New Miss America exec easing into thorny job

John Curran

Thursday, March 7, 2002 | 9:43 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- As the new man in Miss America's life, George Bauer has his work cut out for him.

The interim chief executive officer of the Miss America pageant inherits an organization troubled by dissension among state pageant directors, and criticized for talk of Miss America slot machines and of leaving Atlantic City behind.

Bauer, 58, of nearby Ocean City, was named the pageant's interim chief executive officer last week after the sudden resignation of Robert M. Renneisen Jr.

"You won't be disappointed," Bauer said Tuesday in an interview in his office. "I'm equipped to do this job."

Bauer is a local boy, having grown up in nearby Philadelphia and spent summers on the Jersey shore. He says he starts every day with an ocean swim -- even in the dead of March when the water is 42 degrees.

Bauer has previously served as an executive with the Wing Group, where he helped develop power plants in China and Turkey.

As Mr. Miss America, Bauer must oversee production of the annual pageant telecast and administer a tax-exempt charity that provides millions of dollars in scholarship aid to young women.

He also has to pacify the people who run the state pageants -- a duty that tripped up his predecessors.

Robert L. Beck, a former Mothers Against Drunk Driving executive, was hired to replace longtime CEO Leonard Horn in 1998. Beck was fired less than a year later, having drawn fire for from pageant traditionalists when he proposed dropping a 50-year ban on contestants who had been married or had abortions.

He was replaced by Renneisen, a former casino executive. Renneisen ran afoul of state pageant directors, who accused him of being unresponsive to their concerns and criticized him for adding jobs to the Miss America payroll.

Last month, several state directors complained to the Miss America board about Renneisen's management of the pageant. Three weeks later, Renneisen quit, citing philosophical differences he refused to elaborate on publicly.

Bauer, who had served as executive vice president since May 2000, knows all about the problems. He was hired by Renneisen to share the workload after Renneisen suffered a heart attack in his second day on the job.

Since moving into the top spot at the organization, Bauer has already taken steps to try to mend fences.

During the interview Tuesday, he spoke deferentially about the state pageant officials, and said he had spoken with some disgruntled state directors.

"The states are our stockholders and as the CEO, I owe my stockholders a healthy, viable corporation," he said. "That's where my attention is going to be. It already is."

He ruled out adding jobs to the payroll but was noncommittal about whether jobs would be cut. His old job of executive vice president will not be filled, he said.

When asked about the pageant's threatened move from Atlantic City, he gave no indication of his intentions. "We have to keep our eyes open," he said.

Last December, Renneisen told state officials the pageant would leave Atlantic City if the state did not boost its annual subsidy by $1 million. Currently, a task force is examining ways to improve the pageant's fiscal condition and keep it in Atlantic City.

For now, Bauer is focused on the present.

"I've got an immediate goal: to reopen and keep open the lines of communications with everyone, at all levels," Bauer said.

"Let's really recognize what we're here to do," he said. "We have a mission and that mission is to get scholarship dollars for young women. We've been doing it for a long time and we're No. 1 in the world at it."