Downtown BIA Association is looking for 2 at large board members
Matt Hussmann, Managing Director of the Downtown BIA Association (formerly the Downtown Nanaimo Partnership) sent in this note re 2 vacancies on the new board of directors.
Nanaimo City Council is now accepting applications to fill two vacancies on the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association for a term ending 2012 MAR-31.
The Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association will represent the City’s interests in relation to the business promotion scheme as follows:
Promoting the revitalization of Downtown Nanaimo as the historic, economic and cultural centre of Nanaimo;
Promoting the economic vitality of Downtown Nanaimo;
Promoting the preservation of heritage buildings and structures and the addition of new people friendly development that enhances Downtown Nanaimo;
Promoting Downtown Nanaimo as a safe and attractive business, residential, shopping, festival and travel destination; and,
Planning and implementing a business protion scheme under the Community Charter.
Citizens who are interested in volunteering their time to sit on the DNBIA are invited to obtain an “Application for Consideration by Council for Appointment” from the Legislative Services Department, City Hall, 455 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC, (250 755 4405) or online at http://www.nanaimo.ca. Application Forms can also be found under Municipal Hall; City Council; Publications and Forms. For additional information on the Committee, please call Mr. Andrew Tucker, Director of Planning, at 250-755-4450. Application deadline: completed application forms must be submitted to the Legislative Services Department, City Hall, prior to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 2010 MAY-11.
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
For me personally, these two positions need to be filled by people who have nothing to do with downtown. Tonight Merv Unger stated that those who ran for the new board and were unsuccessful could apply. I disagree. The business owners have chosen the board. The cities representation now has to come from outside.
Don’t the board directors have to be members of the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Area Association? i.e. downtown business owners or commercial property owners…
Seven members are from BIA 1, 2 members are from BIA 2, and 2 members appointed by the city to represent the taxpayer component.
My concern here is that council may decide to reward those from the past by appointing them to the new board. Remember, the old DNP board admitted that they indeed had issues with accountability.
So, in my view, the city needs to appoint a respresentative or two from outside the downtown core – someone who represents the taxpayer at large and has no particular interest in selling property, owning a business or a commercial property in the downtown area.
Is there anybody that knows what BIA stands for, yet alone knows enough about their purpose to be considered for the position, that also lives out of the downtown core, without business interests or other interests in the downtown that would qualify.
Most likely, the members at large would most likely be two of the usual suspects. Interesting enough, the first question (after personal information) asked is about previous community involvement.
Is Rick Hyne saying he is not suitable for a candidate for the board?
Business Improvement Area and in BC a concept built into the community charter allowing municipalities to create such schemes. However, Nanaimo is I believe unique in the fact that it matches funds raised through BIA levies on commercial property. All funds are used for the benefit of improving downtown. However, it seems to me that some get drunk with power and money and the goal of a BIA – at least here in Nanaimo, and in my opinion seems to get diverted.
Should we use BIA funds and energy of publicly funded BIA staff to work on a train station for the benefit of?
A comment long stuck in my mind was that downtown is for investors and not for the people of Nanaimo. A comment, like a bad nightmare I cannot shake.
I did not run for the board this time due to health reasons.
Like elsewhere, the people on this board are free to agree or disagree with my actions concerning council and all the special interests that we are known for. The people of Nanaimo really, really need to speak up.
The Main Street Report, which with a pick and choose kind of method was to be the base concept of downtown revitalization, is very strong on downtowns preserving high quality heritage assets, arguing it benefits the city overall and gives the downtown a competitive advantage to the newer suburbs. So I accept that BIA work on the Train Station is within their purview.
But please tell me it’s not true that as the Daily News is reporting this morning 2 city councillors will be voting directors. The consultant who tried to clean up the mess left by the earlier organization, offered the recommendation that councillors, while present as observers, would not vote. The DNP was unable to oppose the damage to our downtown done by the elimination of the urban containment boundary because of the politically compromised position of the councillors sitting on the board — including the two councillors who bear perhaps greatest responsibility for it’s elimination: Holdom and Brennan.
No councillors, although, Brennan could apply and be appointed by council.
Frank, for the record, if the DNP would have stuck to the Main Street Report we would not have had to bring the accountability and representations issue to light.
I was at one DNP board meeting with the ED at the time rewrote parts of the Main Street Report changing it from requiring the ED to work with businesses and window displays to staff to do that work. In the end. No one did the work.
Thanks for your response Rick and I hope that your health improves.
F.M. mentions the train station on Selby Street as being a heritage asset.Well then,instead of rebuilding it in its present location,where nobody can see it, why not disassemble and relocate to a new permanent site,say where the Millennium hotel was to be.The building would make an excellent museum for heritage transportation displays.Lake Cowichan has done this and it is magnificent.And while we are at it,tear up the R.R. tracks in the city.
Forgot to mention the war museum, presently located in a north end mall.What a great move it would be if this similarly magnificent display of Canadas history could also be located in close proximity to other fine museums in the downtown core.(old museum building at Piper Park?).Wow,would such a collection of history in one area ever draw the crowds;local citizens,out-of-town visitors,tourists,conventioneers and cruisers.
Well, putting on my property manager hat, we could have a space for them where the current Art Oasis is located – directly across from the museum.
It is 2400 square feet. The current tenant would like to move.
R.H.You might want to touch base with the War Museum people.Who knows,maybe they are ready for a new location.Good luck.
While this is way off topic, why not rebuild the railstation the best possible to be as duplicated as the original and use it as the new war museum? Then when people come to Nanaimo they have a reason to stay downtown and go see the museum that currently resides inside a quiet mall with an inappropriate name.
Well, council has chosen its representation of the taxpayers of Nanaimo to the Downtown Business Improvement Districts Association’s board. While I had hoped that more people did apply for this appointment, council has seen fit to re-instate Blake McGuffie a long time member of the organization that admitted it had failed in the accountability department, and John Cooper, a realtor with ReMax who ran in the election and failed.
In any case, it will certainly be interesting going forward as everyone will have their own agenda going forward, and that may not be that of the people who pay the bill.
It may be in the end that what downtown needs it to simply go it alone without some very expensive staffing.
A note to the board and the administration. Let’s now move forward and get people downtown and work on behalf of us all.
Hopefully, the new board will move forward.