Advertising Agency against Tourism Contract

The Brunet-Garcia Advertising Incorporation has chosen to protest against the city and its recommendation for the Visit Jacksonville campaign to be used for a contract worth $20 million as a way of marketing the area so that tourists will feel more inclined to visit the area. The CEO for Brunet-Garcia Advertising, Jorge Brunet-Garcia, has pointed out that two of the members from the city’s subcommittee actually have ties to the Visit Jacksonville campaign and therefore should not have been allowed to be part of the evaluation. The two members with ties were Fred Pozin and M.G. Orender. When contacted for comment, neither of the two men answered the phone calls, refusing to comment on the situation.

In the meantime, a hearing will take place at some point this week, typically Thursday morning, as a way for the professional services in the city to evaluate what has taken place  and whether or not bias did occur due to the two members being part of the subcommittee and the final decision that was made. The committee does not plan on listening to any arguments that would cause some sort of conflict of interest but the committee will, on the other hand, hear about how Visit Jacksonville actually adds up when it is evaluated based on how efficiently the campaign is working for the area.

When it was first made public that Orender and Pozin would be part of the subcommittee, there did not seem to be a problem until the final recommendation was officially made. Upon reviewing the matter at hands, there was not much cause for conflict but still there are plans to allow everyone to be heard, including Brunet-Garcia. Orender currently works as the president for the Hampton Gold Incorporation while Pozin is the General Manager for the Ramada Conference Center in the Jacksonville area. Brunet-Garcia has chosen to protest because he feels it is simply unfair. In his protest statement, he says that Orender once was the chairman for Visit Jacksonville. During the contract, Orender continued to remain a member of Visit Jacksonville, meaning that he would surely feel bias on the performance of the advertising campaign since he had part in it. And, for that reason, Brunet-Garcia is not satisfied and feels that this is obviously a huge conflict. He also pointed out that Pozin was a former chairman for the Visit Jacksonville campaign, stating that it would be obvious that he would have some bias over the advertising campaign since he knows all about it and was actually once part of it.