2020-09-10 ED! Edmonds Downtown Alliance MinutesEd! Board Meeting
September 10, 2020
Meeting called to order: 8:05 AM
Board Members/Administration in Attendance: Matt McCullough, Jenny Shore, Carol
Sheldon, Kali Kelnero, Pam Stuller, Kali Kelnero, Cheryl Farrish, Kimberly Koening, Deandra
Peterson, Jen Lawson, and Carrie Hulbert.
City of Edmonds Representative in Attendance: Patrick Doherty and Cindy Cruz
Guests: None
Public Comment: None
Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes: Matt moved to approve minutes. Kimberly
seconded. All approved, none opposed
President's Report: Pam reported that the committees have met and will need to present their
2021 budget proposals by 9/30/20. The Admin committee plans to meet the week of October 1"
to review these proposals and come up with recommendations to present to the full Board at the
upcoming 10/8/20 Board Meeting. Pam also reported that she virtually attended the recent City
Council meeting and gave an update on the work Ed! has been doing. She acknowledged the
contributions of the Savvy Traveler, which is closing due to retirement, to the downtown
Edmonds community. Pam welcomed feedback on any additional topics that members would
like raised at future City Council meetings.
Treasurers Report: Kali reported that revenue is down about $8K compared to this time last
year. Kali noted that the Marketing Committee recently met to see what cuts they could make to
help the bottom line as this committee had the largest unspent budget for the year. With cuts for
copywriting, trolley (saving $2K), holiday events and holiday advertising, amongst others, Kali
reported a budgeted savings of roughly $12,082 to balance out this year's expected revenue
shortfall. This will bring this year's projected expenses to roughly $68,000. No changes were
proposed to the Program Management position because the goal was to use Carrie's expertise
and time to try to offset some of the other cuts.
New Businesses Added to BID: Left Craft, Puget Sound Wealth Strategies, FEW Tax, Inc.,
Kerith, LLC, Miniatures & More, Raads Barbershop, Kelnero Beyond, Amenity Services Corp.,
Barre3, Lullaby Lady
City Report: Patrick provided an update on the grant program. In total, the City awarded 90
grants. The Economic Alliance of Snohomish County (EASC) is offering additional grants,
estimated at $5K and $10K each, depending on how many employees a company has. The City
has provided EASC with a list of businesses which applied for but did not receive grants from
the City. Patrick reported that the City's legal department determined that Ed! Members who
have delinquent dues could still receive grant money, provided that they were current on their
"current bills" during the period of performance, i.e. they would have to pay bills within the
roughly four month window of performance but would not have to pay all outstanding/delinquent
past balances from their grant money. Patrick also provided other updates:
- A meeting has occurred between some downtown businesses and the Diversity
Commission to discuss how to foster diversity awareness and inclusive practices.
- An application has been filed to change the 4th Avenue parking lot to a paid parking lot.
- A Zoom town hall meeting will occur on 9/29/20 to discuss the challenges of these
current times. This event will be moderated by a therapist.
- The Diversity Film Series is working to resume its programming via streaming services.
- Walkable Main Street and curbside dining continue. These initiatives are set to expire on
10/11 /20.
- Survey on the 41h Avenue Cultural corridor is still up on the City's website.
- There are two openings on the Economic Development Commission. Deadline to apply
is 9/11/20.
Committee Updates
- Communication & Outreach: The committee is working on a Diversity Toolkit / pledge
for best practices on implementing diversity inclusion and equality. This initiative needs
to be driven by BIPOC in the community. Committee members have been assigned
visits to new businesses — goal is to get those visits done by the next meeting on
09/30/20.
Admin: To facilitate membership engagement, the committee discussed putting together
a survey with the monthly newsletter to gauge member concerns and also adding a new
email address comments(a)-edmondsdowntown.org as another avenue for connection. In
addition, the committee discussed the role Ed! may have in bringing together our
business community. Potential options included doing a roundtable around Parklets and
creating a meaningful way to report back to the City on concerns raised by members.
Marketing: This committee worked to cut down their budget (See Treasurers Report).
The decision was made to not dilute social media efforts because this is a big way
people are currently engaging. After discussion, Kimberly Koening made a motion to
allocate $200 of the Marketing budget towards printing costs for a tabletop sign with a
QR Code directing visitors to a downtown parking map on the front and a QR Code
directing visitors to a Shop Like a Local directory on the back. Kali seconded the motion.
All approved, none opposed. Jen is currently researching a "ED" car sticker with revenue
potentially split between participating businesses and Ed! She will gauge interest and will
circle back in October if there is enough interest to make a motion to purchase. Two
member spotlights have been launched to date with a goal to release new ones every 3-
4 days. The posts are being promoted on Facebook and Instagram.
- Appearance & Environment: No Update.
- Grants Program: Ed! approved a grant to AWE for two murals last year, half of which
was paid for one mural in 2019. The remainder of the approved grant money was
reserved for the second mural in 2020, which has now been installed and paid.
Meeting Adjourned: 9:08 a.m.