Coastal Mississippi tourism director resigning after board questioned salary, benefits
He was hired after a long selection process to promote tourism across the three Coast counties, but on Friday, Coastal Mississippi CEO Milton Segarra will resign.
Segarra announced his resignation in a statement Thursday night and said it will be effective Oct. 15.
This came after a virtual Coastal Mississippi annual update Thursday morning that said tourism on the Coast is on the way to a record year.
Thursday afternoon, the Coastal Mississippi board held a special meeting for the “discussion, review and analysis of the job performance of the CEO.”
“I would like to first and foremost thank the team of incredibly talented and dedicated staff at Coastal Mississippi, who have worked tirelessly to promote this region as a destination,” Segarra said in a statement. “Together we have achieved phenomenal successes despite any challenges we have faced.”
He also thanked everyone in the community who supported him and showed kindness to his family since moving to the Coast.
Segarra was hired in late 2017 after several months of searching for the right person. He previously was CEO of Meet Puerto Rico, the convention and tourism bureau for the island.
Since starting the job in South Mississippi in early 2018, he oversaw the rebranding of Coast tourism into “Coastal Mississippi” and led the organization through the pandemic since March 2020.
His conflict with the Coastal Mississippi board became public this summer, when the commissioners questions his salary of $225,000 plus benefits, a company car, an expense account and bonus pay based on performance.
His contract calls for another pay raise for the coming fiscal year.
The Sun Herald will update this article.
