If the former city council representative on the downtown Business Improvement District board felt the organization was no longer meeting its mandate for downtown enhancement, why did it take until budget meetings last week for that information to be revealed?
The BID board was obviously blindsided by this announcement and the city’s budget committee decision to eliminate city funding of more than $18,000 to the business organization.
Coun. Dawn Luhning, who previously sat on the BID board, told the budget committee that BID is now mostly involved with organizing events rather than enhancing the downtown. She suggested the funding cut this year would allow BID to review its purpose and what it does in the community.
Naturally BID officials are concerned with the budget committee’s decision and the way it was sprung — only a few months away from the annual Sidewalk Days and a busy shopping season — and apparently without consultation.
Reference was also made to a windfall of money stashed away by BID but that money has been ear-marked for downtown enhancement, the purchase of bicycle racks at a cost of $5,000. Isn’t that expenditure meeting the group’s mandate?
The two major events run by BID — Sidewalk Days and the Santa Claus Parade — are also enhancements to the downtown, bringing thousands of people onto the streets and showcasing the amenities of the downtown district.
BID, in the early years, was funded through a levy which allowed more capital-related projects. That levy was removed in favour of an annual grant program, a considerably less affluent amount, and hence the move away from more visible enhancements such as benches and garbage receptacles.
Perhaps city council can be persuaded to leave funding in place for 2010 while discussions about BID’s future mandate take place. Rest assured that once funding has been eliminated, having it reinstated will be difficult, if not impossible.
