2013-02-22 Edmonds Downtown Alliance (BID) MinutesMeeting called to order at 8:10am on 2/22/2013 in the Brackett Room
Attendance: David Arista, MaryKay Sneeringer, Jenny Shore, Robert Boehlke, Gary Edmonds, Pam
Stuller, Chris Fleck, Cyndi Cruz, Stefan Clifton and Kim Wahl
Action Items from last meeting:
The 1st letter is ready to be mailed today (Feb. 22)
Pam met with Norm Hagen, since he is semi -retired he recommended his children. Pam told them to
send nomination, if interested. Pam talked to Vicki Balas from Waterfront Coffee and Elsa at the
Chamber for possible suggestions. Other names that have come up are: Kevin Clark, Rick Wurdeman,
and Kyle Ray. Pam also talked to Joan Bloom for any names she might suggest. Joan has concerns about
already having the interim board selected prior to the letter going out. Pam is concerned that with the
timeframes set by the city council the longer we wait to pick the interim board the closer we get to the
deadlines. Stefan brought up the point that may work in our favor because of the deadlines we need to
have the interim board in place as soon as possible. The Mayor feels like he has at least 8 candidates
that he can present on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
David met with the Mayor. It was decided by David and the Mayor that the Service Owners are: Peter
Thomas (Averitec), Sally Merck (Counselor), Juliana Van Buskirk (Edward Jones), and Chris Fleck (Tax
Service). The Open Door interim board will include Pam Stuller (Walnut Coffee), Kim Wahl (Reliable
Floors), MaryKay Sneeringer (Edmonds Bookstore), and David Arista (Arista Wine Cellars). Consideration
was made with a strong emphasis on geographic locations within the BID boundaries. We need to reach
out to the other candidates to thank them for their nomination. The ordinance requires we have 7
interim board members to proceed and we are allowed to have up to 11. If we receive additional
nominations from the Service side we can add additional Open Door also. We need to focus on this as an
interim board and the goal of that board needs to be writing bylaws, creating a work plan and getting to
the next step which is the election of the Advisory Board.
We all agreed that we want to move forward with the nominations. It will be presented to the City
Council on Tuesday February 26, 2013. It was suggested that we be present at the meeting if possible.
Some still have concerns about how the City Council will perceive the nomination process and
candidates without waiting until the letter has been received by the BID members. It was brought up
that there has been interest without the letter going out. The only public notice so far was the letter to
the Editor of the Beacon newspaper. Ultimately, the City Council has to vote on the bylaws and the work
plan. Gary brought up the point that we really need to emphasize that this is an interim board and that
this work plan is only a short term one.
The other action item was the bylaws. The committee has met and been using the West Seattle bylaws
as a model. The deadline for the bylaws is 90 days after the interim board has been selected.
We have a new interim Finance Director, Ron Cone. Until he has been brought up to speed our contact
will be Sarah Mager until further notice.
Huda, from the City, input any new information from the business licenses. Cyndi worked on the
spreadsheet and got that cleaned up. Letters will go out to the business address and the address listed
on the business license.
It was suggested that we contact the new interim board members prior to the council meeting. Stefan
will reach out to them.
Since we have 3 people new to the board, what do we need to do to get on board as soon as possible?
Suggestions include giving them all a copy of the ordinance, getting them involved on a committee,
meeting with them, giving them the minutes of prior meetings, give them an opportunity to introduce
themselves at our next meeting, ask them what areas of expertise they have. It was decided David and
Pam would reach out to Peter, Kim and MK would reach out to Sally and Robert and Jenny would reach
out to Juliana, introduce ourselves and let them know what we are currently working on and what needs
to be done.
We discussed what should be the focus of the interim board. Suggestions included a directory,
postcards, some type of "generic" marketing, something simple. Achievable. Something we can
accomplish right away. We need to get organized, do outreach, communication, draft a mission
statement; prioritize what items we could do in 30, 60, 90 or 120 days. Create a process, create an
action plan, get ideas, always keeping the ordinance in mind. Work on building relationships, have
"meet and greets".
Next meeting will be 2/27/2013 at 6:15pm at Walnut Coffee.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10am