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SJ asks for documents from WGBPA leadership
Members meet to discuss the future of the association
By Moryt Milo
San Jose's Office of Economic Development in a letter dated Sept. 25, asked the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association to provide the office with copies of the association's meeting minutes, bylaws and financial documents.
The association manages Business Improvement District funds on behalf of the Office of Economic Development.
The request from the city follows on the heels of the association's cancellation of Founder's Day which had been schedeuled for Sept. 8. The decision to cancel the annual street festival was made in a meeting that had not been announced to the public or to those who participate in the Business Improvement District. On Sept. 21, association president Karen Naegeli submitted her resignation--not to the board--but to Councilman Ken Yeager.
On Sept. 27, association vice president Chris Carris distributed a flyer to merchants on Lincoln Avenue--the area encompassed by the special assessment district--inviting them to a meeting on Oct. 4.
Association members used the meeting as an opportunity to re-evaluate the association's purpose in light of increasing concern about its direction. In response to questions about the last-minute cancellation of Founder's Day, executive committee members cited high cost and lack of volunteer participation to make the event a success.
The meeting took place at the Divine Science Community Center, 945 Hicks Ave. Former president Karen Naegeli attended the meeting, but did not speak.
At the meeting, Carris presented several issues to the merchants in a questionnaire. Association members were asked to respond to a list of concerns including whether the business association should continue; whether it should operate with or without city funds; whether association members' Business Improvement District fees should be increased, be discontinued or remain the same; whether elections should be changed from February to December; and how much involvement the city of San Jose should have in the avenue's culture and independence.
Participants discussed hiring a business manager and talked about the importance of turning the association into a positive force for the local business community.
Carris told the approximately 40 business owners at the meeting that District 6 City Councilman Ken Yeager had asked for resignation of the association's executive board.
Yeager confirmed to The Willow Glen Resident that he made that request.
"I did ask them to step down, because I thought it would benefit the association to make a fresh start," he said.
Yeager told The Resident he was "perfectly supportive of the upcoming elections" in February.
In addition to BID funds, the city also contributes to Willow Glen merchants through two Office of Cultural Affairs grants totaling $17,000. Those funds go directly to the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association
In response to the city's Sept. 25 request for meeting minutes, financial reports and bylaws, Carris told association members: "The ax they have over us is they will cut our financing."
Carris also said that Yeager's office had formed a special task force to review the business association's situation and to develop revised association guidelines. "The whole thing is a secret," Carris said. "They won't tell us anything."
Yeager told The Resident, however, that Carris was mistaken. "What may be contributing to the confusion is the fact that the city council has approved funding to study a number of issues on Lincoln Avenue, including traffic, parking and marketing. The study will be paid for by the Redevelopment Agency. Eventually, a citizen's committee will be formed to give direction to the consultant,"Yeager said.
City Economic Development Officer Chris Coggins, who wrote the Sept. 25 letter, was present at the meeting and said that Yeager was unable to attend because of a prior "longstanding commitment." He asked if a follow-up meeting could be planned with more notice so Yeager could attend. At the close of the meeting, it was agreed that a meeting would be held on Nov. 8, with the location and time to be announced.
Carris and former association president Bob Waligore explained at length how costly it had become to put on the Dancing on the Avenue and Founder's Day street festivals. Waligore said, for the year 2000, it cost more than $69,000 to put on Founder's Day.
"The bottom-line: it has always been a large drain on the budget," Waligore said.
The high cost of events, lack of volunteers, and merchant apathy were the main concerns discussed during the meeting.
Marketing Maniacs owner Darlene Tenes said at the meeting that she was a new merchant on the street and wanted to become involved in the association but became frustrated when she didn't hear back from board members.
"I walked on the streets and asked other merchants, should we get involved in [the association]," Tenes said. "The merchants said, 'No,' but I didn't know why {they felt that way]."
Hicklebee's co-owner Monica Holmes, a former association board member said at the meeting, "I'm aware of a lot of apathy on the street, but we can't dwell on that. We need to keep going with the positive energy we have."
Long-time association members, who have been on Lincoln Avenue since the 1970s and have watched its recent revitalization, remember why the association formed in the first place--to help businesses succeed and to create a customer-friendly atmosphere.
Some owners of businesses north of Willow Street said they feel alienated from the rest of the avenue. Only four merchants from between Willow Street and Coe Avenue attended the meeting.
Victor Saraniti, who has operated his store Hairquarters north of Willow Street since 1972, said he was frustrated and tired of being ignored.
"Every time I asked for something I had to do it myself," Saraniti said, referring to requests he made of the business association. "I pay the association dues but the association doesn't hear me."
Over the years, Saraniti said his portion of the street was closed only twice for big events like Dancing on the Avenue or Founder's Day.
"The association claimed it was too much money to include us or that the police didn't want to work this end of the street," Saraniti said.
As merchants voiced their frustrations at the meeting, it became clear that many felt one of the reasons the association had reached a low point was because it lacked a business manager. They said their first business manager, Helen Owens, was instrumental in creating a community atmosphere on the avenue. They said problems with their last business manager, Demetri Rizos, who was accused by the association board of embezzling more than $11,000 from the association, should not prevent them from finding another manager. The district attorney's office is looking into the charges.
The majority in the room acknowledged that running the association without a business manager was too much work for the merchants. Many, like Valerie Lewis, co-owner of Hicklebee's, said the merchants simply didn't have the time. Others like Details owner Bernie Levine said, "Not having a business manager was the problem. Since we lost our manager, it has just been Chris [Carris] and Bob [Waligore] but we need to get out there and find a manager."
The other important issue addressed was how the association has changed over the years. Many said the association has turned into an event-planning organization and lost its focus of helping businesses.
"I've been here 26 years, and we started as a way to help merchants," association board member Joe Reinke said. "Now we are an association of event planners."
Merchants agreed that it was time to review the association's priorities and rethink how to handle large events. They decided to reframe the distributed questionnaire in a more positive way, and several merchants volunteered to canvass the more than 300 association members for their input before the next scheduled meeting. Shopwillowglen.com owner Gary Garchar volunteered to rewrite the questionnaires and coordinate the canvassing effort.
Merchants on Lincoln Avenue, who didn't attend the meeting and did not what to be identified for this story, said they never felt part of the association and never received any communication about its meetings and activities. One new merchant, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "We never know what is going on and honestly have no interest in the association."
Owner Susanne Knott of Adopt-A-Doll said, "We feel like the step-children, and frankly, I'm too busy to go to their meetings."
Other association members, who in recent years had stayed away, came to the meeting because they realized the association was at a critical point.
"It's an organization I don't even know anymore," said Mimi Braatz, owner of Mimi Braatz and Associates. "I love Willow Glen and the business district. I don't want to see the business association be put aside. We need a group of people to pick up the banner and put the energy into the association."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
