who is the sole owner of David P. Garofalo & Associates,

originally won the contract to publish the visitors guide in 1993 but

sold the rights in 1998 to businessman and longtime friend Ed Laird, who

transferred ownership to his son Jeff.

However, Garofalo stayed on as publisher.

Gilbert, who said he has not yet heard from Laird regarding the

contract, said Laird can either “litigate or negotiate” the termination

of the agreement.

“They’ll probably negotiate,” Gilbert said. “Maybe the issue is going

to be dropped, which may be in the best interest for everyone. But I

don’t have control over that.”

On the day the contract was canceled, the bureau received a memo from

Jeff Laird, saying: “Litigation is not an alternative we would consider

at this time.”

It is uncertain if Jeff Laird, who did not return phone calls placed

by the Independent, will again bid to publish the guide.

Gilbert said he doubts Jeff Laird would be interested, “but if they

were, we can’t eliminate them from proposing. They’d be with everyone

else for review. I don’t think we can tell them no.”