Melani,
Thanks for the information. I guess there are a good deal of competing
interests. all the more reason for getting people to tell the greater
community what specifically they want out of both the UCD and NID/BID
organization. I'll also have to look into the laws governing the
establishment and use of NIDs in Pennsylvania. I'll have to beg the
indulgence of a lawyer to explain any inherent restrictions or prohibitions
that PA has regulated for NIDs.
Mario :-)
On 6/26/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
In a message dated 6/26/07 2:07:47 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Melani,
Why does the UCD, its staff and steering committee, want to have two
separate legal entities? What would the scope of control be in such a
scenario? I'm assuming both non-profit orgs would each have their own
separate funds. Would the local landowners paying into the BID/NID no longer
have any say in how UCD is run, even if they have a say on how the BID/NID
is run? Why would the neighborhood want two non-profit entities when only
one seems to be required here? What is the reasoning for this increase in
bureaucracy? At what point was this dual entity solution explicitly put
forward. Every meeting I've gone to in the past two years and the discussion
by Mr. Huston mentioned nothing about there being two non-profits, one the
BID/NID and one the current UCD.
Mario Giorno
Hi, Mario, I'm sure everybody's getting tired of my posts this afternoon,
and Al is probably going to threaten again to sue me, so I'll try to be
brief. And remember that I am not an official or even unofficial
spokesperson for the UCD or the BID. I'm sorry that the BID meetings
weren't more informative, but would you agree that there were a number of
folks at the meetings who wanted to create an uproar rather than getting
down to working out the details?
You ask a very good question. The UCD was founded before the PA "enabling
legislation" allowed a BID to be funded by landlords, so that's why the
organization didn't start out as a BID. Maybe someday the two would be
able, if the BID were to be approved, to streamline into one organization.
But right now the UDC exists and the BID remains uncertain, given the very
vocal opposition, so I don't think anyone considered CLOSING the UCD and
REPLACING it. Plus, the landlords who have provided feedback and the
community reps who have chimed in have stated that they don't want marketing
and some other components. So, the BID as proposed currently would
concentrate on clean and safe and stay out of the services that its funders
don't want. But others involved with the UCD do want those services, so if
there are two organizations working together, the people who want the other
services (the institutions) can pay the UCD for those AND for their share of
clean and safe, and the BID funders can pay only for the limited services
they want. I'm not sure the landlords want to pay for park improvements,
etc., but to others, those are the things we wouldn't want to do without.
The BID proposal didn't change the makeup of the UCD board, so where there
are currently landlords and community representatives on the UCD board, they
would still be there. It proposed a BID advisory board of *landlords and
business owners*, most recently written to have several each in the
categories of larger, midsized and smaller entities. As I mentioned before,
suggestions and changes have been heard, considered, and incorporated into
the proposal as much as possible under BID law.
Unfortunately the BID law does not allow some of the suggestions folks
have made, and some folks seem disinclined to believe that; instead, they
just fault the UCD for not doing things THEIR way. There are a lot of
issues, wants & needs to be considered - including the law!
Your point is helpful - if you weren't aware of this, others probably
weren't either, and we won't be able to get anywhere till we all understand
the ground rules. Thanks,
Melani
*Melani Lamond, Associate Broker*
*Urban & Bye, Realtor*
3529 Lancaster Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
cell phone 215-356-7266
office phone 215-222-4800, ext. 113
office fax 215-222-1101
**************************************
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