Tourism nominees called to be interviewed

A search panel decided Wednesday to bring in all six semifinalists for face-to-face interviews for the $117,000-a-year job of director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, in line for a dramatic budget cut if Gov. Jim Gibbons gets his way.

"It's always nice to meet someone who's willing to run into a burning building," Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who heads the search committee, said, adding, "This position you're interviewing for today may not exist July 1."

The panel voted unanimously for the interviews by the full state Tourism Commission, after initially endorsing Pasquale Barone, who has been managing director of global sales for Eos Airlines in Purchase, N.Y.; Dann Lewis, who was transportation and tourism manager in the Maine Department of Transportation; and Kim Stoll, a former marketing executive for the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno.

Krolicki pushed for the face-

to-face interviews for all six

candidates, probably in early February. The names of three finalists will then be forwarded to Gibbons, who makes the appointment.

The other three are Tamara Hollingsworth, general manager of Tahoe Beach & Ski Club and Vacation Resorts International; Tom Jensen with Windermere Real Estate in Washington state; and Charles Pullen, regional supervisor for Northern California and Nevada for Zimmerman Advertising in Florida.

Not on the list is Kirk Montero, station manager for US Airways at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, who Gibbons tried to appoint. The commission said Montero applied after a deadline had expired.

While the governor has stressed the importance of tourism to the state's economy, his budget would lower the commission's $20.4 million in annual spending to

$8.2 million next fiscal year, and $8.6 million in fiscal 2011. Staffing would be reduced from 30 employees to 20.