Vote to decertify Explore Altoona not done deal for commissioners

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — In a decision that sent shockwaves through the local tourism community, the Blair County commissioners voted to decertify the county’s tourism promotional board Explore Altoona but since that vote, the commissioners have failed to offer any clarity about what comes next.

Explore Altoona even claims the commissioners have actually backpedaled on what that vote means for them.

While Commissioner David Kessling said the reasoning is because there’s a “difference of opinions” as to how well Explore Altoona represents all 29 municipalities in Blair County, those with the board said Kessling’s comment is the first anyone raised this concern.

“I wish if that were true that someone would have reached out to us because, as I say, you can’t fix a problem if you don’t know what it is,” said Jodi Cessna, president of the Explore Altoona Board of Directors. “And I have not heard that in my time as a board member or as the board president.”

The commissioners made their position clear — they’ll decertify Explore Altoona, who handles marketing for tourism in the county, to pave the way for their own trails and recreation board under the county umbrella. But Explore Altoona thinks the approach to decertification is premature and not in anyone’s best interest.

“I think the most important thing, and this is really the bottom line, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Explore Altoona doesn’t have to be decertified or go away in order for an authority to be created or trails to be built and developed. You can have both at the same,” said Patrick Schurr, Director of Partnership Development for Explore Altoona.

Schurr said he has even offered to be part of the trails and recreation board, but the county has only a loose vision for that board and the creation of trails in the county could take at least a decade. Schurr also said there would be no reason why the county couldn’t work in conjunction with Explore Altoona to market the trails once they were developed.

While the handling of this process has raised many red flags in the tourism community, the primary concern that Explore Altoona has is the continued lack of communication from the commissioners which has left them unsure of what the future holds.

“It does make things challenging because there is that uncertainty. It’s unfortunate. You know, just, it’s human nature that you would have this in the back of your mind, like what’s going on here?” Schurr said.

“The only thing we’ve actually heard was that the county’s solicitor did say that it was not a vote. So unfortunately, no. We would love to know what the next step is going to be but we haven’t heard that yet either,” Cessna said.

In an email exchange between the county solicitor and Explore Altoona’s lawyer, the solicitor said the commissioners did not vote to decertify the board, claiming that while titled a “resolution to decertify,” the agenda item they voted on only authorizes the county to circulate draft resolutions to the municipalities.

The solicitor also said a public hearing where the municipalities can vote on whether or not they support the decertification will be held in accordance with state law, but no date for that hearing has been announced.

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Kessling has not returned calls or emails for more information about the meeting and what steps the commissioners have taken to move forward with the decertification.

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