Tourism council chair elected

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Longtime St. Johns County resident Danny Berenberg was elected as the Chair of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council on Monday, Jan. 27 during the regularly scheduled meeting of the TDC. He succeeds Irving Kass in the role.

 

“I am deeply appreciative to be honored in this manner by my colleagues on the Tourist Development Council,” said Berenberg, who was appointed to a four-year term on the TDC in December 2017. “We are on the cusp of a very prosperous year in the tourism industry in St. Johns County. It is great to be part of it.”

 

Last year, visitors spent almost $712 million in St. Johns County, serving as an economic engine for a county rated as the wealthiest in Florida, annually the top-performing school system in the state and one of the fastest-growing counties nationally.

 

The St. Johns County TDC recommends funding of facilities, programs and contracts to the Board of Commissioners for the purpose of bringing people from outside of the county to cultural events. The nine-member TDC, serving four-year terms, includes a County Commissioner, two other elected officials, three or four members who are owners or operators of lodging facilities and up to three members who are involved in the tourism industry.

 

The Board of County Commissioners solicits applications for appointment whenever vacancies occur and members must be residents of St. Johns County. Current members include Berenberg, Kass, newly elected Vice Chair Diane Mataraza, Paul Waldron, Nancy Sikes-Kline, Undine George, Michael Gordon, Tom Manno and Jack Peter. The Council meets the third Monday of every month at 1:30 p.m., in the County Auditorium.

 

Funding for Tourist Development Council programs is provided by a “bed tax” paid by overnight visitors to St. Johns County. First established by County ordinance 86-72, the “bed tax” or Local Option Tourist Development Tax (LOTDT) is assessed on short-term transient rentals. Hotel/motel rooms, campground spaces, condominiums, apartments and even private home rentals are subject to the tax if they are rented for six months or less.

 

The current level of the county-wide tax is 4%, which generates approximately $5 million annually.

 

Berenberg has resided in Ponte Vedra Beach since the early 1990s. He has been instrumental in further developing the region’s arts and tourism attractions, with a focus on fundraising in the areas of symphony orchestras, museums, arts organizations, zoos, educational institutions, medical organizations and social service agencies. Two large projects where he oversaw major public-private capital campaigns were the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts ($70 million campaign) and Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens ($50 million campaign).

 

Other efforts have directly affected his home county. The Florida Chamber Music Project performs at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and is in the midst of its seventh season. Artist showings as a part of the “Art in Public Spaces” program, held at the St. Johns County Administration Building, have included artists Susanne Schuenke, Harry McCormick, Anna Miller and the current showing by photography artist Kirk Marsh.

 

Berenberg graduated from the University of Minnesota with a major in Economics and received his Juris Doctor from University of Minnesota Law School. He is licensed before the United States Supreme Court and in the State of Minnesota. He is the founding partner of Gift Counsel.com LLP and has served on several nonprofit and corporate boards and received the Minnesota Human Rights Award, the World Gold Quill Award of Excellence, the American Honor Spirit Medal, the Omar Bonderud Human Rights Award and the March of Dimes Distinguished Citizen award.