"Jacksonville, Fla., Airport Authority Spends $13,000 for Two-Day Retreat"

Saturday, March 29, 2002

Jacksonville, Fla., Airport Authority Spends $13,000 for Two-Day Retreat
The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville


The Jacksonville Airport Authority spent nearly $13,000 on a two-day
retreat for staff and board members on Amelia Island in January. But the
head of the authority said he plans to conduct such retreats every six
months, and board members said the expense was justified.

Costs for the Jan. 18-19 retreat at the Amelia Island Plantation
included $35.95 for 14 soft drinks and a $1,444.50 dinner bill for 25
people.

"I thought it was well worth the money," JAA executive director John
Clark said. "To get the board members away from this environment to
figure out where we are and where we want to be was well worth it."

The retreat was held the same month the authority reported a $127,000
operating deficit for its first fiscal quarter that ended Dec. 31.
Operating income for the first five months of the authority's fiscal
year fell $963,829 below projections, largely because of fallout from
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The authority has also cut jobs, raised parking rates and other fees at
Jacksonville International Airport to offset higher security costs and
the revenue losses.

A retreat would have been less expensive at a downtown conference
center. But board member Jay Stein said the money was well spent.

"I think it's the very best investment that John Clark could have made,"
Stein said. "It was the purpose of that retreat to educate the board and
meet with outside resources. In the scheme of things, the small amount
of money spent on getting that knowledge was negligible."

The Airport Authority's marine counterpart, the Jacksonville Port
Authority, doesn't conduct retreats. In October, the newly formed Port
Authority conducted a daylong orientation for its new board members. The
session was held in the authority's headquarters on Talleyrand Avenue.

The Port Authority also conducted a one-day senior management workshop
at the Jacksonville Zoo in January. The session included rental of the
conference room for $100, breakfast pastries, box lunches, drinks and an
afternoon snack. The total cost was $312, for about eight people,
according to authority records.

The Airport Authority's retreat was "to provide a greater understanding
of our working environment, identify key initiatives, develop details
and establish timelines for specific project implementation," according
to retreat minutes.

At least 25 people including six of the authority's seven board members
attended the event. Charles Spencer was the only board member who didn't
attend.

The president of Airports Council International, North America, the
Washington, D.C.-based trade group also attended, as did the executive
director of Tampa International Airport, a Delta Air Lines official, the
vice president of a Jacksonville travel agency and other guest speakers.

The largest portion of the retreat cost was a $5,400 bill from
professional meeting facilitator Bruce Barcelo of Barcelo & Co. Barcelo
moderated the retreat, but the invoice listed no itemized hours.
(Barcelo reduced his final bill by $18.75, which he originally charged
for photocopying 75 pages at the hotel.)

Five of the authority's six board members stayed at the resort at a cost
of $121.94 per night apiece.

"It was the best work session I've ever attended in terms of the quality
of the program," board chairman Ed Austin said.

The Florida Times-Union requested copies of retreat bills on Jan. 22,
and received them Feb. 26.

A Jan. 18 bill lists a continental breakfast for 25 people at a cost of
$441.38. That comes to $17.65 per person. On the same day, the authority
was billed $650 for a 25-person lunch and $312.98 for an afternoon snack
called "25 all-time favorites."

Six guests were added to the Jan. 18 lunch bill of $162.11, which comes
to $27 per lunch.

The following day, the $441.38 continental breakfast and the $312.98
afternoon snack were billed again to the JAA. The resort also billed the
authority $664.79 for a 25-person soup-and-salad lunch, costing nearly
$27 per person.

A Jan. 18 panel discussion included Louis Miller, executive director of
Tampa International Airport, David Plavin, president of Airports Council
International, David Hamm, regional director of Delta Air Lines, and
Janice Maida, vice president of Jacksonville's All Season Travel.

The authority paid for Plavin's $472 airfare from Washington, D.C., and
two nights at the hotel for $243.88. Records show Plavin stayed at the
hotel Jan. 17 and 18, although the retreat agenda listed him as a
speaker on Jan. 18 only.

It also paid for the rooms of Jim Citrano, a Jacksonville real estate
consultant from CB Richard Ellis, and Lynn Sedway of the Sedway Group,
at $121.94 apiece for one night.

On Jan. 19, the retreat attendees began with an 8 a.m. continental
breakfast; attendees had a noon lunch and another discussion before
concluding at 4 p.m.

The Airport Authority split from the Jacksonville Port Authority in
October 2001. Before the split, the former JPA, operated for 33 years
with a marine division and an aviation division.

Clark said the former JPA didn't conduct retreats such as that on Amelia
Island. Instead, the authority would conduct staff workshops at downtown
hotels, which didn't prove to be productive, he said.

"The problem is that there are always interruptions," Clark said. "We
could never drill down on any issue because of time constraints."

At the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel in downtown Jacksonville, the
highest-priced continental breakfast costs $10.95 per person, nearly $7
less per person than what the authority paid during its retreat. Lunch
at the Radisson is $16.95 per person, compared with $27 at the JAA
retreat. And the Radisson's most expensive buffet dinner costs $36 per
person, compared with the nearly $58 the authority paid at Amelia
Island.

Both hotels provide conference rooms for free with catered events.

The Airport Authority, which operates four airports in Jacksonville, is
an independent public agency with $24 million in operating expenses and
$64.4 million in capital improvements this year.

Since the September terrorists attacks, the Airport Authority has cut or
privatized 23 jobs. Six of the workers have since taken positions with
the security firm hired by the authority.


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