Tuesday, October 17, 2000 CVB exec losing job   By John W. Cox, Staff writer LONG BEACH Tom Dorsett, the second-highest ranking executive at the city's convention and visitors bureau, has been relieved of his duties while board members negotiate his termination, bureau officials said Monday. The action took place as board members continue to investigate allegations that the bureau's records of hotel room bookings were inflated, resulting in excess bonus payments to bureau sales people. Dorsett, the bureau's vice president of sales, "was asked to leave," said Joseph Prevratil, vice chairman of the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau's board of directors. "He chose to deal with it by not leaving, and that's that." Once Dorsett's employment status is settled, Prevratil said, the board will consider the role of Dorsett's boss, bureau President and CEO Linda Howell DiMario. Dorsett, who was hired for the top sales position on May 15, 1999, could not be reached for comment Monday. But his recently hired Newport Beach employment law attorney, Steven Stern, said, "At some date in the not-too-distant future, all will be made clear." Stern declined further comment. Outside auditors concluded in a report released last month that the bureau gave its salespeople undue credit for 50,000 hotel bookings, or almost 8 percent of the room nights it claimed over a 21-month period. As a result, the auditors said, salespeople were overpaid bonuses totaling $19,500. The bureau receives about three-quarters of its operating budget through a marketing contract with the city of Long Beach, which collects the money in a tax on hotel stays citywide. In fiscal year 1999-2000, the contract was worth $3.5 million. Shortly after reviewing the auditors' findings, the board asked Dorsett and bureau President and CEO Linda Howell DiMario to return bonuses they received in fiscal year 1998-99. Board members have not disclosed how much money Dorsett's and Howell DiMario's bonuses total. Prevratil said negotiations between the board's attorney and Dorsett's attorney could be settled as soon as today. Then, he said, the board will consider the allegations against Howell DiMario. Former sales assistant Sharon Thomsen has alleged that Dorsett told her to alter computer records showing that the bureau was falling below its sales goals. Dorsett has denied the accusation. Thomsen said Howell DiMario backed up Dorsett's instruction. "We need to determine the issue of Linda DiMario and her role," Prevratil said. "I mean, if Tom Dorsett sits there and says, or another employee says, 'Linda DiMario knew something,' we don't know that. And it's his word against hers. . . . We will get to that." Howell DiMario could not be reached for comment Monday. It remains unclear whether Dorsett has been fired. Prevratil said he did not know whether Dorsett was still employed by the bureau, and board Chairman Chris Pook could not be reached for comment Monday, despite messages left with his offices over several days. The board's attorney, Greg Silver, declined to comment, as did its chief financial officer, Jim Gray. A person familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Dorsett no longer works at the bureau. "He was asked to leave, and I don't know what the status is," the person said. "I know that they're working on something, but I don't know what that is. I don't know if he is an employee or if he's not an employee, or what." Dorsett previously worked as convention sales vice president at the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, which placed him on paid leave in early 1994, the Denver Post reported. A spokesman at the Denver bureau declined to comment, saying personnel matters were confidential.