Tourism Woes in Putnam County

The Journal News continues to look at Putnam County's tourism efforts, in an ongoing series that has, so far, included the resignation of the county's tourism director and an investigation by the New York State Attorney General.

According to the Putnam County News and Recorder, the county's Economic Development Committee got a briefing on the situation from Deputy County Executive Bruce Walker. The PCNR reported that Walker said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office had requested documents from 2014 and 2015.

At issue in part is the money that goes to the county's Visitors Bureau, about $250,000 annually in county and state funds, which Libby Pataki headed until her recent resignation, at a salary of $70,000. She also had created the Putnam Tourism Corporation, a non-profit meant to bolster public tourism efforts with private money. It paid her a $50,000 stipend in 2014, according to the PCNR.

The Journal News has written not only about Pataki's salary and stipend but about the governance and operations of the two entities.