I'm not crazy about the BID these days

Why do I have to go to another blog to get the minutes of the BID board meetings? I usually don't have an opinion about the BID, I don't pay into them and they don't fund me, so I'm usually Meh, when it comes to them. You know, indifferent. But after seeing the meeting minutes, I do have some comments, because it seems that the people paying into the BID never seem to mind how their money is pissed away spent.

I see the BID is once again interested in the 27th Avenue billboard on US1. They agreed to do business again with the billboard company after last year's fiasco, I guess a year is up. I still don't know why this billboard, which is a total waste of money, is so important. As of now, business owners do not want to partner with the BID to be part of the billboard. So it's on hold for the moment.

Wonder why they don't subsidize ads in the Grapevine. We are a community service, the billboard is not, plus our rates are reasonable. And we are seen by thousands of fresh eyes a week, not the same commuters who see the billboard daily, day after day, year after year. I mean once you've seen it, you've seen it, you take action or you don't. Most don't.

A bunch of local businessmen met with Herald editors yesterday to whine about lack of coverage in the Herald for the Grove. They met at the BID office. You would think that as a courtesy I would be invited, especially since I am a Herald partner and my Grove stories appear in the Herald, when and if they have time and when the Herald's Grove editor is not busy doing other things like running her own marketing business and then doing her hobby which is the Herald reporting.

The BID is paying $5000 to MDS Consulting, Inc. to help them find grants. I have a good way to make $5000 without a grant. Ask me about it. BID Director, David Collins comes from the non-for-profit sector, and he should have that knowledge without paying a consulting company.

To be fair, the BID has done some great thinks like fund The Great Grove Bed Race and make Ed Prelaz of the Mayfair, the BID board co-chair, since Maurice Weiner stepped down, although Ed did make the motion to hire the MDS Consulting firm, so I'm not sure what to think now. Knowing how the BID works, we feel that someone we know owns MDS Consulting. It's all usually a little cozy arrangement. They never go far to piss money away, they keep it in the family. I can think of a couple of names with the initials MDS, but I won't go there. (No, it's not who you are thinking, that's too easy).

And does the BID office deserve a $5000 makeover. Why not? They do have to meet and greet people. We are going in to get funding for Grove Bucks. I do hope that these other expenditures don't hurt our chances of helping promote the Grove in this sensible way. A way that actually promotes business.

The August BID board minutes and the budget may be seen here.