BIA members frustrated with growing disconnect
The downtown business improvement association is “essentially non-functional” because of a growing disconnect between certain board directors and the executive, as well as city hall, says member Lisa Thomas.
“We are unable to come to agreement based on making simple decisions,” said Thomas, who is part of the nine-member board.
Mayor Jim Diodati and Coun. Joyce Morocco are also on the board as representatives of city council.
Thomas said some board members have been raising concerns for months.
“Unfortunately, we are a minority of the group of 11, and our concerns are basically overwritten at any point in time. A lot of business owners were just frustrated with a lot of the things that have been going on.”
Thomas, who was joined by more than 10 BIA levy payers, including downtown business and building owners outside city hall Thursday, questioned why Diodati continues “to protect” the current executive of the board of directors.
“Why is it that even after a unanimous no-confidence vote that we took on June 14, is the mayor not recognizing the will of the people in the community?” said Thomas.
“We made that decision based on ongoing concerns based on financial mismanagement, regularly cancelled meetings, and a lack of meeting minutes available to the public and to the board at large.”
She said the June 14“community petitioned” meeting was deemed “unauthorized” by the city.
“Why have the 2016 audit reports never been completed and released to the board? As of the end of June of 2017, we’re still waiting for that information, which was due at the end of February. We’ve requested this information several times on the board level. We’ve also requested it on the community level after our (annual general meeting) of June 14.”
Thomas said with more than $200,000 unaccounted for, the downtown business membership of more than 100 people has “sought intervention from the city.”
“They cancelled our community-petitioned BIA AGM on June 14 and deemed it unauthorized, only to call their own AGM for (Wednesday) and cancel that unexpectedly only three hours prior to, without an appropriate explanation to the community,” she said.
“Why will the mayor not open his doors to the community to come together and air their concerns and receive answers to the questions that have been nearly 1 1/2 years in the making?”
BIA chairman Julio BatresGavidia took exception to Thomas’ allegation of unaccounted for money.
“Every single penny is accounted for. Every member of the board, including Lisa Thomas, has a spreadsheet that accounts for how every single penny of the BIA has been spent,” he said.
“The spreadsheet shows the opening balance from January 1st, 2016 to December 31st, 2016.”
Batres- Gavidia also questioned the validity of Thomas’ numbers related to the more than 100 people, how they were obtained, and where they came from.
Thomas said with Niagara Falls fostering an entrepreneurial approach, encouraging small businesses and development, “it does not make sense for the mayor to be dismissing and overturning the will of 120 active business people in the downtown BIA.”
“Other city councillors and city staff had no knowledge of the meeting being cancelled,” she said.
“The BIA board had no prior knowledge to this meeting being cancelled, and we still are not able to receive explanations, even being part of the board of directors ourselves. We’ve also been given no reason for the postponement or when this may take place.”
Thomas said many BIA members feel a disconnect between the downtown business community and city hall.
“Also a portion of the BIA seems to be representing city hall rather than representing the people.”
Phil Ritchie, who owns Keefer Developments, which owns a number of properties in the downtown area, said the BIA has constitutional requirements for when annual general meetings are to be held, and for when BIA needs to approve its budgets.
“These are being continuously missed, seemingly with the support of city hall, which makes no sense,” he said.
Batres- Gavidia said he postponed Wednesday’s meeting because of “some serious concerns” that were brought to his attention.
“Until those serious concerns get resolved, pretty much I needed to postpone the general meeting,” he said.
“We’re only postponing it for a few weeks. We just want to make sure that everything is done properly, and in a professional manner. The last thing I want is to put city council in a position were they’ll just have to dissolve the BIA.”
Diodati said comments about him at Thursday’s gathering were “all made up information” and “disingenuous.”
He said he is not protecting the current executive of the board, and has been open to meeting with members.
“Internal politics. That’s all it is. You’ve got two sides ... and until they learn to play nice in the sandbox together, downtown is not going to move forward. We have more issues with that BIA than ... all the other BIAs combined.”
Diodati said the city has spent millions on the downtown, yet the BIA still has “political infighting.”
“We don’t want to have to act as a referee. We want them to play nice in the sandbox, come to us with an agenda that they can all agree on, and allow us to support it. But that’s not what happens. They come to us split, saying, ‘pick a side.’ We don’t want to pick a side. We’re on the side of fixing up the downtown.”
He said four members of the BIA, representing “one side,” came to him at the end of the day Wednesday, “demanding a meeting.”
The mayor said he’s willing to meet with all sides, together, next week, even though he’s on holidays.
“I have a request from a number of people that want to meet that don’t like what’s going on, and then I have a request for a meeting from the other side,” said Diodati.
“I said to my assistant, ‘set the same meeting up, the same day, for both groups,’ and I’ve asked the city solicitor, the director of finance, the clerk, and the CAO to be in the room when we have this meeting.” rspiteri@postmedia.com