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WGBPA asks merchants to attend a meeting
Focus of business association event: What next?
By Moryt Milo
Fallout continued down Lincoln Avenue last week as Willow Glen Business and Professional Association board members and Lincoln Avenue merchants reacted to the recent resignation of association President Karen Naegeli.
Naegeli, who sent her resignation directly to District 6 City Councilman Ken Yeager's office Sept. 21, wrote, "My commitment has not been mirrored by the current WGBPA board." She did not contact WGBPA board members about her decision.
Association Vice President Chris Carris said he was very surprised by Naegeli's decision but said communication with her was always a problem.
"I don't understand why she handed in her resignation to Councilman Yeager's office and didn't even copy us," he said.
Carris said he has put together a flier addressing some of the concerns raised by Naegeli and Lincoln Avenue business owners, which he is handing out to all the merchants on Lincoln Avenue. The flier details numerous issues the business association wants to discuss in an open forum with Lincoln Avenue merchants. Some of the key issues are whether the association should continue, whether elections should be changed from February to December and whether the association should operate with or without city funds.
The business association has scheduled the meeting for Oct. 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Divine Science Community Center,1540 Hicks Ave.
Yeager said, "I really believe that the avenue needs a business organization." He said his office has contacted the San Jose Office of Economic Development to research and report back on how the association can operate in a manner that is beneficial to merchants on the avenue.
Carris said the association received a Sept. 26 letter from City Economic Development Officer Chris Coggins requesting information about its officers, bylaws, meetings and open meeting procedure. Carris said the organization will provide that information.
The association has not held an open meeting since the installation of its new board members last March. The executive board voted in a closed meeting in August to cancel the annual Founder's Day street festival, scheduled for Sept. 8, which the association has sponsored for the past decade.
Willow Glen Neighborhood Association President John Gibbs, whose association helped salvage a downsized version of Founder's Day, said he believes the business association members need to establish "some stability within their organization."
Naegeli wrote in her letter that the business association board was "not responsive" to what she wanted to accomplish as president and listed the four major goals she had hoped to accomplish as president--trimming shrubbery and trees on Lincoln Avenue, contracting with an accountant to conduct an audit on the association, developing the association and attracting new members and continuing community events such as Dancing on the Avenue and Founder's Day.
Naegeli also wrote in her resignation letter that she had no voting power on the board and was not allowed to "conduct or participate in any form of community outreach."
Carris challenged her claim that she had been left out and said that on any board there are differences over priorities and how money should be spent. He added that the business association presidents only vote in the event of a tie. Carris also said Naegeli often made budget decisions without obtaining board approval.
One example, said Carris, was the tree trimming on Lincoln Avenue.
"We asked Karen to get three bids and come back to the board for approval," Carris said. "We never saw anything, but then I saw a guy with a chainsaw and thought it was an arborist for the city."
Carris said he spoke with the tree trimmer and only then learned Naegeli had independently contracted the job out at $15,000.
"I think Karen meant well," said association treasurer David Machado. "But we didn't have the money, and no one on the board gave her approval to do it."
The tree trimming was stopped, but the association is hoping to complete the work in the near future, Carris said.
The association said there were other decisions Naegeli made which strained its finances. During Willow Glen's Dancing on the Avenue event in June, "Karen got the wine, but we did not expect her to buy premium wine," said Carris. "We did not have the money because of the initial $5,000 we had to pay the tree trimmer."
Naegeli also spent $1,500 on rock candy to be used as promotional handouts at the June event. Carris said the board never approved the purchase. The candy was never distributed, and the association still has 10 boxes of the candy.
Machado said there were issues with liability insurance not paid on a timely basis. He said, "During Dancing on the Avenue, Naegeli was told the association needed to pay a sales tax to the city." The association told her to contact the new accountant she hired and ask the accountant to determine the amount, Machado said.
But the amount was never paid, and the state of California sent the association delinquency and penalty notices, Machado added. The association was unable to reach the new accountant, because the accountant was on vacation and an immediate response was required. They went back to the business and professional association's former accountant, Senigilia Tax Consultants, to resolve the problem.
When Naegeli brought the ledger books into the board meeting, Machado said, there were no entries.
"If it was too much for her and she had asked for help," Machado said, "we would have gladly given it to her."
Carris said the association was grateful when she volunteered to take over as president in March. But when she began making spending decisions without board approval, the rest of the board became "deathly afraid there would be commitments which they could not honor," he said.
Naegeli told The Willow Glen Resident she disagreed with the statements made by Carris and Machado. She said she obtained four bids for the tree trimming, discussed purchasing the rock candy with the board and used the same wine distributor from the previous year's event.
"I thought we bought the same wine at the same price," Naegeli said. "Everything I spent is accounted for."
Carris said the association has an estimated budget of $60,000 which comes from three different funds. The first is from the Lincoln Avenue Business Improvement District--Lincoln Avenue merchants pay fees to the city which are then used by the association to sponsor programs and events. The association also receives funds from private sponsors and has a city Office of Cultural Affairs grant.
Carris said that most of the money the association receives goes toward its two biggest events, Dancing on the Avenue, which costs approximately $25,000, and Founder's Day, which costs about $30,000. He said there is little money left for anything else.
Many of the merchants on Lincoln Avenue were reluctant to talk about the association and Naegeli's decision to resign as president. Willow Glen Books owner Cathy Adkins said she agreed with Naegeli's decision to resign from the association board because she also didn't agree with recent decisions by the association's executive board, specifically canceling Founder's Day. She said she has been unhappy with the association since it accused its former business manager, Demetri Rizos, of embezzling more than $11,000 of its funds. Former association President Bob Waligore initiated a San Jose Police Department investigation of the case early this year. Police said the case has been sent to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
"Why didn't they come to us for help before it was decided?" she asked.
Carris said he tried everything to keep the event but the association didn't have the money or the volunteers to put it on.
Many of the merchants believe the association has entered a tailspin and needs to change to recover.
"It's time to move onward and upward," said Hicklebee's owner Valerie Lewis. "We need some strong energy to get us back on track."
Others, though, wonder if that's even possible.
Nancy Biagini, owner of Casa Casa and Nancy B., said, "Merchants are questioning whether the association is necessary."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
