The Summerfest Board meeting scheduled for Thursday morning, at which the future of Executive Director Bo Black was expected to be decided, was cancelled late Wednesday afternoon after Black apparently backed away from a buyout offer.

In a short note to board members, Board President Howard Schnoll said the joint meeting of the Personnel and Executive committee and the full board meeting had been cancelled due to “scheduling problems and unresolved matters.” He said the meeting would be rescheduled in the near future.

Several sources said board members have been negotiating with Black over the past several months on a buyout of the remainder of her contract, which expires at the end of 2003. A source said an agreement was apparently close that would allow Black to resign for health reasons and receive a cash payment and health benefits. Black underwent surgery to repair an aneurysm on her aorta in March 2001.

But when the word got out Wednesday morning about the board meeting and the likely buyout, Black apparently backed away from any deal.

“This is one hot potato,” said a political source. “The board is looking for a graceful way out of this, but it is not going to be easy dealing with Bo. She is going to try and milk it for all she can. She loves the limelight.”

When news of the expected action at the meeting became public Wednesday, sources said media outlets began to protest to Summerfest that the two meetings should not be held behind closed doors. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently challenged a Summerfest Board meeting in December at which the panel approved its 2003 budget behind closed doors. The Journal Sentinel challenged that vote as a violation of the state open meetings law.

The future of Bo Black as Summerfest executive director is likely to be decided Thursday morning, with many political observers speculating that the Summerfest Board will buy out the remainder of her contract.

Milwaukee World Festival Inc.’s Personnel Committee and Executive Committee are holding a joint meeting at 7 a.m. Thursday to review Black’s contract and other “related personnel issues.” Milwaukee World Festival’s Board of Directors will meet at 8 a.m. to consider the two committees’ joint recommendation.

The agendas do not specify what action may be taken, but several political sources said board members have been negotiating with Black over the past several months on a buyout of the remainder of her contract, which expires at the end of 2003.

Howard Schnoll, president of the Summerfest Board, said he did not know what the final decision of the board on Black’s contact would be.

“I don’t know what is going to happen until the meeting occurs,” said Schnoll, who recently took over as president of the board replacing Frank Busalacchi, the long-time board member who was appointed Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation by Governor Jim Doyle in December 2002.

Schnoll declined to comment on any negotiations with Black.

Stephen Kravit, a Milwaukee attorney representing Black, could not be reached for comment.

Black has been pursuing a new, five-year agreement to continue running the festival and publicly questioned the lack of action late last year. Her contract, with a $206,686 salary, expires at the end of 2003.

Several political sources said Busalacchi had been leading the negotiating effort with Black before he left the board. Speculation of her departure has been circulating throughout the community for several weeks, with everyone pointing at the May meeting of the board as the one where a final decision would be announced.

“They’ve been trying for months to put something together that would end this peacefully,” said a political source. But it has been a very tough negotiation. They are talking about taking out someone who is very popular in the community.”

In her 19 years as executive director, Black has been a persistent promoter of a festival that has drawn more than 1 million people in 2001 and 2002. World Festivals Inc. has started the second phase of a $17 million renovation to the festival grounds on the lakefront and remains financially solid after agreeing to increase its rent payment to the city from $30,000 to more than $1 million per year.

Questions have circulated for years about Black’s management style. She has had several highly publicized fights with Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, including referring to him as a “Nazi,” while speaking before the Milwaukee Forum in September 1999.

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