8/13/2007
Meeting
was called to order by Gregory H. Smith at 9:00 AM at Mark Hartley's
office.
Present: Councilmember Christy Weir, Gregory H. Smith, Mark Hartley,
Ed Warren, Dan Frederickson, Glenda Greason, Jason Collis, Clarey
Rudd and Rob Edwards
The minutes of June 27, 2007 were approved as distributed.
Treasure's report:
Gregory Smith reported that he had received the IRS 501 C (3)
status confirmation for the DVO. Current Financial statements
were reviewed at the prior week's board meeting and were not reviewed.
A profit and loss statement since for the DVO inception was circulated
and discussed. It was noted that the holiday decorations were
incorrectly classified and should be moved from promotions to
design, and that the newsletter expenses should be moved from
promotions expense to organization expense.
Insurance
Greg provided information regarding the status of insurance for
the DVO. The DVO has Liability coverage, D&O liability coverage,
and volunteer coverage. All limits meet requirement of the MOU
with the City of Ventura.
Redevelopment Agency Funding
The committee recommended that the Redevelopment Agency for the
City of Ventura be invoiced for their first year's contribution
to the DVO and that "Year One" of the budget should
begin July 1, 2007. This would coincide with the hiring of an
executive director and the City's fiscal year. Rob noted that
we need to gather baseline financial information as of that date
so we can start tracking economic changes.
Fundraising
The committee requested that Rob work with Greg and other committee
members to develop a short -term and long term funding strategy.
The long term funding strategy should consider the feasibility
of each of the identified revenue sources and any other potential
sources that might arise. Sources identified were parking revenues,
PBID, BID, business license fees, sales tax, memberships, and
existing revenue streams like alcohol tax and entertainment CUP
fees. Dan stressed that no potential sources should be eliminated
for this initial survey of options to consider. Greg stressed
that this issue needs to be a high priority for Rob, the board
as well as the finance committee.
Committee Structure
The committee discussed the need to establish an Economic Restructuring
Committee and the Organization Committee. Since the Finance committee
is a sub-committee of the Organization committee it was suggested
that the Finance Committee could be expanded and be the Organization/Finance
Committee. The finance committee has also acted as an Economic
Restructuring committee and those responsibilities could be transferred
to that committee once it is functioning. Jason also brought up
the idea of having one board meeting per month for board business
and having separate public forum meetings where outside presentations
and broader topics and issues were presented. Rob thought once
a month would be too often, but every other month might be workable.
Jason would work with Rob and the board to examine these revisions
further.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 AM.
Submitted:
Gregory H. Smith
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6/17/2007
Monday
June 17th, 2007 @ DVO office
In attendance were: Greg Smith, Chair; Christy Weir, Dan Frederickson,
Mark Hartley, Ed Warren, Dave Armstrong, and Sid White,
Greg Smith reported that the IRS has sent a request for additional
information in order to determine the DVO’s not for profit
status request. Dave said he would draft a response and contact
our attorney on this matter, Andrea Ferster, to review the response.
Greg and Dave would get a response completed as soon as possible.
The IRS has stated that a decision could be made quickly upon
receipt of the information.
Christy Weir reported on Executive Director negotiations. The
finance committee approved the negotiated offer and made suggestions
regarding two outstanding issues of the contract.
The committee approved a recommendation to hire Daniel Brady to
maintain the planter boxes on Main Street. He is currently maintaining
the Mission and doing an excellent job. Street tree lighting came
up as part of this discussion and it was suggested that Design
and Operations Committee needs to revisit and see if there is
a way to install permanent lighting before the Holiday Season.
Sid White suggested that requests for items like this could be
packaged together and proposed to the RDA. Past lighting proposals
have been quite expensive to implement.
The Financial Statements of the Downtown Ventura Organization
were presented by Greg Smith and reviewed by the committee. The
committee is recommending that the 3 year budget and work plan
be reviewed and revised as necessary as soon as an executive director
is hired. Determining an ongoing and stable source of funding
for the organization, beyond the RDA’s 3- year start up funding,
needs to be one of the highest priorities of the organization
and the Executive Director. Dan Frederickson suggested that parking
revenue may not be available for DVO support and other sources
need to be explored. Ed Warren felt that a fee on business licenses
should be explored.
The committee discussed potential financing of parking structures
and the status of developing a comprehensive parking strategy.
Dave Armstrong said he had met with Tom Mericle and the parking
consultants and that a viable strategy could emerge from that
study. Sid White encouraged the DVO to set clear schedules and
that he expects the DVO to steer the plan. Dan Frederickson felt
the DVO should review all potential sources of income and financing
for parking structures and other projects so we know what might
be available. The parking committee will see if financing options
are part of the scope of the study.
Greg Smith suggested that there needs to be a comprehensive marketing
plan for the downtown as part of the Marketing Committee’s
responsibilities so that finance does do not continue to approve
marketing items on a piecemeal basis.
Meeting adjourned at 10:25 a.m.
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