[1/23/04]Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau board was another missed by several members, leaving six a bare quorum to conduct business.

The board is made up of 11 unpaid appointees five chosen by the Mayor and Aldermen of Vicksburg, five by the Warren County Board of Supervisors and one slot that alternates. There is one vacancy.

City appointees are Cheryl Comans, Patrick Jordan, Bobbie Morrow, Patti Cappaert and Eric Biedenharn, elected chairman by his fellow board members.

County appointees are Bill Collins, Jessica Hayes Williams, Bobby Bailess and Lamar Roberts. The county has one appointment vacant. The joint appointee is Jo Wilson.

Those attending Thursday’s meeting were Biedenharn, Collins, Jordan, Bailess, Wilson and Roberts.

In 2003, the board had 10 regular meetings and of those meetings, only the August and October meetings had perfect attendance.

Also during the past year, only two members, Biedenharn and Collins, did not miss a single monthly meeting.

Members with the most absences were Williams with six and Morrow with five.

“If I miss a meeting it is work-related,” Williams said. “Things go on here that I have to do.”

Williams has been employed with the Vicksburg Mill of International Paper Co. for 27 years and is a safety supervisor. Morrow could not be reached.

The bylaws that govern the VCVB say a member may be removed from the board for missing three consecutive meetings. During the past year, none has missed more than two consecutive meetings.

When asked if he planned to take any action, Biedenharn said he did not know.

“I don’t talk off the top of my head anymore,” he said.