CCDA stakeholders vote in favour of disbanded downtown organization.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
It was an ignominious end to the city’s downtown improvement agency following last week’s vote by businesses to disband the long troubled organization.
The agenda item to set this year’s rates for the City Centre Development Agency was struck off the list following downtown businesses voting 67 per cent last week in favour of getting rid of the group.
“I’m glad it’s in the rear-view mirror,” said Mayor Ted Clugston following Monday’s council meeting.
The CCDA had been in existence since 1985 but was on the receiving end of no shortage of criticism over the past decade.
One of the biggest proponents for dismantling the agency, Shila Sharps, owner of HR Solutions, says the CCDA wasn’t representing the businesses which were levied a special tax to fund it.
And the board governing the CCDA had been primarily made up of individuals without a business in the city’s downtown.
“They get no value out of this,” Sharps said of the agency, adding downtown business won’t feel any impact from its demise.
The board will now need to come up with a plan to dispose of its assets, something Sharps says might be best done by a new board as she questioned its ability to adequately financially manage its spending. Sharps highlighted the CCDA board’s decision to hire a new operations manager on the eve of the dissolution vote as an example.
“Hopefully, we can get some money back,” said Sharps.
As for downtown events that were organized by the CCDA, Sharps says she expects businesses will step up and the Chamber of Commerce will be assisting them.
The downtown flower beautification program that was part of the CCDA’s responsibilities will continue, said Mayor Clugston.
But questions remain regarding the CCDA’s biggest asset, the Monarch Theatre, which will likely either be sold or turned over to a non-profit group, depending on the recommendation of the CCDA board.
