The Structure of the 82nd Street Partnership
The Board of Directors will expand if it becomes the Jackson-Heights Corona BID Board of Directors. The governing body must reflect the larger BID area. Also, the headquarters of the governing body, which is currently on 82nd Street, will move to a more central position, such as Junction Boulevard, considering 82nd Street is on the edge of the proposed BID area. The Board of Directors and staff meet on a quarterly basis and the executive director presents his work on the BID.

Different Board Stakeholders: One Purpose?

• Property owners hold the majority of seats on the board. Does this come at the other stakeholders’ expense?
• According to Seth Taylor, property owners see that businesses need help, leading to BID formation
• Property owners want to see that the business taking place on their property is thriving
• A better business environment may lead to better property values, so what is good for a business is good for a property owner
• The clash is more likely to come between residents and the other two stakeholders. However, the 82nd street Partnership and proposed Jackson Heights Corona BID 1. is not very residential 2. does not collect significant assessments from residents. It is there to support the businesses.

The Accountability of BID Officials to Constituents

• BID officials are most accountable to those who have the most at stake
• The accountability of officials is proportional to how much their interests are affected by activity or lack of activity by the BID. The math to figure out the exact accountability on every stakeholder is highly complicated. One can say that residents have the least at stake since they rarely pay true assessments. In 82nd Street Partnership they pay a one dollar symbolic fee.
• In small BIDs, officials usually feel more accountable, since the officials’ actions may be better monitored, as more community members will be involved in the BID. Stakeholders are less distanced from the BID.
• A BID director, staff and board member are accountable to different degrees to different stakeholders, and once those members stop taking responsibility for the stakeholders, this BID fails
  • In 2012 Seth Taylor replaced the previous executive director due to the director’s lack of activity ( not taking accountability)—-there was failure to update business directory and website, failure to manage sanitation workers, and in Seth Taylor’s words, “complacency”.
    

Seth Taylor, director of 82nd Street Partnership (oversees current BID and proposed expansion)

The Role of City Government in BID Governance

• The City has the authority to dissolve BID, since it has to reauthorize BIDs.
• Grand Central District BID was dissolved  by the City for “Noncooperation with offcials” after refusing to report financial information to the City. The district claimed that the funds were private, but Mayor Giuliani claimed that since the City collects the funds, they are in fact public, and their use is not independent of the City.(Click this link to gain a better understanding of a BID’s non-autonomous status Grand Central District Dissolution)
• The City also requires that annual audits are made available to stakeholders
• Since 1995 the Charter-created Audit Committee has been conducting its own audits of BIDs in NYC. People on the committee include Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate and four private members appointed by the Mayor.
• The City government may even have liability for BIDs. Grand Central sold certain types of bonds to raise money for lighting, causing a massive debt. The City banned BIDs from selling certain types of bonds in fear that the City would be held responsible for BID financial problems.

The 82nd Street Partnership staff has recently been reporting to Robert Walsh, commissioner of Department of Small Business Services daily. Department of Small Business Services creates the BID.

•  Council Member Julissa Ferreras, council member Daniel Dromm, Queensborough President Helen Marshall, comptroller John Liu, and commissioner of DSBS, Robert Walsh, city officials vote on board. John Liu, comptroller, is specifically present to encourage financial transparency.
• BID must obtain contracts from city departments to take actions. Some examples are contracts from Parks department to hold events and contracts from Department of Transportation to put up more lighting.
• Having this partnership with the City keeps the BID accountable for its stakeholders

Meeting the Needs of Stakeholder 

• Community Opinion Surveys: These currently are mailed out to every business owner and property owners and will continue to be mailed out if BID expands.
• Executive Director, Seth Taylor, has daily encounters with businesses and property owners, which allows him to get a sense of how businesses are doing and how the BID is affecting them.
• Project Assistant,Carlos Alvarez, is in charge of community engagement and merchant outreach.
• Other methods of meeting the needs are more numerical and are talked about in Basic Facts About a BID

Works Cited

HOCHLEUTNER, BRIAN R. “ACCOUNTABILITY OF BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS.” NYU Law Review 78 (n.d.): 374-404.Nyulawreview. Web. 13 May 2013

Hoyt, Lorlene, and Devica Goppale-Agge. “The Business Improvement District Model: A Balanced Review of Contemporary Debate.” Lorlenehoyt.org. N.p., 2007. Web. 13 May 2013.

Lueck, Thomas J. “Business Improvement District At Grand Central Is Dissolved.” The New York TImes. N.p., 30 July 1998. Web. 13 May 2013.

Manshel, Andrew M. “Public Oversight: Business Improvement District Accountability.” CityLaw (1995): 102-06. Lexisnexis. Web. 13 May 2013.

Interview with Seth Taylor, Executive Director of 82nd Street Partnership

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