Compass, the management company operating the Vicksburg Convention Center and Vicksburg Auditorium, was contracted Thursday to run the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The action ends a seven-month search for an executive director.

&#8220My hopes are that we can become the glue that brings the pieces together,” said Larry Gawronski, a Compass Facility Management employee who is executive director of the convention center and the auditorium.

Compass, which had been suggested earlier to take the role and later said it did not want to be considered, agreed to the deal after being contacted by a VCVB board member.

The vote to hire Compass was 6-4, and some members said it was a race-based decision because it was divided along racial lines.

Compass was hired in 2001 by the city to run the convention center and auditorium for $124,000 a year. The company handles administrative duties, sales, marketing, operations, special events, promotions and image-building.

Gawronski and Patty Cappaert, interim board chairman, said Compass will be paid no extra money for the additional duties.

&#8220The mayor took off the table any compensation that the VCVB would have to do to the city,” Gawronski said. &#8220There is no money that is being exchanged.”

He said he is excited about the new responsibility.

Mayor Laurence Leyens has supported Compass running the VCVB and has said using the company would combine resources.

Cappaert said agreement details will be worked out next week, but the agreement means VCVB will have for tourism spending the $60,000 previously paid to a director.

VCVB Board Member Bill Collins made the motion to hire Compass with a two-year contract and the option of a third year.

Board Member Lamar Roberts seconded the motion. But Board Members Bobbie Morrow and Bobby Doyle questioned the legality of the motion.

Doyle and Morrow argued that Compass could not be brought back into the race for executive director because the issue was brought up almost two months ago and Compass did not receive any votes.

&#8220Why would you put them back in?” Doyle asked.

Since the board’s October meeting, Collins, Roberts and board member Bobby Bailess, have become supporters of Compass. The Vicksburg-Warren Community Alliance, a community interest and advocacy group, and other members of the tourism industry have also come out in support of Compass taking over the director’s position.

Collins said he called representatives from Compass to ask if they would take the position if they were hired.

&#8220After careful consideration, I think Compass Management is the best option we have,” Collins said.

Morrow said she thought the motion was out of order.

&#8220The board voted on Oct. 20 that we would not consider Compass and determined it would not be the best fit,” she said. &#8220We voted unanimously against Compass.”

Board Member Omar Nelson said the issue could not be brought to a vote again.

&#8220There were several candidates who submitted applications,” Nelson said. &#8220It would defeat our process to open this up again.”

Bailess, an attorney, said the previous vote, when Compass was denied any votes, did not count because the group did not reach a consensus.

Clara Ross Stamps, a black woman who has served as interim director of VCVB, was a candidate for the position.

Citing the 6-4 vote along racial lines, Doyle, who is black, said hiring Compass stemmed from a conspiracy.

&#8220You all got together and had a meeting and said you were going to put Compass in anyway, it seems,” Doyle said.

Bailess asked Doyle if he was implying racism. &#8220You’re saying all of this is because Clara Stamps is a black woman?” Bailess asked. Doyle said yes.

&#8220This has been a plot from the beginning to sabotage the whole process,” Morrow said. &#8220It’s not being done fair.”

The meeting was the first for the new city appointee to the board, Tim Darden, who voted for Compass. David Maggio, Cappaert and Bailess also voted for Compass.

Morrow, Nelson, Doyle and Jessica Williams voted against Compass. Jo Wilson, who said last month she was concerned about hiring Compass, was not at Thursday’s meeting.

The board is composed of five county appointees, five from the city and one chosen by both.

In other matters, the board changed its bylaws to require seven members to be present at a meeting to have a quorum. Cappaert said currently the board’s bylaws say six is a quorum, but state law requires seven.

After receiving board approval, Vicksburg will become a member of the Mississippi Delta Tourism Association that includes the cities of Greenwood and Cleveland.

&#8220This is a group that formed a regional marketing effort,” Stamps said. &#8220It will save us lots of money.”

The board voted to pay the $5,000 in dues to the organization.

Stamps also asked the board to pay for poles and brackets to hang the remaining 47 VCVB blue attraction signs. The city split the cost for hanging the signs with the VCVB and has installed some signs.

VCVB, established in 1972, is designed to have 11 volunteer members who help chart tourism in Vicksburg and Warren County and oversee the paid staff of offices on Clay Street at Old Highway 27 and on Washington Street at Clay. Operations are funded by a 1 percent sales tax collected on local hotel rooms. Last year’s budget was $900,000.