Letters: Head of Visit Phila. is the city's champion

ISSUE | VISIT PHILA.

City's champion

Not since Benjamin Franklin has anyone done more to promote Philadelphia than Meryl Levitz and Visit Philadelphia ("Poor leadership," Thursday).

As a former Center City business owner, I remember how frustrating it used to be trying to do business in the greatest city that nobody knew about. Visit Philadelphia has placed our city on the world stage: Our neighborhoods, restaurants, diversity, festivals, celebrations, arts, and cultural icons are finally recognized beyond our borders.

Levitz has spent more than 30 years elevating our city as a founding director of the Center City Proprietors Association, which gave birth to the Center City District; with the Convention and Visitors Bureau; and as president and chief executive officer of Visit Philadelphia.

She should have paid closer attention to the organization's finances and handled this scandal with more transparency, but no one can do this job better. We are a better, more prosperous city because of Levitz, and the loss of $200,000 is peanuts compared to the millions, if not billions, of dollars she has helped steer into our coffers.

|Barry J. Lutz, Philadelphia, lbarry317@aol.com