By Kathy Bergen | Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau officers decided Friday they will seek a meeting with a state official who has taken issue with the bureau’s executive compensation practices.

The officers hope to meet with Warren Ribley, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, to listen to his concerns, answer questions and inform him of cost-containment moves already taken by the bureau, said Mike Cassidy, a Starwood hotel executive who chairs the bureau’s board.

Ribley’s department includes the state’s tourism office, and state grants make up $6.9 million of the bureau’s $13.9 million budget, with another $2.3 million coming from other tax sources. Most of the public funding comes from hotel taxes.

Ribley stated his concerns in a Jan. 28 letter to Cassidy after the Chicago Tribune made inquiries about the pay practices at the bureau, which books business into McCormick Place, Navy Pier and area hotels. He urged greater austerity measures.

The bureau, a not-for-profit organization, has rewarded its top officials well in recent years, even as the trade show business has weakened.

Tim Roby, president and chief executive officer of the bureau, received a salary and bonus package of $386,454 for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009, a 2.5 percent hike over the previous year.