CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors gathered today to discuss statements made by the group’s CEO, Paulette Kluge, after she told the city audit committee during a meeting yesterday that she had altered a financial arrangement with Abraham Quintanilla, Selena’s father, without its authorization. The new arrangement increases the amount of Fiesta de la Flor profits that go to the Selena Foundation.
Today’s meeting ended with no official decision being made, which means Kluge still has her job.
Kluge said when the Fiesta de la Flor event began, the CVB reached an agreement with Quintanilla to give half of the event's profits to the foundation.
She wouldn't agree to an interview about today's meeting, where she gave similar answers to the ones she gave at the city audit meeting yesterday.
But last year the profits were only $35,000.
After meeting with the foundation, Kluge says she -- on her own without city approval -- gave all the profits to the foundation. She then says she committed a flat rate of $50,000 dollars to the foundation after every Fiesta de la Flor moving forward.
Convention and Visitors Bureau board chair Melody Nixon-Bice questioned Kluge's actions, but did not let on as to what the board talked about behind closed doors in executive session.
"We just needed to continue some discussions that started with the city audit meeting yesterday,” she said. “And so we needed to continue those discussions and figure out what kind of plan we needed to make moving forward."
We could find out what those plans are next week at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, or the next regularly scheduled CVB board meeting next Thursday.
