Um ... not really. And you shouldn't feel like you missed something obvious,
Wilma. It's not obvious at all. First off, I'll bet not one in 10 of
University City's 50,000 residents has even heard of "University City
District." Of that 5,000, I'd be amazed if one in 10 understands what UCD
"is", in a technical sense. It's a Business Improvement District (BID). This
obscure variety of public-private non-profit interface is completely lawful
and has a professional world of its own.
To succeed, any BID needs to work well with existing political forces. But
its core mission is commercial, not political (or social service or
governmental). Its objective is to facilitate a community environment in
which businesses that depend on that community's wellbeing can thrive.
So as a BID, UCD reports first and foremost to its backers. While it
earnestly hopes to please the whole community in the process, its underlying
line of accountability is to the commerce that drives its community. If
other aspects of community life want to have an institution in which their
concerns are the drivers, they must create an agency whose mission addresses
those concerns. The Fire Dept. doesn't catch criminals, the Police don't
fill potholes and Streets doesn't put out fires.
-- Tony West
Forgive me and I am not trying to cute or funny, but I always thought the
UCD was an organization created politically and engaged in community
politics from its inception.
-Wilma
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