CVB Background Information

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The Turbine Tribune offers background material to augment the provided newspaper reports about the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and its dubious connections with the Queen Mary.

Early in 1998, City Auditor candidate, Will Molnar, sued Long Beach for access to City Prosecutor's management records. Assistant City Attorney (at that time) Robert Shannon, refused access to the documents, ostensibly because this report was incomplete -- "working papers" Shannon called them. Activist attorney Bill Pearl represented Molnar in this case and although unsuccessful in obtaining full documentation, the power of the Freedom of Information Act was tested.

City Auditor Gary Burroughs admonished his political adversary for wasting precious tax payer's money on a lawsuit against the city. But was this the auditor's true concern?

Molnar delved into sources of political funding provided to Gary Burroughs, discovering that Queen Mary operator Joseph F. Prevratil donated the maximum $350.00 share and Ernst & Young consulting firm additionally made a substantial contribution.

The same names and dynamics appear in the current audit of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau accused of accounting irregularities involving bonuses awarded to certain employees.

Who is on the executive committee of the bureau? Joseph F. Prevratil. What entities are charged with conducting the "impartial" audit? City Auditor Gary Burroughs and Ernst & Young, of course.

This does not even address implications of the budget report issued by the city auditor on September 5, 2000 or myriad questions about why monies allocated for city maintenance have been withheld for years.

Diane Rush