The executive director and sales manager of the Brookfield CVB have resigned.
The CVB’s executive director Rod Raschka said he is leaving the agency, effective Sep. 19. The announcement was made just days after the city gave the bureau one last shot to persuade city aldermen to stay with the agency rather than seek bidders for the city’s tourism services.
Tracy Kaschak, the bureau’s sales manager, also resigned and found employment elsewhere.
The bureau has an annual budget of about $550,000, garnered through room tax revenue. More than $3.1 million in room tax revenue collected annually by the 13 hotels goes to two municipality general funds.
Raschka, who was hired as the bureau's director in June 2007, said Monday he felt compelled to seek another job given the uncertainty of the CVB’s future. He has accepted a job as director of sales for the corporate office of a hotel he would not disclose, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Board President Diane Heuvelmans, general manager for the Country Inn and Suites located in Brookfield, said she believes the CVB is more likely to dissolve than hire a new executive director and seek a city contract. She urged city officials to join efforts with other Waukesha County communities to promote tourism in the region, rather than joining the city of Milwaukee’s tourism efforts.
