By JIM BUTLER

GAEDA had no quorum for its August meeting, the second such shortfall in four months.

Three of the Authority’s seven commissioner seats are essentially vacant, leaving no margin for absence among the quorum number of four.

Absences happen – health, business, family affairs, all can create conflicts. A different commissioner missed the May and August meetings.

According to posted agenda notices and recordings the business scheduled for what turned out to be unofficial meetings was mostly in-house matters with no grant applications stalled by lack of quorum.

To this point GAEDA’s primary economic stimulus effort has been providing financial support to a host of gatherings in the city though it has entered a cooperative endeavor agreement with the city regarding the Weiss & Goldring building.

GAEDA funds are supplied through a hotel-motel occupancy tax that last year yielded $924,000.

Executive Director Angela Varnado in mid-July urged the City Council to force the membership issue under a particular legal doctrine. That dog didn’t hunt.

City Code allows each of 7 council members, who have met twice since Varnado’s request, to nominate a member and has no provision for a continuing vacancy.

The three council members – Jim Villard, Lizzie Felter and Chuck Fowler – whose GAEDA nominations are pending may be having difficulty finding takers, considering the agency issues over the past 18 months, or may just be in no hurry.

If either wants to look outside the city per se there’s a residency question – must a GAEDA nominee or member live within city?  The most-recent ordinance makes no mention.

The serve-at-will change in the member process was adopted under that ordinance in February 2023, with Fowler, according to minutes, being the only no vote.